Pubdate: Wed, 12 Jun 2013
Source: Independent  (UK)
Copyright: 2013 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.independent.co.uk/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/209
Author: Charlie Cooper

OUTLAWING DRUGS 'IS CENSORING SCIENCE'

The outlawing of drugs such as cannabis, MDMA and LSD amounts to "the 
worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church banned 
the works of Copernicus and Galileo", the former Government drugs 
advisor Professor David Nutt claimed.

Prof Nutt, who was dismissed from the Home Office's advisory council 
on drugs in 2009 after clashing with ministers, said that UN 
conventions on drugs in the 1960s and 1970s had delayed the 
development of "innovative treatments" for Post Traumatic Stress 
Disorder and depression by 30 years.

In a paper published today with two other scientists in the journal 
Nature Reviews Neuroscience, he said that drugs policy is being 
driven by "politics, not science". Professor Nutt left the Home 
Office in 2009 after suggesting that taking ecstasy was no more 
dangerous than horse-riding.

Applying for a government licence can be costly and time-consuming 
and many scientists are put off by a culture of "repression" 
surrounding drug science, Professor Nutt said.

"The laws scare off funders and most scientists are scared because 
they think if they break the law, they might get arrested. I'm sure 
at some point someone's going to arrest me. There is a sense of 
repression to the point that most people won't do it."

The paper, which is published to coincide with a conference on 
scientific research with psychedelics at Imperial College London, 
points to evidence that cannabis, MDMA and psychedelics such as LSD 
have unexplored medicinal benefits and argues that laws should be updated.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom