The Drug Update

The British newspaper The Guardian released a government report about illicit drugs whose aim was "to identify the mix of policies which will substantially reduce the harms caused by drugs to users and others." The report finds that of all the drugs, heroin and crack cocaine "by far the most addictive, expensive and harmful." Also among the interesting findings: it doesn't seem that supply-side intervention would reduce the amount of users who cause harm; "only 20% of high harm causing users are receiving treatment" that they don't tend to stay with; and almost 80% of acute deaths caused by illegal drugs come from heroin overdoses.