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This just in from the European Desk of the Drugs News and Health Safety Blog, an article in the Journal of Psychopharmacology by Dr. David Nutt called “Equasy: An overlooked addiction with implications for the current debate on drug harms”, has been kicking up some dust in England. Professor Nutt writes in this article that:
Drug harm can be equal to harms in other parts of life. There is not much difference between horse-riding and ecstasy.
Hmmm. Dr. Nutt came up with the term “Equasy” to describe people who like to ride around on horses and then fall off and kill themselves or get brain damage. Apparently about 1/350 who ride horses regularly will do so. According to our English sources this article has been getting quite a bit of attention in the English press, and since he is head of the Advisory Council on Drugs Misuse this provoked a comment from the British Home Secretary.
I’m sure most people would simply not accept the link that he makes up in his article between horse riding and illegal drug taking
Indeed. But what if you got high and then went horse back riding? And what about the movie Equus?
Anyhoo, I couldn’t resist the photoshop opportunity to have Dr. Nutt go riding into the Sunset with our very own Lolcat, We Sel Drugz, to fight these vicious English media people who are creating such a commotion.
We sel drugz to da reskew! Help Professor Nutt!
I read Dr. Nutt’s paper and cannot argue with the data he presents that more people die in England from riding horses than taking Ecstasy. However there is something creepy about comparing deaths from drug use and horseback riding. I mean horseback riding is a healthy and uplifting activity, while drug usage, even if it doesn’t kill you, drags you down into lower levels of spiritual and mental functioning. On top of this Dr. Nutt was part of the shameful Advisory Board to Hoffmann-La Roche Pharmaceuticals at the Ritz Carlton in Alexandria, VA, in about 2002, where they paid them all several thousand dollars each to rubber stamp their report that Accutane (acne drug) could not cause depression. Was I there? Nope.
Hat tip to Susie.
Update: In this week’s bmj is a news piece about British Home Secretary requiring Dr. Nutt to apologize, and reactions from other doctors and politicians, as well as news that the Brits have decided to disregard Dr. Nutt’s recommendation to downgrade the safety warnings for ecstasy.
More opinions from Frontier Psychiatrist blog here.
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Wow, all the way from your European Desk. And lol on the lolcat.
I gotta say….the forms of self-medicating, stimulating activities we humans have devised over the centuries shows great resourcefulness.I mean, think about all those knights charging around on horseback, looking for a good head-banging fight. Maybe their descendants?
Seriously, I wonder if this is the equine equivalent of those poor children who bang their heads against walls. Just maybe, the fall acts like some kind of electro-shock and stops the “noise” for a while.
Has anyone asked them?
Abuse of a drug like Extasy will certainly drag one down, but the occasional use of hallucinogenic drugs has been the beginning of many people’s profound spiritual journeys…
Most of those people as far as I know leave drugs behind (I’m thinking of Ram Dass in particular at this moment but there are others some of whom I know in person) but I can’t agree with a categorical statement of all drug use dragging people down, even if I in general would suggest to people they not mess with them.
If you haven’t seen the documentary Fierce Grace about Ram Dass’s recovery from a stroke I highly recommend it…
really incredible man!!
Speaking of England and substances, did you see this?
British prosecutor says an elderly milkman supplied customers with cannabis as well as bottles of milk.
Robert Holding, 72, delivered marijuana as he made his daily rounds in the town of Burnely, in northwestern England.
Prosecutor Sarah Statham said Friday that Holding offered the drug to elderly customers suffering from aches and pain. She says the customers left Holding notes on their doorsteps to order the drug.
I thought the whole thing was kind of humorous, really, and there is ongoing debate about it in the English press.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markeaston/2008/09/what_is_the_point_of.html
Sure, various cultures use hallucinogens for spiritual purposes, like peyote with the Indians. The debate also highlights how drug use becomes a moral issue. It also raises the question of why is it that prescription drugs are always “good” and “illegal” drugs “bad”.
frankly I personally think that most mind-altering drug use is all the same…illicit or legal…just shades of grey in terms of the differences…
but I would put the ritualistic use of something like peyote in a different category, I suppose.
After reading his paper I feel like he is comparing apples and pistachios– two completely different species of animal. The silliness of his comparison takes away his message… although I’m more concerned with the frequency and long-term detriments of MDMA use than just specifically deaths.
Yes, I mean we don’t hear anything about the effects on memory or serotonin neurons. I don’t think he thought that the Journal of Psychopharmacology would ever be read by the entire UK.
[...] Taking ecstasy no more dangerous than riding a horse? - Before you take that pill (note this statement as an example of relativism: [...]
[...] Ever Happened to Pharmagiles? Turned out he was a comic book author from England. Taking Ecstasy Not More Dangerous Than Riding a Horse: According to Dr. David Nutt of the UK, anyway. Kicked up quite a fuss with Brit politicians, [...]