Relative Addictiveness of Various Substances

In Health, Nov/Dec 1990

"To rank today's commonly used drugs by their addictiveness, we asked experts to consider two questions: How easy is it to get hooked on these substances and how hard is it to stop using them? Although a person's vulnerability to drug also depends on individual traits -- physiology, psychology, and social and economic pressures -- these rankings reflect only the addictive potential inherent in the drug. The numbers below are relative rankings, based on the experts' scores for each substance:

100       Nicotine
99         Ice, Glass (Methamphetamine smoked)
98         Crack
93         Crystal Meth (Methamphetamine injected)
85         Valium (Diazepam)
83         Quaalude (Methaqualone)
82         Seconal (Secobarbital)
81         Alcohol
80         Heroin
78         Crank (Amphetamine taken nasally)
72         Cocaine
68         Caffeine
57         PCP (Phencyclidine)
21         Marijuana
20         Ecstasy (MDMA)
18         Psilocybin Mushrooms
18         LSD
18         Mescaline

Research by John Hastings
Relative rankings are definite, numbers given are (+/-)1%