The Nutt study – An approach with perspective! ? – Joerg-Simon Schmid
The “Nutt Study” is an internationally widely accepted, but controversial, study conducted at the University of Bistol in 2007 under the direction of the then highest drug adviser to the British government – Prof. David Nutt. Their goal was to research the dangers of drugs on a scientific basis. The results were very surprising for the government: alcohol and tobacco were among the top 10 most dangerous substances, while cannabis, ecstasy and LSD were considered much more harmless. This ranking came in government circles on little favor, whereupon the drug counselor was relieved of his position in 2009. In 2010, David Nutt published together with the initiated by him Indipendent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD) a follow-up study. This enables a more complex assessment of the dangers of drugs through a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA). In addition to the danger to the individual, dangers for the direct social environment, society and international dangers are taken into account.