Nutt Uncut

Nutt, David

• Publisher: Waterside Press
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781909976955
• Topic: Medizin
• Subtopic: Psychiatrie & geistige Gesundheit

A direct challenge to politicians and others by a world expert on drugs. David Nutt regularly hit the headlines as the UK's forthright Drugs Czar (Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs), not least when fired by the Home Secretary in 2009 for his 'inconvenient' views. In Nutt Uncut he explains how he survived ill-judged political and media vilification to establish the respected charity Drug Science, with the aim of telling the truth about drugs. The book describes his life, distinguished career and scientific achievements, including his research into the human brain and the effects that both lawful and criminally illegal substances (including psychedelics) have on the brain and behaviour. It also catalogues with expert precision the risks of harm to drug users and others of a range of well-known drugs. Surveying the state of medical knowledge around various currently prohibited substances — from hard drugs to LSD, cannabis, ecstasy, magic mushrooms and poppers — Professor Nutt ranks their potential harms and benefits (e.g. in treating anxiety, depression or pain) leading him to challenge the distorted logic of a blanket ban on anything psychoactive except alcohol, tobacco and caffeine. Nutt Uncut contains far, far more about the usually hidden world of drugs, their use, abuse and role as a political bargaining counter — making it of interest not just to the many experts and others who already support the author's campaign for a frank, evidence-based approach to drugs but also anyone who wishes to learn about what he describes in Chapter 11 as 'policy madness.'

Index

Symbols

4-MTA. See methylamphetamine (4-MTA)

5-HT, etc. See serotonin (5-HT)

A

Act of Supremacy 162

Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) 99, 110, 141

Afghanistan 215

Africa 94

agonists 56, 211

anti-/contra/inverse agonists 57–66

agoraphobia 64

AIDS/HIV 111, 129, 141

alcohol 23, 91–98, 127, 212, 220

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) 211

alcohol tolerance 94

binge drinking 95

drinks industry 97, 105, 128, 141

foetal alcohol syndrome 92

mead 94

minimum price (Scotland) 95

National Institute of Alcohol and Alcoholism 66

treatment for alcoholism 220

UK consumption 95

unit pricing 96

Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust 213, 220

Mosley Foundation 198

alkyl nitrates. See poppers

Allen, Lily 167

alprazolam 66

amino acids 29, 82

amnesia 182

amphetamine 33, 42, 44, 75, 127, 129

methamphetamine (crystal meth) 93, 106, 134

amygdala 68, 87, 195

enhanced amygdala activation 219

amyl nitrite 164

anabolic steroids 127

anaesthetic 48–50, 57, 165

anethole. See aniseed oil

animal testing 53, 76

monkeys 56, 100, 106

rats 33, 56

aniseed oil 102

anor...

Table of contents

• Copyright and publication details
• Publisher’s note
• Acknowledgements
• About the author
• Dedication
• Foreword
• Becoming Conscious: Politics and the Science of Breathing
• Shocking Times: Bombs and Life Threats
• Revealing Anxiety Through Reframing Benzodiazepines
• Struggles with Serotonin
• Alcohol — A Drug or Not a Drug?
• Ecstasy or Not?
• Conflicts Over Cannabis
• The Scale of Harms
• The Sacking
• The Rise of Drug Science
• And It Gets Worse! More Policy Madness with the Psychoactive Substances Act
• Resurrecting Psychedelic Research with Magic Mushrooms
• Psilocybin and Depression
• A General Theory of Psychedelic Actions — Imaging LSD and DMT
• Moving MDMA back into the Clinic
• Coda: Further Reflections and Timeline
• Index