Prof David Nutt was appointed chairman of the UK Government's Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), in 2008. In 2009 he published an editorial in the Journal of Psychopharmacology, comparing the harms caused by horse-riding with the effect of taking ecstasy. As a result of this and other comments on the harms caused by legal and illegal drugs, he was sacked by the then Home Secretary. In Drugs - without the hot air Prof Nutt explains that all drugs are harmful, from tobacco to heroin. But not all drugs harm equally: the reader can make an informed decision regarding their own and their children's lifestyle. This book, born out of the controversy when he was sacked by HM Government, shows the deep rift between the Government's need to appear tough on drugs on the one hand, and a rational evidence-based approach to drugs legislation and treatment. Prof Nutt shows how the overall harms of a drug can be quantified, addressing issues ranging from direct danger of death, through to environmental, financial and family factors, to a give a true indication of the overall effect of a drug. He explains in depth how the common drugs - from heroin and cocaine, to alcohol and tobacco - affect us, and why we take them. Then, working from the facts, he recommends how society ought to address drugs and drug-taking, to minimize the harms at every level.