Ecstasy is “no more dangerous than horse riding”
Professor David Nutt returns to London Real to talk about alcohol and drugs. As the Deputy Head for the Centre of Psychedelic Research at Imperial College in London, he certainly knows the science behind the damaging effects of alcohol on the body.
An English neuro-psycho-pharmacologist who specialises in the research of drugs that affect the brain, you might also know David Nutt as the man who was fired by the government when he said ecstasy is “no more dangerous than horse riding”.
What I love about David, is that he runs the numbers. And statistically, he’s found that alcohol is the most dangerous drug in the world. It causes more harm, death and cost in the U.K. to the National Health Service than anything else out there and yet it’s so deeply intertwined into our culture and so we don’t think of it as a drug. This, among other things, deeply disturbs David and he’s on a mission to change it.
David has a great new book out called “Drink”, where he goes through a lot of our assumptions about alcohol and how we can really look at this drug and try to manage it in our lives. It’s something that I’ve struggled with for over thirty but for the past two years I’ve been sober and it’s been a massive game-changer for me.
Minimising the Harms of Legal and Illegal Drugs
David also discusses the groundbreaking research he’s doing alongside Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris and Dr. Rosalind Watts, into LSD, psilocybin and DMT. Their research works towards helping people with depression, addiction and anorexia.
We also went deep on the decriminalisation of certain drugs and the propaganda and war on drugs in the United States and Britain.
David Nutt is incredibly knowledgeable when it comes to this stuff and he is an extreme pioneer in this space. This is a fascinating episode, and I know you’re going to love what he has to say.
Join us as we discuss:
- Terence McKenna, heroin, and MDMA research
- Ecstasy, DMT, psilocybin, and CBD
- Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, Imperial College, and Dr. Rosalind Watts
- Small beer of the 18th century, Jack Daniels, and nitrous oxide
- Keith Richards, Russian beer laws, and state made vodka
- Serotonin, endorphins, and the effects of alcohol on the brain
- David’s wine bar, Brad Pitt, and hangovers
- The Wire, decriminalisation, and drug laws in Amsterdam and Portugal
