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DeliciousNutt: ''Mephedrone should stay legal''
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Following the deaths of two teenagers taking the "legal high" mephedrone, he backed the government position against rushing to control mephedrone.
"To make it illegal without proper evidence of harm would be wrong and might have unwanted consequences, such as a switch to more dangerous drugs or alcohol."
But Nutt – who was controversially sacked at the end of last year after criticising government drug policy – called for an alternative classification until the knowledge base is built up.
Writing in the Guardian, he said:
"One approach would be a new class in the Misuse of Drugs Act – the class D model, adopted in New Zealand to deal with BZP. This is a holding category where drugs can be put in place before they are well understood: sales are limited to over-18s; the product is quality-controlled so users know what they are getting; and it comes with health education messages."
The family of Nicholas Smith, one of the teenagers who died after taking mephedrone on Monday have called on the government to make the drug illegal.
Tony and Elaine Smith said they believe their son would not have taken mephedrone if it was illegal.
"I assume that because it's a legal drug he thought it was safe to take. I am convinced he took it because it was legal, why would anyone assume it could kill you?" Tony Smith said.
"He would be alive if the ban was in place."
David Nutt said that instead there is a need for education initiatives to better ensure young people understand the dangers of 'legal highs' – including alcohol.
"He would be alive if the ban was in place."
They don't know that, the idea just makes them feel better in their time of grief. Something to blame.
How many lives will be lost if we hand this drug to the criminal element by cutting it away from legitimate commerce and regulation?
Does their son's death justify the first innocent death in a drug war? Will they hold the hands of the parents of an innocent bystander shot because the drug can only be bought from violent, frightened people?
Nutt is right. You cannot eliminate something that people want to have, all you can do is push it outside the safety of law where even more terrible things can happen.
Mr. Snorkel
David Nutt is wrong in saying BZP is a class Ddrug in new zealand ,it is in fact a class C drug and in my opinion should be reclassified to class B .I have personaly seen many lives ruined due to this 'safe' drug and wait with dread for the onslaught of mephadrone into nz.I have witnessed the mayhem 'fantasy' ,which was also not classified and therefore not illegal brought to NZ including the death of my closest freind and the impact this had on his family and freinds .The biggest problem with these drugs is that while they are unclassified it is assumed ,especialy by young folk,that they are safe.This is not the case and mixing them with other drugs or alcohol makes them doubly unpredictable and increases the risk substantially ,
Nutt is right however in the belief that prohibition doesn't work and the money would be much better spent in educating youngsters as to the dangers and pitfalls of these poisons.
keith archer - wellington,new zealand.
methadone is illegal and that didn't stop him taking that.
paul - farnsworth
The media may unintentionally be exacerbating the problem merely by running this sort of story. I normally wouldn't advocate sticking one's head in the sand, but children are pre-programmed to model themselves on the world and the norms around them, with all the attendant peer pressure risks. Yet the papers tell the world about all the people taking this drug, give various names for it and pointers as to how to get hold of it. In this case, as with many teenager-norm stories, denying there's a problem might itself prevent it. Many teenagers are really clued-up people that do great things: let's make these the role models.
David R - Yorkshire