Watch that booze: "Two of the British Government's most senior drug policy scientific advisors have just ranked alcohol and tobacco ahead of such Class A illegal drugs LSD and ecstasy in terms of the dangers they pose. On a new "league table" of both legal and illegal drugs, based on the harm they do, alcohol is listed as the fifth most dangerous drug and tobacco the ninth. That would male alcohol a likely Class A drug and tobacco a Class B drug -- both illegal under the current classification system. According to Professor David Nutt of the British Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs and Colin Blakemore, the chief executive of the Medical Research Council, who drew up the list, tobacco and alcohol cause about 40 times the total number of deaths from all illegal drugs combined.


Scots kids dodging food fascists too: "Entrepreneurial pupils are cashing in on a ban on unhealthy foods in schools. Youngsters are setting up businesses and doing a roaring trade selling forbidden sweets such as chocolate, fizzy drinks and crisps to schoolmates. Such plots were highlighted in the newsletter of the Scottish Parent Teacher Council. Judith Gillespie, the group's development manager, said: "Kids are kids. If you put a rule in place, they will find a way round it. "It's certainly enterprising, although not what the Scottish Executive would regard as enterprise - they would have a rather more po-faced take on it, I'm sure." Ms Gillespie stressed that she was in favour of children having a healthy and nutritious diet. But she added: "It's brilliant that kids are seeing a gap in the market. They are tremendous entrepreneurs.""