28 Facts About David Nutt

David John Nutt was born on 16 April 1951 and is an English neuropsychopharmacologist specialising in the research of drugs that affect the brain and conditions such as addiction, anxiety, and sleep.

David Nutt is the chairman of Drug Science, a non-profit which he founded in 2010 to provide independent, evidence-based information on drugs.

David Nutt completed his secondary education at Bristol Grammar School and then studied medicine at Downing College, Cambridge, graduating in 1972.

David Nutt is an editor of the Journal of Psychopharmacology, and in 2014 was elected president of the European Brain Council.

In 2007 David Nutt published a controversial study on the harms of drug use in The Lancet.

In 2013, Drug Science launched the peer-reviewed Journal of Drug Science, Policy and Law, with David Nutt appointed as Editor.

David Nutt is the deputy head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.

In November 2010, David Nutt published another study in The Lancet, co-authored with Les King and Lawrence Phillips on behalf of this independent Committee.

David Nutt has written about this topic in newspapers for the general public, sometimes leading to public disagreements with other researchers.

David Nutt is campaigning for a change in UK drug laws to allow for more research opportunities.

David Nutt calls it "Alcarelle", but does not disclose the exact chemical.

In collaboration with Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation, David Nutt is working on the effects of psychedelics on cerebral blood flow.

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

David Nutt served on the Committee on Safety of Medicines where he participated in an enquiry into the use of SSRI anti-depressants in 2003.

David Nutt's participation was criticised as, owing to his financial interest in GlaxoSmithKline, he had to withdraw from discussions of the drug paroxetine.

David 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".

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 containing a lecture David Nutt had given to the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies at King's College London in July 2009.

David Nutt objected to the recent re-upgrading of cannabis from a Class C drug back to a Class B drug, considering it politically motivated rather than scientifically justified.

In October 2009 David Nutt had a public disagreement with psychiatrist Robin Murray in the pages of The Guardian about the dangers of cannabis in triggering psychosis.

David Nutt maintains that "the ACMD was supposed to give advice on policy".

David Nutt's resignation was 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.

In reply, David 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.

David Nutt is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences.

David Nutt holds visiting professorships in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands.

David Nutt is a past president of the British Association of Psychopharmacology and of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

David Nutt 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.

David Nutt is past president of the British Neuroscience Association and past president of the European Brain Council.

David 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.