The War on Drugs: “The worst case of scientific censorship since the Church banned Copernicus and Galileo”

According to this article, laws against marijuana and other psychedelic substances have completely derailed scientific research into such fields as the study of consciousness.  This opinion was published in the journal Nature Reviews Neuroscience.

David Nutt, a professor of neuro-psychopharmacology at Imperial College London, said:

“The decision to outlaw these drugs was based on their perceived dangers, but in many cases the harms have been overstated.”  He described current drug laws as “the worst case of scientific censorship since the Catholic Church banned the works of Copernicus and Galileo.”

He also said:

“The laws have never been updated despite scientific advances and growing evidence that many of these drugs are relatively safe. And there appears to be no way for the international community to make such changes.  This hindering of research and therapy is motivated by politics, not science.”

David Nutt and two of his fellow researchers — Leslie King and David Nichols — said:

“If we adopted a more rational approach to drug regulation, it would empower researchers to make advances in the study of consciousness and brain mechanisms of psychosis, and could lead to major treatment innovations in areas such as depression and PTSD.”