Ecstasy is no more risky than Horse-riding, claims professor

London, February 9: Taking Ecstasy is only as risky as riding a horse, said government drug expert Professor David Nutt as he ridiculed the apprehension over ecstasy and its effects, through his write-up in an academic journal.

Nutt heads the Home Office's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, which is looking to propose that Ecstasy should be downgraded to a Class B drug.

Fearing that the downgrade could lead to a sudden explosion of drug abuse, campaigners called for him to resign. They believe the professor is on a "personal crusade" to legalize the drugs.

Where does horse riding fit in all this?

Well, the professor just wanted to compare the risks in different situations of life. "The point was to get people to understand that drug harm can be equal to harms in other parts of life,” he said. "There is not much difference between horse riding and ecstasy."

Writing in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, Prof Nutt noted that ‘equasy’ (or Equine Addiction Syndrome) had caused 10 deaths and more than 100 road traffic accidents a year.

In the article, titled ‘Equasy: An overlooked addiction with implications for the current debate on drug harms’, Nutt says that since people are prepared to risk their lives for a mere pleasure of horse-riding, the risks from taking ecstasy and other drugs could just be much blown up.

"Making riding illegal would completely prevent all these harms and would be, in practice, very easy to do,” he said. But obviously, nobody would do it. "This attitude raises the critical question of why society tolerates – indeed encourages – certain forms of potentially harmful behavior but not others, such as drug use."

He went on to cite many other risky activities, which people casually indulge in, but that could actually be worse than “many illicit drugs,” according to the professor.

The revelation of professor’s ideas has raised a whole brigade of critics, who have begun to consider ripping his rank.

David Raynes, an executive councilor at the National Drug Prevention Alliance said, "Professor Nutt has made numerous unwise comments prejudging the ACMD review of Ecstasy. He is entitled to his opinion, but if his personal view conflicts so very strongly with his public duties, it would be honorable to consider his position.”

A spokesman for the advisory council said, "Prof Nutt's academic research does not prejudice the work that he conducts as chair of the ACMD." His writing is only "in respect of his academic work and not as chair of the ACMD,” they insist.