Why is it that the most addictive substances are also the most dangerous? Shouldn’t those two factors be independent?
In: Chemistry
The answer is that they aren’t. At least not really.
The most addictive drugs would be things like cocaine or fentanyl. Those have estimated LD50 of 96mg/kg and about 1mg/kg, respectively. Very deadly, but not even close to being the most deadly substances out there.
The most lethal substance we know of, botulinum toxin, has an LD50 of only 2-3 *nanograms* per kilogram when inhaled. That’s nearly a million times more deadly than fentanyl.
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