Alcohol is one of the five most addictive substances on the planet

To come up with the ranking, scientists averaged three factors: pleasure, psychological dependence and physical dependence

Mike Nudelman
Business Insider
,Erin Brodwin
Thursday 12 October 2017 11:59 BST
Comments
Drink, drugs and nicotine all rank highly in The Lancet's study
Drink, drugs and nicotine all rank highly in The Lancet's study (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Ranking drugs based on how addictive they are is tough work, since we all react differently to distinct substances. Nevertheless, a group of addiction experts including specialists from the Royal College of Psychiatrists as well as chemists, forensic scientists, and pharmacologists recently took a stab, and published their ranking in the journal The Lancet.

(Mike Nudelman/Business Insider
(Mike Nudelman/Business Insider (Mike Nudelman/Business Insider)

• North Border Island is New York City's post-apocalyptic playland
• How the controversial Playboy bunny role has changed over 60 years
• Teachers share 18 things parents should do for their kids

Read the original article on Business Insider UK. © 2017. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in