The 10:23 Campaign (stylized as 1023) is an awareness and protest campaign against homoeopathy organised by the Merseyside Skeptics Society, [1] a non-profit organisation, to oppose the sale of homoeopathic products in the United Kingdom. The campaign has staged public "overdoses" of homoeopathic preparations. [2] [3]
In 2004, the Belgian skeptical organisation SKEPP made headlines when thirty skeptics at Ghent University performed a "mass suicide stunt" with an overdose of homeopathically diluted snake poison, belladonna and arsenic, in an attempt to publicly show that homeopathy does not work. [4] [5] [6] When Belgian skeptics met with Merseyside Skeptics during a Skeptics in the Pub in 2010, the idea was adopted to hold an international event. [7]
The campaign's name, 10:23, comes from the Avogadro number, which is approximately 6.022 × 1023. [8]
The campaign aims to raise awareness of implausible and unsubstantiated claims made by homoeopaths. [1] It opposes high street retailers, such as Boots UK, stocking homoeopathic remedies alongside mainstream medicines, [3] saying that "the support lent by Boots to this quack therapy contributes directly to its acceptance as a valid medical treatment by the British public, acceptance it does not warrant and support it does not deserve." [9]
The organisers state that homoeopathy is "an unscientific and absurd pseudoscience", [3] and that, according to their statement, "There is nothing in it." [10] [11] They question the ethics of selling treatments to the public which have not been proven to be efficacious and are widely disregarded by the scientific community. [12]
On 30 January 2010, members participated in a protest involving a mass overdose of homoeopathic products to demonstrate its inefficacy. [2] [3] [13] Many protesters stood outside branches of Boots UK, other shops selling homoeopathic products, and other prominent public spaces and took 84 pills each of arsenicum album, 20 times the recommended dose. [3]
A second overdose was organised for 5–6 February 2011. [14] Worldwide, the campaign received commitments of participation from 70 cities in 30 countries. [15] [16] In the United Kingdom, events took place in Manchester, as part of the QED Conference, [17] and Cardiff. [18] The original Belgian SKEPP and the Dutch organisations Vereniging tegen de Kwakzalverij and Stichting Skepsis also participated in the worldwide 10:23 Campaign. They carried out their tongue-in-cheek suicide attempt in Brussels and Amsterdam specifically to protest the recognition of homeopathic preparations by the European Parliament. [19] [20] Czech Sisyfos organization joined this happening when its members tried to publicly overdose themselves in Prague. [21] [22]
In April 2012, at the Berkeley SkeptiCal conference, over 100 people participated in a mass overdose, taking caffea cruda, which is intended to treat sleeplessness. [23] [24]
There have been no reports of ill effects following any of the overdoses. [25]
Notable scientists and public figures have shown support for the 10:23 Campaign, including Phil Plait, [26] James Randi Educational Foundation, [27] Simon Singh, [28] Steven Novella, [29] Penn Jillette, [30] and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science. [31]
James Randi invited advocates and retailers of homoeopathy to take the One Million Dollar Paranormal Challenge to prove that homoeopathy was efficacious to win a prize and himself overdosed on homoeopathic sleeping pills as part of his stage show. [32] [33] [34]
The campaign gained international coverage in the press from The Australian , [35] The Medical Observer , [36] BBC, [3] The Independent , [12] The Telegraph, [37] and The Guardian . [38]
The British Homeopathic Association dismissed the 10:23 Campaign as "grossly irresponsible", describing the public overdose as dangerous, and claimed that the participants had no understanding of how to select remedies appropriately. [39]
Melbourne-based Dr Ken Harvey told Pharmacy News "the campaign would raise awareness of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) transparency review and concerns over homeopathic products." [40]
James Randi was a Canadian-American stage magician, author, and scientific skeptic who extensively challenged paranormal and pseudoscientific claims. He was the co-founder of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), and founder of the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF). Randi began his career as a magician under the stage name The Amazing Randi and later chose to devote most of his time to investigating paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims. Randi retired from practicing magic at age 60, and from his foundation at 87.
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The Irish Skeptics Society (ISS) is a scientific skeptical organisation based in Ireland. It was launched in December 2002 and publishes a newsletter called Skeptical Times. The ISS is a member of the European Council of Skeptical Organisations (ECSO).
Skeptics in the Pub is an informal social event designed to promote fellowship and social networking among skeptics, critical thinkers, freethinkers, rationalists and other like-minded individuals. It provides an opportunity for skeptics to talk, share ideas and have fun in a casual atmosphere, and discuss whatever topical issues come to mind, while promoting skepticism, science, and rationality.
The Centre for Inquiry Canada (CFIC) is a not-for-profit educational organization with headquarters in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The Canadian organization was founded as a member and volunteer driven organization in 2007. It is the Canadian affiliate of CFI Transnational. Their primary mission is to provide education and training to the public in the application of skeptical, secular, rational and humanistic inquiry through conferences, symposia, lectures, published works and the maintenance of a library.
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Edinburgh Skeptics is a nonprofit organisation that promotes science, reason and critical thinking in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland. It was founded in 2009. The Society hosts regular social and educational events in Edinburgh and has campaigned against the use of homeopathy and challenged claims of ghost sightings.
The Merseyside Skeptics Society (MSS) is a nonprofit organisation that promotes scientific scepticism in Merseyside and the United Kingdom. Founded in 2009, the society has campaigned against the use of homeopathy, challenged the claims of psychics, and hosts regular events in Liverpool, podcasts, and an annual conference in Manchester, QED: Question. Explore. Discover.
SKEPP is an independent Belgian organization which promotes scientific skepticism. The organization’s name is a backronym for Studiekring voor de Kritische Evaluatie van Pseudowetenschap en het Paranormale.
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The Gesellschaft zur wissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Parawissenschaften (GWUP) is a non-profit organisation promoting scientific skepticism, headquartered in Roßdorf, Germany. Its estimated membership in 2016 is 1300 who are scientists or laypersons interested in science. The GWUP annually hosts a conference with varying key subjects.
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Michael "Marsh" Marshall is a British skeptical activist and the editor of The Skeptic magazine since September 2020. He is the co-founder and vice-president of the Merseyside Skeptics Society and co-host of its official podcast, Skeptics with a K, project director of the Good Thinking Society, and has occasionally written for The Times, The Guardian and New Statesman. As of 2022, Marshall is a fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.
