David Nutt

Nutt completed his secondary education at Bristol Grammar School and then studied medicine at Downing College, Cambridge, graduating in 1972. In 1975, he completed his clinical training at Guy's Hospital.

He worked as a clinical scientist at the Radcliffe Infirmary from 1978 to 1982 where he carried out basic research into the function of the benzodiazepine receptor/GABA ionophore complex, the long-term effects of BZ agonist treatment and kindling with BZ partial inverse agonists. This work culminated in a ground-breaking paper in Nature in 1982{{cite journal

| doi= 10.1038/295436a0

| last1= Nutt | first1= D. J.

| last2= Cowen | first2= P. J.

| last3= Little | first3= H. J.

| title= Unusual interactions of benzodiazepine receptor antagonists

| journal= Nature

| volume= 295

| issue= 5848

| pages= 436–438

| year= 1982

| pmid= 6276771

| bibcode= 1982Natur.295..436N | s2cid= 779441 }} which described the concept of inverse agonism (using his preferred term, "contragonism") for the first time. From 1983 to 1985, he lectured in psychiatry at the University of Oxford. In 1986, he was the Fogarty visiting scientist at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, MD, outside Washington, D.C. Returning to the UK in 1988, he joined the University of Bristol as director of the Psychopharmacology Unit. In 2009, he then established the Department of Neuropsychopharmacology and Molecular Imaging at Imperial College, London, taking a new chair endowed by the Edmond J Safra Philanthropic Foundation.{{cite press release |url=http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_8-1-2009-15-44-52?newsid=52794 |title=Addiction, anxiety and Alzheimer's disease tackled by new Chair at Imperial College |publisher=Imperial College, London |date=8 January 2009 |author=Lucy Goodchild }} He is an editor of the Journal of Psychopharmacology,{{Cite web|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/editorial-board/JOP|title=SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals|website=SAGE Journals}} and in 2014 was elected president of the European Brain Council.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/140708/david-nutt-elected-president-european-brain/|title=David Nutt elected president of the European Brain Council | Imperial News | Imperial College London|website=Imperial News|date=22 January 2014 }}

In 2007 Nutt published a study on the harms of drug use in The Lancet. Eventually, this led to his dismissal from his position in the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD); see government positions below. Subsequently, Nutt and a number of his colleagues who had resigned from the ACMD founded the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, which was later renamed Drug Science.

Through Drug Science, Nutt has released a number of prominent drug policy reports while launching campaigns in support of evidence-based drug policy. These include Project Twenty21, the Medical Cannabis Working Group, and the Medical Psychedelics Working Group. In 2013, Drug Science launched the peer-reviewed Journal of Drug Science, Policy and Law, with Nutt appointed as Editor.{{Cite web|title=SAGE Journals: Your gateway to world-class research journals|url=https://journals.sagepub.com/editorial-board/DSP|access-date=2020-10-08|website=SAGE Journals|language=en}} Nutt also hosts the Drug Science Podcast, where he explores drugs and drug policy with drug policy experts, policy-makers, and scientists.{{Cite web|title=The Drug Science Podcast|url=https://drugscience.org.uk/latest/blogs/drugsciencepodcast/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=drugscience.org.uk|language=en-GB}}

Nutt is the deputy head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.{{Cite web|title=People|url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/a-z-research/psychedelic-research-centre/about-us/people/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=Imperial College London|language=en-GB}} He and his team have published research into psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, as well as neuroimaging studies investigating psilocybin, MDMA, LSD, and DMT.{{Cite web|title=Research|url=http://www.imperial.ac.uk/a-z-research/psychedelic-research-centre/research/|access-date=2020-10-08|website=Imperial College London|language=en-GB}}

File:HarmCausedByDrugsTable.svg

In November 2010, Nutt published another study in The Lancet, co-authored with Les King and Lawrence Phillips on behalf of this independent Committee. This ranked the harm done to users and society by a range of drugs.{{cite journal |last1= Nutt |first1= D. J. |author-link1= David Nutt |last2= King |first2= L. A. |last3= Phillips |first3= L. D. |title= Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis |url= http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/pdf/News%20stories/dnutt-lancet-011110.pdf |journal= The Lancet |volume= 376 |issue= 9752 |pages= 1558–1565 |doi= 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6 |year=2010 |pmid=21036393|citeseerx= 10.1.1.690.1283 |s2cid= 5667719 }} Owing in part to criticism over the arbitrary weighting of the factors in the 2007 study,Tim Locke (1 November 2010) [http://www.webmd.boots.com/mental-health/alcohol-abuse/news/20101101/alcohol-more-harmful-than-crack-or-heroin-study Alcohol more harmful than crack or heroin: Study. Former government drugs advisor Professor David Nutt produces new measures on the way drugs and alcohol cause harm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110222308/http://www.webmd.boots.com/mental-health/alcohol-abuse/news/20101101/alcohol-more-harmful-than-crack-or-heroin-study |date=10 November 2010 }}, WebMD Health News the new study employed a multiple-criteria decision analysis procedure and found that alcohol is more harmful to society than both heroin and crack, while heroin, crack, and methamphetamine are the most harmful drugs to individuals. Nutt has also written about this topic in newspapers for the general public,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2010/jan/15/david-nutt-drugs-science|title=The best scientific advice on drugs (written by David Nutt)|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=2 April 2010 |location=London |date=15 January 2010}} sometimes leading to public disagreements with other researchers.

