metric: drug dangerousness metric: drug therapeutic index

Some recreational drugs seem dangerous, while others seem safe. We'd like a way dependency
ED50 TD50 potential other notes
to measure "drug dangerousness"—to give danger a number, and the more
dangerous the drug, the higher the number. We want a metric for danger. alcohol 30 mg 300 mg moderate
LSD 0.1 mg 100 mg very low
1. What elements might make a drug "dangerous"? (Eg, it's highly addictive.)
So many options. Here are a few: heroine 8 mg 50 mg very high
• it's highly addictive nicotine 1 mg 50 mg high
• it causes emotionally disturbing behaviors caffeine 100 mg 10 g low-moderate
• it increases probability of harming others cocaine 80 mg 1.2 g moderate-high
• overdosing is easy (small difference between normal- and over-dose)
• it's toxic unless properly purified
4. Based on your gut feeling, which drug above is most dangerous, and why?
[Opinion, obviously.]
• it's dangerous if mis-administered

5. What is the Therapeutic Index of cocaine? TD50/ED50 = 1200mg/80mg = 15

2. Create a metric for drug dangerousness. In other words, describe a way of
calculating a single number that represents a drug's danger level. Your metric
will NOT capture everything about a drug's dangerousness. That's okay.
[Up to you, but this is challenging!]
6. Could a drug have a high Therapeutic Index but still be dangerous? Explain.
Absolutely! A drug could be highly addictive, cause emotionally disturbing
behaviors (which may not be considered physiologically "toxic"), increase
probability of harming others (which may not be recognized in a "toxicity" test),
be extremely toxic if impure or mis-administered, etc.

7. The US DEA classifies "controlled substances" (potentially dangerous drugs).

LSD, heroine, and cocaine are listed by the DEA; alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine
are not. Does Therapeutic Index predict whether a drug is listed by the DEA?
No. See table below, in order of therapeutic index.
ED50 TD50 therapeutic index DEA schedule
LSD 0.1 mg 100 mg 1000 1
caffeine 100 mg 10 g 100 unscheduled
nicotine 1 mg 50 mg 50 unscheduled
3. What's one element of "drug dangerousness" that you find important, and cocaine 80 mg 1.2 g 15 2
alcohol 30 mg 300 mg 10 unscheduled
you're proud that your metric (kinda) captures that element?
heroine 8 mg 50 mg 6 1
[Ideally, your metrics should reflect your values.]
8. Hypothesize a biological reason for an apparent mismatch. (Hint: see Q5.)
Many options! A hypothesis is just a guess at an explanation. Here's mine:
LSD has a very high therapeutic index, but maybe LSD is listed because it
causes behavior that could traumatize others, even if its not toxic for the user.
(I think this is a really bad guess, but I know almost nothing about LSD L)
Decide what you care about (Q1) before you decide what you'll measure (Q2),
because we tend to care about the things we measure (GDP, GPA, income…). 9. Hypothesize a social or historical reason for an apparent mismatch.
[Again, many options.] Biologically, it's hard to justify alcohol's unlisted status.
Maybe it's unlisted because the people who make laws in the USA tend to be
from European cultures, and alcohol is a historically common drug in Europe.