At first I thought this story was just some cheap shot at the Royals. Now I realize that it’s an incredibly scary example of people trying to pass laws to allow society to just do whatever it wants, and hang the consequences.

Writing in an academic journal, Professor David Nutt said taking ecstasy was no worse than the risks of “equasy”, a term he invented to describe people’s addiction to horse-riding. It is short for “Equine Addiction Syndrome”. Nutt cited that horseback riding and many other activities such as base jumping, climbing, bungee jumping, hang-gliding, and even motorcycling are just as dangerous, but those are not criminal offenses. So why should Ecstasy be outlawed?

Said Nutt:

“This attitude raises the critical question of why society tolerates – indeed encourages – certain forms of potentially harmful behaviour but not others, such as drug use.”

Professor Nutt is the chairman of the Home Office’s Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

In his article for the academic journal, Prof. Nutt wrote that “equasy” had caused 10 deaths and more than 100 road traffic accidents a year.

Through hunting, it also led to “gatherings of ‘users’ … engaging in violent conduct.”

Sorry, I just don’t see it. Taking a drug that makes you hallucinate, may cause lasting neural damage, and makes you behave like a weirdo just isn’t quite the same thing as riding one’s horse.

via The Telegraph