Nutt is also campaigning for a change in UK drug laws to allow for more research opportunities.{{cite web|url=http://www.pharmaceutical-journal.com/opinion/comment/medicinal-cannabis-time-for-a-comeback/20067185.article|title=Medicinal cannabis: time for a comeback?|access-date=29 April 2018}}{{cite journal|title=Mind-altering drugs and research: from presumptive prejudice to a Neuroscientific Enlightenment?: Science & Society series on "Drugs and Science"|first=David|last=Nutt|date=1 March 2014|journal=EMBO Reports|volume=15|issue=3|pages=208–211|doi=10.1002/embr.201338282|pmid=24531723|pmc=3989684}}{{cite journal |pmid=23756634 |doi=10.1038/nrn3530 |volume=14 |issue=8 |title=Effects of Schedule I drug laws on neuroscience research and treatment innovation |year=2013 |journal=Nat. Rev. Neurosci. |pages=577–85 |last1= Nutt |first1= DJ |last2= King |first2= LA |last3= Nichols |first3= DE|s2cid=1956833 }}{{cite journal |last1= Nutt |first1= D. J. |last2= King |first2= L. A. |last3= Nichols |first3= D. E. |year= 2013 |title= New victims of current drug laws |journal= Nat Rev Neurosci |volume= 14 |issue= 12|pages= 877 |doi= 10.1038/nrn3530-c2|pmid= 24149187 |s2cid= 205509004 |doi-access= free }}

Starting in around 2014 and building on his extensive research on the role of GABA in the brain and the psychopharmacology of alcohol, Nutt began speaking publicly about bringing to market a compound that could mimic some of the effects of alcohol (ethanol){{snd}}primarily "conviviality"{{snd}}in humans (impacting the GABA receptor){{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/26/an-innocent-drink-could-alcosynth-provide-all-the-joy-of-booze-without-the-dangers|title=Could 'alcosynth' provide all the joy of booze – without the dangers?|date=26 March 2019|website=the Guardian}} while avoiding the negative health impacts of alcohol; a safer replacement. He calls it "Alcarelle", but does not disclose the exact chemical(s). Early tests used a benzodiazepine derivative, with later adaptations targeting improved efficacy and reduced abuse potential.

In 2018 Nutt's company GABALabs (previously called "Alcarelle") applied for patents for a series of new compounds, branded as Alcarelle,{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2019/mar/26/an-innocent-drink-could-alcosynth-provide-all-the-joy-of-booze-without-the-dangers |title=Could 'alcosynth' provide all the joy of booze – without the dangers? |newspaper=The Guardian |author=Amy Fleming |date= 26 March 2019}} that more closely mimic the "conviviality" effects of alcohol.Journal 6751, GB1813962.6, Applicant: Alcarelle Holdings Limited Title: Mood enhancing compounds. Date Lodged: 28 August 2018Journal 6751, GB1813962.9, Applicant: Alcarelle Holdings Limited Title: Mood enhancing compounds. Date Lodged: 28 August 2018 As of October 2019, none of these compounds were available to consumers, their long-term health impacts were not known and there has been no published research about them.

The science team at GABA Labs has produced a plant based functional alcohol alternative which was released to the market in the form of the drink Brand "Sentia"{{Cite web |title=Sentia |url=https://world.openfoodfacts.org/brand/sentia |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=world.openfoodfacts.org |language=en}} in January 2021 as a "botanical spirit" aimed at produced the relaxed and social effects normally associated with alcoholic drinks.{{Cite web |last=Schuster-Bruce |first=Catherine |title=I tried an alcohol-free, no-hangover drink made by a top professor that claims to make you as relaxed as alcohol does. It hits the spot — but make sure you read the label. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/i-tried-alcohol-free-drink-professor-relaxed-alcohol-no-hangover-2021-3 |access-date=2023-12-22 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}

