Alcohol is one of the five most addictive substances on the planet

To come up with the ranking, scientists averaged three factors: pleasure, psychological dependence and physical dependence

Drink, drugs and nicotine all rank highly in The Lancet's study (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

Ranking drugs based on how addictive they are is tough work, since we all react differently to distinct substances. Nevertheless, a group of addiction experts including specialists from the Royal College of Psychiatrists as well as chemists, forensic scientists, and pharmacologists recently took a stab, and published their ranking in the journal The Lancet.

(Mike Nudelman/Business Insider (Mike Nudelman/Business Insider)

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