Beyond the Nutt House: David Nutt on Rational Drug Policy

Horse riding is more dangerous than taking ecstasy. It was this statement that got David Nutt fired as the UK government’s chief drug advisor. Since then, the neuropsychopharmacologist and professor at Imperial College London has spent years challenging the logic behind drug policy. He argues that alcohol may be more harmful to society than many illegal drugs.

Why do societies normalise some drugs while fearing others? If alcohol causes enormous social harm, why is it culturally celebrated while psychedelics remain criminalised? How much of the war on drugs is actually about public health, and how much about the powerful lobby? And if prohibition has failed, what would a responsible drug culture look like instead?

We hope to present a more nuanced understanding of humanity’s complex relationships to psychoactive compounds.

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