File:Simplified visualization of the persistence homological scaffolds.jpg

In collaboration with Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation, David Nutt is working on the effects of psychedelics on cerebral blood flow.Carhart-Harris R, Kaelen M, Nutt DJ [2014] How do hallucinogens work on the brain? http://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-27/edition-9/how-do-hallucinogens-work-brain {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181005112025/http://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-27/edition-9/how-do-hallucinogens-work-brain |date=5 October 2018 }}Nutt DJ [2014] A brave new world for psychology? The Psychologist Special issue: http://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-27/edition-9/special-issue-brave-new-world-psychology{{cite journal |last1= Petri |first1= G |last2= Expert |first2= P |last3= Turkheimer |first3= F |last4= Carhart-Harris |first4= R |last5= Nutt |first5= D |last6= Hellyer |first6= PJ |last7= Vaccarino |first7= F |year= 2014 |title= Homological scaffolds of brain functional networks |journal= J. R. Soc. Interface |volume= 11 |issue= 101|page= 20140873 |doi= 10.1098/rsif.2014.0873 |pmid=25401177 |pmc=4223908}}Muthukumaraswamy S, Carhart-Harris R, Moran R, Brookes M, Williams M, Erritzoe D, Sessa B, Papadopoulos A, Bolstridge M, Singh K, Fielding A, Friston K, Nutt DJ (2013) [http://www.psychedelicscience.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/JNEURO_MEG.pdf Broadband cortical desynchronisation underlies the human psychedelic state] The Journal of Neuroscience, 18 September 2013 • 33(38):15171–15183Hobden P, Evans J, Feilding A, Wise RG, Nutt DJ (2012) Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin PNAS 1-6 10.1073/pnas.1119598109

Nutt worked as an advisor to the Ministry of Defence, Department of Health, and the Home Office.

He served on the Committee on Safety of Medicines where he participated in an enquiry into the use of SSRI anti-depressants in 2003. His participation was criticised as, owing to his financial interest in GlaxoSmithKline, he had to withdraw from discussions of the drug paroxetine.{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2003/mar/17/mentalhealth.politics |newspaper=The Guardian |date=17 March 2003|author=Sarah Boseley |title=Drugs inquiry thrown into doubt over members' links with manufacturers |location=London }} In January 2008 he was appointed as the chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), having previously been Chair of the Technical Committee of the ACMD for seven years.

[[File:Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse (physical harm and dependence, NA free means).svg|thumb|right|300px|Comparison of the perceived harm for various psychoactive drugs from a poll among medical psychiatrists specialized in addiction treatment. The associated paper was written by Nutt and included in his controversial lecture.{{cite journal

| journal= The Lancet |first4= C.

| last4= Blakemore

| author-link4= Colin Blakemore

| author-link1= David Nutt

| volume= 369

| issue= 9566

| pmid=17382831

| pages= 1047–1053 |first3= W.

| last3= Saulsbury

| year= 2007

| title= Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse

| url= http://www.antoniocasella.eu/archila/NUTT_2007.pdf

| last1= Nutt |first1= D. |first2= L. A.

| last2= King

| doi= 10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4

|s2cid= 5903121

}}]]

With Nutt in the position of ACMD chairman, government ministers repeatedly clashed with him over issues of drug harm and classification. In January 2009 he published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology an editorial ("Equasy – An overlooked addiction with implications for the current debate on drug harms") in which the risks associated with horse riding (1 serious adverse event every ~350 exposures) were compared to those of taking ecstasy (1 serious adverse event every ~10,000 exposures).{{cite journal |last1=Nutt |first1=David |date=2009-01-21 |title=Equasy -- an overlooked addiction with implications for the current debate on drug harms |journal=Journal of Psychopharmacology |volume=23 |issue=1 |pages=3–5 |doi=10.1177/0269881108099672 |pmid=19158127 |s2cid=32034780 |doi-access=free}}

The word equasy is a portmanteau of ecstasy and equestrianism (based on Latin {{lang|la|equus}}, 'horse'). Nutt told The Daily Telegraph that his intention was "to get people to understand that drug harm can be equal to harms in other parts of life".{{cite news|last1=Hope|first1=Christopher|date=9 February 2009|title=Home Office's drugs adviser apologises for saying ecstasy is no more dangerous than riding a horse|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/4570522/Home-Offices-drugs-adviser-apologises-for-saying-ecstasy-is-no-more-dangerous-than-riding-a-horse.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211144347/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/4570522/Home-Offices-drugs-adviser-apologises-for-saying-ecstasy-is-no-more-dangerous-than-riding-a-horse.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 February 2009}} In 2012, he explained to the UK Home Affairs Committee that he chose riding as the "pseudo-drug" in his comparison after being consulted by a patient with irreversible brain damage caused by a fall from a horse. He discovered that riding was "considerably more dangerous than [he] had thought ... popular but dangerous" and "something ... that young people do".{{cite web|title=House of Commons: Oral Evidence Taken Before the Home Affairs Committee - Drugs: Breaking the Cycle - Minutes of Evidence (HC 184-II)|url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmhaff/184/120619.htm|access-date=2012-06-19|publisher=Parliament of the United Kingdom}}

