Richard Mack’s story is taken from his chapter, “Prohibition: The Enemy of Freedom,” in the book, The New Prohibition: Voices of Dissent Challenge the Drug War (2004).

The home secretary faces mass resignations from the government's drug advisory body over his decision to force out its chairman, who accused ministers of distorting scientific evidence on cannabis.

Two members of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs resigned todayin protest at Alan Johnson's treatment of Professor David Nutt. Another member told the Guardian that the experts were "planning collective action" against Johnson, adding: "Everybody is devastated. We're all considering our positions."

Nutt said today that there was "no future" for the council in its present form and it is thought the group's members may use a meeting next Monday to announce a mass resignation.

In his adulthood, Eddie was going to fix the economic downturn, solve the energy crisis, and end world hunger. But then Eddie tried crack.

[Via Everything Is Terrible]

Professor David Nutt, the government's chief drug adviser, has been sacked a day after claiming that ecstasy and LSD were less dangerous than alcohol.

Nutt incurred the wrath of the government when he claimed in a paper that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful than many illegal drugs, including LSD, ecstasy and cannabis.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The home secretary has asked Professor Nutt to resign as chair of the ACMD [Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs].

"In a letter he [Alan Johnson] expressed surprise and disappointment over Professor Nutt's comments which damage efforts to give the public clear messages about the dangers of drugs.

"We remain determined to crack down on all illegal substances and minimise their harm to health and society as a whole."

Nutt had criticised politicians for "distorting" and "devaluing" the research evidence in the debate over illicit drugs.

Retired Superior Court Judge James P. Gray testifies in favor of a marijuana legalization bill in the California Assembly on October 28, 2009. Judge Gray is a member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition

A study of more than 200 students revealed many wrongly blamed the effects of a "bad night out" on date-rape drugs, when they had just drunk excessively.

Many are in "active denial" that drinking large amounts of alcohol can leave them "incoherent and incapacitated", the Kent University researchers concluded.

Young women's fears about date-rape drugs are so ingrained that students mistakenly think it is a more important factor in sexual assault than being drunk, taking drugs or walking alone at night.

At first glance, this might seem like classic "blame the victim" bullshit, but wait now - who on earth gave these people the idea that "date rape drugs" were prevalent in the first place? Kids didn't invent that idea from scratch, did they? Couldn't possibly even remotely be tied to, I don't know, gee, let's take a guess here, bullshit war on drugs fear-mongering?

Naw, that's just crazy talk. Besides, "alcohol as date rape drug" is a meme that has definitely failed to catch on, despite decades of evidence, so better candidates were practically required. For the kids, you understand.

On a side note, GHB remains totally fun. Rohypnol, well, I don't remember so well.

The British Government's chief drug adviser has sparked controversy by claiming ecstasy, LSD and cannabis are less dangerous than cigarettes and alcohol.

Professor David Nutt, chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs, attacked the decision to make cannabis a class B drug.

He accused former home secretary Jacqui Smith, who reclassified the drug, of "distorting and devaluing" scientific research.

Prof Nutt said smoking cannabis created only a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness. And he claimed advocates of moving ecstasy into class B from class A had "won the intellectual argument".

All drugs, including alcohol and tobacco, should be ranked by a "harm" index, he said, with alcohol coming fifth behind cocaine, heroin, barbiturates, and methadone.

Tobacco should rank ninth, ahead of cannabis, LSD and ecstasy.

Prof Nutt said: "No one is suggesting that drugs are not harmful. The critical question is one of scale and degree. We need a full and open discussion of the evidence and a mature debate about what the drug laws are for - and whether they are doing their job."

Thanks Mr. Tumnus!

Psychedelic Science will bring together international experts to present on psychedelic research and psychedelic psychotherapy topics for the largest conference dedicated solely to psychedelics in the U.S. in 17 years. There will be three full days of programming with concurrent tracks exploring clinical applications, issues relevant to healthcare professionals, and social and cultural issues surrounding the therapeutic and recreational uses of psychedelics.