06/02/2008 00:00:00
Telegraph TV pick: Horizon - Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy?
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List-shows, needless to say, have been a TV staple for ages now. As far
as I can remember, though, last night marked the first time there’s been
one on Horizon (BBC2).
Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy? consisted of a run-down of the Top 20
Most Dangerous Drugs in Britain. The list was drawn up by a group of
experts in the field, who’d apparently done thorough research –
although, unlike people in maths exams, they weren’t encouraged here to
show their working-out.
As a result, the narrator’s assertions often felt either a little bald
or distinctly puzzling. (Tobacco was introduced as “Britain’s deadliest
drug” – but still only came in at number nine.)
The programme made much of the fact that the drugs classifications in
place today were drawn up in 1971, and so reflected the fashions and
prejudices of the day.
Yet, especially in the absence of that working-out, the same thing
sometimes seemed true of last night’s list as well. LSD, for example,
was below cannabis (14 and 11 respectively) – and less surprisingly than
the narrator appeared to think, the answer to the question of the title
was a ringing “yes”.
Booze managed an impressive number five placing, while ecstasy limped in
at 18. For the record, heroin beat cocaine to the top spot – partly
because, as Harry Hill has pointed out, it’s so moreish.
Click here to watch or download Horizon: Is Alcohol Worse than Ecstasy?
from BBC iPlayer http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/page/item/b008x3hq.shtml
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Source:
http://www.ukcia.org/news/shownewsarticle.php?articleid=13259
Author:
The Telegraph via UKCIA
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