Bankers' cocaine use caused financial crisis - ex-govt drug adviser

Former top drugs adviser to the government David Nutt has made a controversial claim that the financial crisis was caused by bankers' habitual use of cocaine, the Telegraph reports.

Nutt said cocaine overuse made bankers "overconfident" and caused them to take more risks, leading not only to the most recent crisis, but also the collapse of Barings bank in 1995. He said cocaine was part of the City's "culture of excitement and drive". The Telegraph quotes him saying: "Bankers use cocaine and got us into this terrible mess. It is a ‘more' drug". Nutt has made many a controversial claim about drugs and was fired as the government's most senior drug advisor in 2009, after saying there was "not much difference" between the harm caused by horse riding and taking ecs...