Dresden, Germany–(ENEWSPF)–February 19, 2015. Health risks associated with the use of cannabis have likely been “overestimated” while the dangers associated with the consumption of alcohol “have been commonly underestimated,” according to the findings of risk assessment study published in the journal Nature: Scientific Reports.
An international team of investigators from Germany and Canada performed a comparative risk assessment of various substances – including alcohol, tobacco, opiates cannabis, and cocaine – based on their level of toxicity following human exposure. Authors reported that cannabis possessed the lowest risk of any of the substances assessed while alcohol possessed the highest risk.
The results “point to a risk management prioritization toward alcohol and tobacco rather than illicit drugs,” authors concluded, adding that cannabis’ low risk categorization suggest a “strict regulatory approach rather than the current prohibition approach.”
Full text of the study, “Comparative risk assessment of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis and other illicit drugs using the margin of exposure approach,” appears online here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4311234/.
Source: www.norml.org
