'Drug Use For Grown-Ups' Serves As An Argument For Personal Choice
Dr. Carl Hart's positions on drug use and availability may seem quite extreme to some — but are thoughtful and data-driven. He asserts that racism is a major factor in the negative image drugs carry.
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 you actually took a puff off that joint that the kid who slept through math class offered you, it could lead to failed relationships, chronic unemployment, self-destruction.
The shame would outlive you.
But drugs are a more complicated matter than they've been made out to be, according to Dr. Carl L. Hart. In his new book , the Columbia University professor of psychology and psychiatry zealously argues that drug use should be a matter of personal choice — and