Equasy has been frequently referred to in later discussions of drug harmfulness and drug policies.{{cite news | last1= Chu | first1= Ben |title=Why does someone dying from alcohol poisoning get no media coverage, while an ecstasy-related death does? | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-does-someone-dying-from-alcohol-poisoning-get-no-media-coverage-while-an-ecstasy-related-death-a6726541.html |work=The Independent |date=8 November 2015 |type=opinion |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151225181206/https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/why-does-someone-dying-from-alcohol-poisoning-get-no-media-coverage-while-an-ecstasy-related-death-a6726541.html |archive-date=2015-12-25}}{{cite journal | last1= Ellenberg | first1= J. |title=Book Review: 'The Norm Chronicles' by Michael Blastland and David Spiegelhalter | url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/book-review-the-norm-chronicles-by-michael-blastland-and-david-spiegelhalter-1401751847 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal |date=2014 }}{{cite book | last1= Baggini | first1= J. | title= Die großen Fragen Ethik | chapter= Sind Drogengesetze moralisch inkonsistent? |date=2014 | pages= 56–64 | doi= 10.1007/978-3-642-36371-9_6 | isbn= 978-3-642-36370-2 |language=de}}{{cite book | last1= Watts | first1= Michael | last2= Jolliffe | first2= Gray | title= Sanación psicodélica para el siglo XXI | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=zOMyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT13 | date= 2017 | publisher= Michael Watts | isbn= 9781912317042 | language= es }}{{Dead link|date=January 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{cite book | last1= Gøtzsche | first1= P.C. | title=Deadly Psychiatry and Organised Denial | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K99wCgAAQBAJ |date=2015 | publisher= Art People | isbn= 9788771596243 }}

The issue of the mismatch between lawmakers' classification of recreational drugs, in particular that of cannabis, and scientific measures of their harmfulness surfaced again in October 2009, after the publication of a pamphlet{{cite web|url=http://www.crimeandjustice.org.uk/sites/crimeandjustice.org.uk/files/Estimating%20drug%20harms.pdf|title=David Nutt's pamphlet 'Estimating drug harms: a risky business?'|access-date=29 April 2018}} containing a lecture Nutt had given to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London in July 2009. In this, Nutt repeated his view that illicit drugs should be classified according to the actual evidence of the harm they cause, and presented an analysis in which nine 'parameters of harm' (grouped as 'physical harm', 'dependence', and 'social harms') revealed that alcohol or tobacco were more harmful than LSD, ecstasy or cannabis. In this ranking, alcohol came fifth behind heroin, cocaine, barbiturates and methadone, and tobacco ranked ninth, ahead of cannabis, LSD and ecstasy, he said. In this classification, alcohol and tobacco appeared as Class B drugs, and cannabis was placed at the top of Class C. Nutt also argued that taking cannabis created only a "relatively small risk" of psychotic illness,{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/01/david-nutt-alan-johnstone-drugs|title=David Nutt's sacking provokes mass revolt against Alan Johnson|last=Jones|first=Sam|author2=Robert Booth|date=1 November 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=3 November 2009 |location=London}} and that "the obscenity of hunting down low-level cannabis users to protect them is beyond absurd".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2011/jul/24/war-on-drugs-40-years|title=Richard Nixon's 'war on drugs' began 40 years ago, and the battle is still raging|last=Vuillamy|first=Ed |date=24 July 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=24 July 2011 |location=London}} Nutt objected to the recent re-upgrading (after 5 years) of cannabis from a Class C drug back to a Class B drug (and thus again on a par with amphetamines), considering it politically motivated rather than scientifically justified.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8334948.stm |publisher=BBC |title=Profile: Professor David Nutt |author=Dominic Casciani |date=30 October 2009 }} In October 2009 Nutt had a public disagreement with psychiatrist Robin Murray in the pages of The Guardian about the dangers of cannabis in triggering psychosis.Robin Murray, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/29/cannabis-schizophrenia-classification A clear danger from cannabis], The Guardian, 29 October 2009 replying to David Nutt [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2009/oct/29/cannabis-david-nutt-drug-classification The cannabis conundrum], The Guardian, 29 October 2009

Following the release of this pamphlet, Nutt was dismissed from his ACMD position by the Home Secretary, Alan Johnson. Explaining his dismissal of Nutt, Johnson wrote in a letter to The Guardian that "[Nutt] was asked to go because he cannot be both a government adviser and a campaigner against government policy. [...] As for his comments about horse riding being more dangerous than ecstasy, which you quote with such reverence, it is of course a political rather than a scientific point."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/02/drug-policy-alan-johnson-nutt|title=Why Professor David Nutt was shown the door|last=Johnson|first=Alan|date=2 November 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=3 November 2009 |location=London}} Responding in The Times, Professor Nutt said: "I gave a lecture on the assessment of drug harms and how these relate to the legislation controlling drugs. According to Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, some contents of this lecture meant I had crossed the line from science to policy and so he sacked me. I do not know which comments were beyond the line or, indeed, where the line was [...]".{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6898671.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007065415/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article6898671.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 October 2011|title=Penalties for drug use must reflect harm|last=Nutt|first=David|date=2 November 2009 |newspaper=The Times|access-date=3 November 2009 |location=London}} He maintains that "the ACMD was supposed to give advice on policy".Nutt, David: Drugs - without the hot air. UIT Cambridge, 2012. page 4

