High price
a neuroscientist's journey of self-discovery that challEnglishes everything you know about drugs and society
by Carl L. Hart · first published 2013
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"As a youth, Carl Hart didn't realize the value of school; he studied just enough to stay on the basketball team. At the same time, he was immersed in street life. Today he is a cutting-edge neuroscientist--Columbia University's first tenured African American professor in the sciences--whose landmark, controversial research is redefining our understanding of addiction. In this provocative and eye-opening memoir, he recalls his journey of self-discovery and weaves his past and present. Hart goes beyond the hype of the antidrug movement as he examines the relationship among drugs, pleasure, choi
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This is interesting personal testimony. For anyone curious about a more scientific view of this issue I would recommend the book High Price by Dr. Carl Hart. While it is common for people to believe strongly that drugs are bad and addictive, actual scientific observation of drug users finds in many cases there is little evidence of harm…
on “I am a heroin user. I do not have a drug problem” ↗For some folks it can cause a psychotic episode; this happened, for instance, to an acquaintance who was also bipolar. Carl Hart's book "High Price" had some interesting anecdotes about how drugs interact with underlying brain chemistry, environment, and cultural expectations to give different experiences.
on “The Other Side of Depression” ↗…drugs than white kids, but then have roughly equal arrest rates (not per drug use, per person) and then ridiculously disproportionate incarceration rates. Some interesting books on the topic include "High Price" by neuroscientist Carl Hart, which I enjoyed because it touched personally on the gangbanging aspect, and "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander, which instead takes a structural/legal point of view.…
on “Vermont Quits War on Drugs to Treat Heroin Abuse as Health Issue” ↗A possibly-related book I've been meaning to read is High Price by Carl Hart. http://www.amazon.com/dp/0062015893/ The thesis seems to be that the entire concept of "addiction" is misleading and inimical to efforts to reduce drug use.
on “Most People with Addiction Simply Grow Out of It” ↗…primary criteria, cannabis use disorder, bipolar disorder, and depression are frequently diagnosed differently by practiced professionals. One of the more academic investigations of addiction, the book High Price by Carl Hart, suggests that the real experience of addiction is substantially different from the way most people think of it and most addicts eventually quit on their own for a range of reasons. This…
on “Cannabis use raises the risk of major depression, bipolar disorder and psychosis” ↗In his book "High Price", psychiatry professor Carl Hart says that the difference between street meth and Adderal, or crack and powder cocaine is mostly social class, not pharmacology. One is taken by the poorest people, the…
on “Non-profit produced MDMA 'ecstasy' and psychedelics” ↗