“I have to make sure I don't engage in conversations with people who don't abide by the rules of evidence.” - Dr. Carl Hart
DRUG USE FOR GROWN-UPS
I wrote this book to present a more realistic image of the typical drug user: a responsible professional who happens to use drugs in his pursuit of happiness. Also, I wanted to remind the public that no benevolent government should forbid autonomous adults from altering their consciousness, as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others.
After reading this book, I hope you will be less likely to vilify individuals merely because they use drugs. That thinking has led to an incalculable number of deaths and an enormous amount of suffering. I am confident that you will come away with an appreciation for the prodigious potential good derived from drug use and a deeper understanding of why so many responsible grown-ups engage in this behavior.
If the ideas expressed in this book are embraced, we can get on with the business of treating each other better and enjoying more meaningful and fulfilling lives. And isn’t that what we all want?
‘Drug Use For Grown-Ups’ Serves As An Argument For Personal Choice.
If you grew up scared of what illicit drugs could do to you — hearing about all the horrors that could befall you from everyone from Nancy Reagan to your parents — the threat may have felt very real: If
A timely, fact-based, coherent, humane counterargument to America’s spectacularly failed War on Drugs.
A Starred Review Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear. By Carl L. Hart Jan. 2021. By grown-ups, Columbia University psychology professor Hart, who studies the effects of psychoactive drugs in humans, here means “autonomous,
Hart’s scientific training and personal use of drugs has informed his research and opinions, but the book is also shaped by his experience as a Black man.
A Starred Review As more and more states across the country legalize marijuana, and as popular opinion toward the war on drugs sours, Dr. Carl L. Hart’s new book arrives at the perfect time. In Drug Use for Grown-Ups:
Breaking Drug Taboos.
I grew up in the suburban world of D.A.R.E. programs and alarmist anti-drug PSAs, so I approached this book with knee-jerk skepticism. Won’t illicit drugs, save for marijuana, almost always lead to addiction? Aren’t most controlled substances inherently dangerous?
How to legalize marijuana: To combat racial discrimination, New York must do this right
But more than 80 years later, Black and Brown New Yorkers represent more than 90% of those arrested for low-level marijuana charges, even though they do not use the drug more than their white counterpart. This disproportionate rate of arrests is the definition of racial discrimination.
Carl Hart: Drug Use for Grown-Ups
“I am now entering my fifth year as a regular heroin user,” says Columbia University neuroscientist Carl Hart, the author of Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear. “I am better for my drug use.” The 54-year-old father and military veteran makes a powerfully documented case that responsible adults should be free to buy, sell, and use whatever substances they want to and that policy discussions about drug use have been polluted by bad information and moral posturing.
Politics & Prose: Dr. Carl Hart in conversation with Melissa Harris-Perry
From one of the world’s foremost experts on the subject, a powerful argument that the greatest damage from drugs flows from their being illegal, and a hopeful reckoning with the possibility of their use as part of a responsible and happy life.
US Professor visits Switzerland’s infamous Needle Park
His name is short and powerful as two fist blows, but his appearance is gentle and relaxed. Carl Hart with unrestrained Rasta hair and earrings, …
"Science should be driving our drug policies, even if it makes us uncomfortable."
-Dr. Carl Hart
Sandra Bland’s Toxicology Report Does Not Support Reefer Madness Claims
The “drug-crazed black person” myth continues to be revitalized decade after decade by racists masquerading as public servants.