In the wake of Nutt's dismissal, Dr Les King, a part-time advisor to the Department of Health, and the senior chemist on the ACMD, resigned from the body.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8336635.stm|title=Government drugs adviser resigns |date=1 November 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=3 November 2009}} His resignation was soon followed by that of Marion Walker, Clinical Director of Berkshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust's substance misuse service, and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society's representative on the ACMD.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8336884.stm|title=Second drugs adviser quits post |date=1 November 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=3 November 2009}}

The Guardian revealed that Alan Johnson ordered what was described as a 'snap review' of the 40-strong ACMD in October 2009. This, it was said, would assess whether the body is "discharging the functions" that it was set up to deliver and decide if it still represented value for money for the public. The review was to be conducted by David Omand.{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2009/nov/02/drugspolicy-drugs|title=Alan Johnson orders swift review of drugs advice body|last=Travis|first=Alan|author2=Deborah Summers |date=2 November 2009|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=3 November 2009 |location=London}} Within hours of that announcement, an article was published online by The Times arguing that Nutt's controversial lecture actually conformed to government guidelines throughout.{{cite news|url=http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2009/11/david-nutts-controversial-lecture-conformed-to-government-guidelines.html |title=David Nutt's controversial lecture conformed to government guidelines |last=Henderson |first=Mark |date=2 November 2009 |newspaper=The Times |access-date=8 September 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091104233405/http://timesonline.typepad.com/science/2009/11/david-nutts-controversial-lecture-conformed-to-government-guidelines.html |archive-date=4 November 2009}} This issue was further publicised a week later when Liberal Democrat science spokesman Dr Evan Harris, MP, attacked the Home Secretary for apparently having misled Parliament and the country in his original statement about Nutt's dismissal.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8349300.stm|title=Johnson 'misled MPs over adviser' |date=8 November 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=10 November 2009}}

John Beddington, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government stated that he agreed with the views of Professor Nutt on cannabis. When asked if he agreed whether cannabis was less harmful than cigarettes and alcohol, he replied: "I think the scientific evidence is absolutely clear cut. I would agree with it."{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8340318.stm|title=Science chief backs cannabis view |last=Ghosh |first=Pallab |date=3 November 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=3 November 2009}} A few days later, it was revealed that a leaked email from the government's Science Minister Lord Drayson was quoted as saying Mr Johnson's decision to dismiss Nutt without consulting him was a "big mistake" that left him "pretty appalled".{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/8347828.stm|title=Minister 'backs adviser autonomy' |date=6 November 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=10 November 2009}}

On 4 November, the BBC reported that Nutt had financial backing to create a new independent drug research body if the ACMD was disbanded or proved incapable of functioning.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8342454.stm|title=Nutt vows to set up new drug body |date=4 November 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=10 November 2009}} This new body, the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs (later renamed DrugScience), was launched in January 2010 (later on to establish, in 2013, the journal Drug Science, Policy and Law). On 10 November 2009, after a meeting between ACMD and Alan Johnson, three other scientists tendered their resignations, Dr Simon Campbell, a chemist, psychologist Dr John Marsden and scientific consultant Ian Ragan.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8353685.stm|title=Three more drugs advisers resign |date=10 November 2009|work=BBC News|access-date=10 November 2009}}

In an 11 November 2009 editorial in The Lancet, Nutt explicitly attributed his dismissal to a conflict between government and science, and reiterated that "I have repeatedly stated [cannabis] is not safe, but that the idea that you can reduce use through raising the classification in the Misuse of Drugs Act from class C to class B—where it had previously been placed, but thus now increasing the maximum penalty for possession for personal use to 5 years in prison—is implausible."{{cite journal |last1= Nutt |first1= D. |author-link1= David Nutt |title= Government vs science over drug and alcohol policy |journal= The Lancet |volume= 374 |issue= 9703 |pages= 1731–1733 |year= 2009 |doi= 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)61956-5 |pmid=19910043|s2cid= 31723334 }} In a rejoinder, William Cullerne Bown of Research Fortnight pointed out that the framing of science vs. government was misleading because the weighting of the factors in Nutt's 2007 Lancet paper was arbitrary, and consequently that there was no scientific answer to ranking drugs.{{cite journal |last1= Bown |first1= W. C. |title= Nutt damage |journal= The Lancet |volume= 375 |issue= 9716 |pages= 723–724 |year= 2010 |doi= 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60301-7|pmid= 20189019 |s2cid= 205957921 |doi-access= free }} In reply, Nutt admitted the limitations of the original study, and wrote that ACMD was in the process of devising a multicriteria decision-making approach when he was dismissed. Nutt reiterated that "The repeated claims by Gordon Brown's government that it had scientific evidence that trumped that of the ACMD and the acknowledgment that it was only interested in scientific evidence that supported its political aims was a cynical misuse of scientific evidence that breached the principles of the 1971 Act and was insulting to Council." Nutt announced that he and number of colleagues that had resigned from the ACMD had set up an Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs.{{cite journal |last1= Nutt |first1= D. |author-link1= David Nutt |title= Nutt damage – Author's reply |journal= The Lancet |volume= 375 |issue= 9716 |pages= 724 |year= 2010 |doi= 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60302-9|s2cid= 54387485 |doi-access= free }}

