Skip to main contentSkip to navigation
Print subscriptions
Newsletters
Sign in

David Nutt

Headshot of David Nutt

David Nutt is professor of neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London, chair of DrugScience.org.uk and author of Drugs: Without the Hot Air. He was chair of the UK's advisory committee on the misuse of drugs until 2009

February 2022

  • An opium poppy field in Hopong, Myanmar.

    Book of the day
    The Urge by Carl Erik Fisher review – against the war on drugs

    A psychiatrist and former addict cautions against conflating drug use with harm in this fascinating historical survey

October 2019

  • A drug user cleans his arm at a supervised injection site in central Athens.

    double quotation markNothing has changed since I was sacked. Drugs policy still doesn’t work

    David Nutt
    The loss of an expert from the advisory council underlines the harm done by political interventions in this crucial area, says academic Prof David Nutt

September 2017

  • The Duke Of Cambridge Visits The Spitalfields Crypt Trust<br>LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 19: Prince William, Duke of Cambridge speaks with former clients Jason, Heather and Grace in the art room where clients can undergo a series of art lessons during a visit to the Spitalfields Crypt Trust in St Leonard’s Church, Shoreditch on September 19, 2017 in London, England. The trust aims to provide a holistic recovery service for those dealing with complex drug and alcohol addictions. (Photo by David Rose - WPA Pool / Getty Images)

    Should drugs be legalised? Some answers to Prince William’s ‘massive question’

    On a visit to a rehab centre this week, the Duke of Cambridge posed the question to former addicts. Here, we ask five people – a mix of experts, academics, writers and policy-makers – for their opinion

April 2017

  • An addict rolls a joint using a synthetic cannabinoid called Spice use to spray on marijuana in order to enhance its psychoactive affect October 22, 2015 in Arlington, Virginia.<br>F4X2CK An addict rolls a joint using a synthetic cannabinoid called Spice use to spray on marijuana in order to enhance its psychoactive affect October 22, 2015 in Arlington, Virginia.

    double quotation markSpice ruins lives and costs taxpayers a fortune. It doesn’t have to be this way

    David Nutt
    Antidotes to these dangerous, destructive synthetic drugs are desperately needed. But the government is standing in the way of their development

October 2016

  • ‘Most young vapers don’t even vape nicotine-containing fluids, preferring nicotine-free flavours such as strawberry cake and pear drops.’

    double quotation markVaping saves lives. It’d be madness to ban it

    David Nutt
    Cigarettes kill. Anything that makes some smokers give them up is to be encouraged

September 2016

  • Crowd at Fabric nightclub, Farringdon, London. (Photo by: PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images)

    double quotation markI blame Fabric’s closure on this country’s backward drugs policy

    David Nutt
    After two deaths there this year, the London nightclub’s licence has been revoked. But wouldn’t it have been better to keep the venue open, and safe?

May 2016

  • Scooby Snax synthetic marijuana

    double quotation markThis ban on legal highs will only have one effect: more drug-related deaths

    David Nutt
    Legal highs have become victim to a new moral panic. All the new act will do is drive people towards illegal drugs and alcohol, the most harmful substance of all

March 2016

  • A model sniffing poppers Amyl Nitrite<br>B534M7 A model sniffing poppers Amyl Nitrite

    double quotation markThe poppers ban is a veiled attack on pleasure

    David Nutt
  • Testtubes used in genetic research

    double quotation markThe government’s lobbying ban will have a chilling impact on scientists

    David Nutt

October 2015

  • Teenager smoking a joint

    The autocomplete questions
    double quotation markWhy are drugs illegal? You asked Google – here’s the answer

    David Nutt
    Every day, millions of internet users ask Google some of life’s most difficult questions, big and small. Our writers answer some of the most common queries

February 2015

  • Ketamine in its powdered form

    double quotation markThe UK needs common sense about ketamine

    David Nutt
    Ketamine is a vital medicine, and restricting it has harmed patients without cutting recreational use. Britain should stand up to the UN’s failed ‘war on drugs’

January 2015

  • A Superman pill

    double quotation markThe Superman pill deaths are the result of our illogical drugs policy

    David Nutt
    David Nutt: The lethal substance responsible, PMA, was produced as a direct consequence of banning a number of ecstasy precursor chemicals

March 2014

  • DNP

    double quotation markFigures for UK deaths from legal highs cannot to be trusted

    David Nutt and Les King

    David Nutt and Les King: Is the poor quality of data on deaths from legal highs the result of sloppy science or an attempt to massage the figures?

February 2014

  • A makeshift memorial outside Philip Seymour Hoffman's apartment in New York.

    Philip Seymour Hoffman and the truth about curing addiction

    The death of the Hollywood actor illustrates the dangers of abstinence-based recovery programmes, which leave former users vulnerable to fatal relapses, writes David Nutt

November 2013

  • Teenagers drinking alcohol

    Shortcuts
    double quotation markAlcohol without the hangover? It's closer than you think

    David Nutt

    David Nutt: Science now allows us to develop a safer way to get drunk. But before we can sober up in minutes, the drinks industry needs to embrace this healthier approach

September 2013

  • policeman testing a driver for alcohol levels

    double quotation markThe government's plan to curb drug-driving is a car crash

    David Nutt
    David Nutt: Once again the government ignores the advice of its own scientists, while loosening up rules for pubs on the motorway

July 2013

  • qat cat

    double quotation markBan qat? Theresa May might as well ban cats

    David Nutt
    David Nutt: A simple analogy shows how absurd the basis for the home secretary's drug prohibition plan really is

April 2013

  • Magic mushrooms

    double quotation markThe real driver behind most drug use is pleasure, not dependence

    Adam R Winstock and David Nutt

    Adam R Winstock and David Nutt: Drugs discourse almost always fails to discuss drug-related harms in the context of drug-related pleasure

December 2012

  • Clubbers hug

    double quotation markDrugs are taken for pleasure – realise this and we can start to reduce harm

    David Nutt
    David Nutt: The web-based Net Pleasure Index is an attempt to gather information about a much-ignored element of drug-taking

July 2012

  • Ecstasy users hugging at a rave

    double quotation markScientists' agony over ecstasy

    David Nutt
    David Nutt: Until science can freely study drugs like MDMA, their great therapeutic potential will stay untapped
About 35 results for David Nutt
12
Explore more on these topics