While the harms associated with high and frequent alcohol consumption have been well-understood, recently emerging evidence demonstrates that even light-to-moderate alcohol consumption is associated with physical, psychological and social harm to individuals and society. In 2010, members of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs applied ‘multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) modelling to a range of drug harms in the UK’ and subsequently published the results of the analysis in The Lancet. Using 16 criteria, they calculated a comprehensive “harm-score” which took into consideration harm caused by drug-specific mortality, drug-related mortality, damage and mental impairment, dependence, loss of tangibles (such as income, housing, job), loss of relationships, injury, crime, environmental damage, family adversities, international damage, economic cost and cost to the community. Using these parameters, alcohol with an overall score of 72 (out of 100), was judged to be the most harmful substance followed by heroin at 55, then crack cocaine with a score of 54. Authors of the report concluded that aggressively targeting harm caused by alcohol is a valid and necessary public health strategy.