A subsequent review of policy drafted by Lord Drayson essentially reaffirmed that the scientific advisers to the government can be dismissed under similar circumstances: "Government and its scientific advisers should not act to undermine mutual trust."{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advice-to-government-principles|title=Scientific advice to government: principles|website=GOV.UK|access-date=29 April 2018}} This clause was kept despite protest from Sense about Science, Campaign for Science and Engineering, and Liberal Democrat MP Evan Harris; according to Lord Drayson, the clause was requested by John Beddington, the Chief Scientific Adviser to the UK Government.Nick Dusic (24 March 2010) [http://blog.sciencecampaign.org.uk/?p=874 Principles of Scientific Advice], Campaign for Science and Engineering Leslie Iversen was announced as the successor of Nutt as the chair of the ACMD in January 2010.{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8455642.stm|title=Focus on cannabis 'past history'|date=29 April 2018|access-date=29 April 2018|work=BBC News}}

David Nutt is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences. He holds visiting professorships in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. He is a past president of the British Association of Psychopharmacology and of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He was the recipient of the 2013 John Maddox Prize for promoting sound science and evidence on a matter of public interest, whilst facing difficulty or hostility in doing so.{{YouTube|tDFvaQq_YBs|David Nutt: John Maddox Prize winner 2013}} He is past president of the British Neuroscience Association and past president of the European Brain Council.{{cite web|title=List of Officers|url=http://www.europeanbraincouncil.org/about-us/officers.asp|publisher=European Brain Council|access-date=22 February 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160302032229/http://www.europeanbraincouncil.org/about-us/officers.asp|archive-date=2 March 2016}}

His book Drugs Without the Hot Air (UIT press) won the Salon London Transmission Prize in 2014.{{cite web|title=List of Transmission Prize winners|publisher=Foyles|url=https://www.foyles.co.uk/public/biblio/prizedetails.aspx?prizeid=1039|access-date=9 January 2023}}

David Nutt lives in Bristol, with his wife Diana. He has four children.{{Cite book |first=David |last=Nutt |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1249695577 |title=Nutt Uncut |date=2021 |publisher=Waterside Press |isbn=978-1-909976-85-6 |oclc=1249695577}}

Nutt is a Patron of My Death My Decision, an organisation which seeks a more compassionate approach to dying in the UK, including the legal right to a medically assisted death, if that is a person's persistent wish.{{cite web|url=https://www.mydeath-mydecision.org.uk/about/|title=About Us|website=mydeath-decision.org|access-date=2021-03-25}}

• {{cite journal|last1=Carhart-Harris|first1=RL|title=Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging|journal=PNAS|volume= 113|issue=17|year=2016|doi=10.1073/pnas.1518377113|display-authors=etal|pages=4853–4858|pmid=27071089|pmc=4855588|bibcode=2016PNAS..113.4853C|doi-access=free}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Nutt|first1=David|last2=Baldwin|first2=David|last3=Aitchison|first3=Katherine|title=Benzodiazepines: Risks and benefits. A reconsideration|journal=J Psychopharmacol |volume=27|issue=11|pages=967–71|year=2013|pmid=24067791|doi=10.1177/0269881113503509|s2cid=8040368|url=http://www.bap.org.uk/pdfs/Benzodiazepines_Guidelines_2013.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150902090546/http://www.bap.org.uk/pdfs/Benzodiazepines_Guidelines_2013.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 September 2015}}
• {{cite journal|last1=Amsterdam|first1=Jan|last2=Nutt|first2=David|last3=Brink|first3=Wim|title=Generic legislation of new psychoactive drugs|journal=J Psychopharmacol |volume=27|issue=3|pages=317–324|year=2013|pmid=23343598|doi=10.1177/0269881112474525|s2cid=12288500|url=https://www.tni.org/files/generic-legislation-nps.pdf}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Carhart-Harris |first1=RL |last2=Erritzoe |first2=D |last3=Williams |first3=T |last4=Stone |first4=JM |last5=Reed |first5=LJ |last6=Colasanti |first6=A |last7=Tyacke |first7=RJ |last8=Leech |first8=R |last9=Malizia |first9=AL |last10=Murphy |first10=K |last11=Hobden |first11=P |last12=Evans |first12=J |last13=Feilding |first13=A |last14=Wise |first14=RG |last15=Nutt |first15=DJ |title=Neural correlates of the psychedelic state as determined by fMRI studies with psilocybin |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |volume=109 |issue=6 |pages=2138–43 |date=February 2012 |pmid=22308440 |pmc=3277566 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1119598109|doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal |author1=David J Nutt |author2=Harrison PJ |author3=Baldwin DS |author4=Barnes TR |title=No psychiatry without psychopharmacology |journal=Br J Psychiatry |volume=199 |issue=4 |pages=263–5 |date=October 2011 |pmid=22187725 |doi=10.1192/bjp.bp.111.094334 |display-authors=etal|doi-access=free }}
• {{cite journal |last1= Nutt |first1= DJ |last2= Lingford-Hughes |first2= A |last3= Chick |first3= J |year= 2012 |title= Through a glass darkly: can we improve clarity about mechanism and aims of medications in drug and alcohol treatments? |journal= Journal of Psychopharmacology |volume= 26 |issue= 2 |pages= 199–204 |doi=10.1177/0269881111410899|pmid= 22287478 |doi-access= free }}
• {{cite journal |author=Nutt J. D.J. |title=Highlights of the international consensus statement on major depressive disorder |journal=J Clin Psychiatry |volume=72 |issue=6 |pages=e21 |date=June 2011 |pmid=21733474 |doi=10.4088/JCP.9058tx2c}}
• {{cite journal |author=((Nutt DJ, King LA, Phillips LD; Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs)) |title=Drug harms in the UK: a multicriteria decision analysis |journal=Lancet |volume=376 |issue=9752 |pages=1558–65 |date=November 2010 |pmid=21036393 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(10)61462-6 |url= http://www.ias.org.uk/uploads/pdf/News%20stories/dnutt-lancet-011110.pdf

