FELIX

Imperial Professor David Nutt has suggested that all cars should be fitted with an alcohol detector.

In his new book, Drugs – Without the Hot Air, he recommends that the detector would be a breathalyzer test, which would only allow motorists to start their cars if they are under the drink-drive limit of 35 micrograms of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath. Professor Nutt has said that it “could save a lot of lives”.

The Department for Transport have claimed that they are not planning to install such devices as they are “difficult to manage” due to the fact that it is possible to fool the sensors and the Department is “not persuaded as to their effectiveness in changing long-term behaviour”.

Professor Nutt is a professor at Imperial College London as well as being President of the British Neuroscience Association. He has been a campaigner for science in policymaking for a long time; a trait that lead to his dismissal as the Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs by the then Home Secretary Alan Johnston.

In particular, he has been very outspoken about what he perceives to be a disparity between harm and classification in the UK’s drug policies. In particular he has written a paper in which it states that alcohol and tobacco are more harmful to society than illegal drugs such as cannabis, LSD, and ecstasy.

In June, he will be appearing in front of the Home Affairs Select Committee to discuss the current drugs policy in Britain and what changes could be implemented.