An Economist story looks at the most dangerous drugs, and the list might surprise you (especially which one is at the very bottom).

“WHY IS ALCOHOL legal but many other intoxicants not? That question is the subject of a report published today by the Global Commission on Drug Policy, an independent group of 26 former presidents and other bigwigs. They conclude that, as far as the scientific evidence is concerned, current drug laws have no rhyme or reason to them.

Alcohol came out as the most harmful, followed by heroin and crack cocaine. Psychedelic “party” drugs, including ecstasy, LSD and mushrooms, were deemed mostly benign—with harm scores less than half that of tobacco—despite being lumped with cocaine and heroin in the UN’s classification system.”

The full article is behind a registration wall, but you can get the most important part, the data chart, right up front:

https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2019/06/25/what-is-the-most-dangerous-drug