|citeseerx=10.1.1.690.1283 |s2cid=5667719 }}

• {{cite journal |vauthors=Nutt D, King LA, Saulsbury W, Blakemore C |title=Development of a rational scale to assess the harm of drugs of potential misuse |journal=Lancet |volume=369 |issue=9566 |pages=1047–53 |date=March 2007 |pmid=17382831 |doi=10.1016/S0140-6736(07)60464-4 |s2cid=5903121 |url=http://www.antoniocasella.eu/archila/NUTT_2007.pdf }}
• {{cite journal |last1= Nutt |first1= D |year= 2006 |title= Alcohol Alternatives: A Goal for Psychopharmacology? |url= http://politicsofsin.50megs.com/alcohol/318.html |journal= Journal of Psychopharmacology |volume= 20 |issue= 3|pages= 318–320 |doi=10.1177/0269881106063042 |pmid=16574703|s2cid= 44290147 |url-access= subscription }}

• {{cite book |author=David J. Nutt |title=Drugs Without the Hot Air: Minimising the Harms of Legal and Illegal Drugs |location=Cambridge |publisher=UIT |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-906860-16-5}}
• {{cite book |author=David J. Nutt |title=Drink?: The New Science of Alcohol and Your Health |publisher=Yellow Kite |year=2020 |isbn=978-1-529393-23-1}}
• David J. Nutt (2021). Nutt Uncut. Waterside Press.
• David J. Nutt (2021). Brain and Mind Made Simple. Waterside Press.
• David J. Nutt (2022). Cannabis (seeing through the smoke): The New Science of Cannabis and Your Health. Yellow Kite.
• {{cite book |author=David J. Nutt |title=Psychedelics: The revolutionary drugs that could change your life – a guide from the expert |publisher=Yellow Kite |year=2023 |isbn=978-1-529360-53-0}}

Pharmacotherapy

• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Roni Shiloh |author3=Stryjer Rafael |author4=Abraham Weizman |title=Essentials in Clinical Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy, Second Edition |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=London; New York |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-415-39983-8}} 1st ed(2001):{{ISBN|1-84184-092-0}}.
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Roni Shiloh |author3=Rafael Stryjer |author4=Abraham Weizman |title=Atlas of Psychiatric Pharmacotherapy, Second Edition |publisher=Taylor & Francis |location=New York |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-84184-281-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1841842818}} 1st ed(1999):{{ISBN|1-85317-630-3}}.
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Adam Doble |author3=Ian L. Martin |title=Calming the brain: benzodiazepines and related drugs from laboratory to clinic |publisher=Martin Dunitz |location=London |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-84184-052-9}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Mike Briley |title=Anxiolytics |publisher=Birkhäuser Verlag |location=Basel etc. |year=2000 |isbn=978-3-7643-6032-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=3764360321}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Wallace B. Mendelson |title=Hypnotics and Anxiolytics |publisher=Bailliere Tindall |location=London |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-7020-1955-5}}

Brain science

• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Martin Sarter |author3=Richard G. Lister |title=Benzodiazepine receptor inverse agonists |publisher=Wiley-Liss |location=New York |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-471-56173-6}}

Addiction and associated disorder

• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Trevor W. Robbins |author3=Barry J. Everitt |title=The neurobiology of addiction: new vistas |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2010 |isbn=978-0-19-956215-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0199562156}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Noeline Latt |author3=Katherine Conigrave |author4=Jane Marshall |author5=John Saunders |title=Addiction medicine |series=Oxford Psychiatry Library |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-953933-8 |doi=10.1093/med/9780199539338.001.0001}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=George F. Koob |author3=Mustafa al'Absi |title=Bundle for researchers in Stress and Addiction |publisher=Academic Press |location=Boston |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-12-374868-3}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Trevor W. Robbins |author3=Gerald V. Stimson |author4=Martin Ince |author5=Andrew Jackson |title=Drugs and the future: brain science, addiction and society |publisher=Academic Press |location=Boston |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-12-370624-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0123706246}}

