David Nutt is currently the Edmund J Safra Professor of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London. In 2010 he was listed as one of the 100 most important figures in British Science by The Times Eureka science magazine; this is due to his work in the Section of Clinical Science in the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, as Chair of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (ISCD), President of the British Neuroscience Association and a member of the International Centre for Science in Drug Policy. Until 2009 he was Chair of the Advisory Committee on the Misuse of Drugs when he was sacked for presenting evidence that alcohol and tobacco are more dangerous then cannabis and for questioning the government's drugs policies. The regulation of drugs ­ including alcohol and tobacco ­ is an issue of pressing importance due to the increasing health care costs associated with their use and the new sorts of synthetic agents being developed and sold over the internet. Professor Nutt will reflect on these issues in the light of ten years experience on the governments Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs from which he was sacked 2 years ago. He shall present new analyses that compare the harms of drugs and alcohol using more sophisticated methodology and challenge many of the current misconceptions about drugs, ­ their harms, ­ and how to deal with them.

OxASH will reflect on Professor Nutt's analysis of alcohol and alcoholism with a trip to the pub.