Anxiety disorders

• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=James C. Ballenger |title=Anxiety disorders |publisher=Blackwell Science |location=Oxford |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-632-05938-6}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Eric J.L. Griez |author3=Carlo Faravelli |author4=Joseph Zohar |title=Anxiety disorders: an introduction to clinical management and research |publisher=Wiley |location=New York |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-471-97873-2 |doi=10.1002/0470846437}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Spilios Argyropoulos |author3=Adrian Feeney |title=Anxiety Disorders Comorbid with Depression: Panic Disorder and Agoraphobia |publisher=Martin Dunitz |location=London |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-84184-049-9}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Karl Rickels |author3=Dan J. Stein |title=Generalised Anxiety Disorder: Symptomatology, Pathogenesis and Management |publisher=Martin Dunitz |location=London |year=2002 |isbn=978-1-84184-131-1}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Spilios Argyropoulos |author3=Sam Forshall |title=Generalized Anxiety Disorder: Diagnosis, Treatment and Its Relationship to Other Anxiety Disorders, 3rd edition |publisher=Martin Dunitz |location=London |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-84184-135-9}} 1st ed(1998):{{ISBN|1-85317-659-1}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Spilios Argyropoulos |author3=Sean Hood |title=Clinician's manual on anxiety disorders and comorbid depression |publisher=Science Press |location=London |year=2000 |isbn=978-1-85873-397-5}}

Other disorders

• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Sidney H. Kennedy |author3=Raymond W. Lam |author4=Michael E. Thase |title=Treating Depression Effectively: Applying Clinical Guidelines, Second Edition |publisher=Informa Healthcare |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-415-43910-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0415439108}} 1st ed(2004):{{ISBN|1-84184-328-8}}.
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Caroline Bell |author-link2=Caroline Bell (academic) |author3=John Potokar |title=Depression. Anxiety and the Mixed Condition - pocketbook |publisher=Martin Dunitz |location=London |year=1996 |isbn=978-1-85317-359-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1853173592}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Eric J. L. Griez |author3=Carlo Faravelli |author4=Joseph Zohar |title=Mood disorders: clinical management and research issues |publisher=J. Wiley |location=London |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-470-09426-6|doi=10.1002/0470094281}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Caroline Bell |author3=Christine Masterson |author4=Clare Short |title=Mood and anxiety disorders in children and adolescents: a psychopharmacological |publisher=Martin Dunitz |location=London |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-85317-924-2}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=James C. Ballenger |author3=Jean Pierre Lépine |title=Panic Disorder: Clinical Diagnosis, Management and Mechanisms |publisher=Martin Dunitz |location=London |year=1999 |isbn=978-1-85317-518-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=1853175188}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Murray B. Stein |author3=Joseph Zohar |title=Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Diagnosis, Management And Treatment, Second Edition |publisher=Informa Healthcare |location=London |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-415-39571-7}} 1st(2000):{{ISBN|1-85317-926-4}}.

Sleep and connected disorder

• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Sue Wilson |title=Sleep disorders |series=Oxford Psychiatry Library |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-19-923433-2|doi=10.1093/med/9780199234332.001.0001|url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0199234337}}
• {{cite book |author1=David J. Nutt |author2=Jaime M. Monti |author3=S. R. Pandi-Perumal |author4=Barry L. Jacobs |title=Serotonin and Sleep: Molecular, Functional and Clinical Aspects |journal=Sleep |publisher=Birkhäuser |location=Basel |year=2008 |volume=32 |issue=5 |pages=699–700 |isbn=978-3-7643-8560-6|doi=10.1007/978-3-7643-8561-3 |pmc=2675905 |url=https://books.google.com/books?isbn=3764385618}} (PMC link is a 2-page book review)

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://www1.imperial.ac.uk/medicine/people/d.nutt University profile]
• {{Twitter}}
• [http://drugscience.org.uk/blog/ David Nutt's blog] ([http://profdavidnutt.wordpress.com/ previous blog])
• Profile on David Nutt in Science. The dangerous professor. Science, 31 January 2014, 343, 478–81.{{cite journal|title=The Dangerous Professor|first=Kai|last=Kupferschmidt|date=31 January 2014|journal=Science|volume=343|issue=6170|pages=478–481|doi=10.1126/science.343.6170.478|pmid=24482461|bibcode=2014Sci...343..478K}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nutt, David John}}

Category:Academics of Imperial College London

Category:Academics of the University of Bristol

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Category:British drug policy reform activists

Category:Living people

Category:Neurochemists

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Category:Psychedelic drug researchers

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Category:1951 births

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Category:John Maddox Prize recipients