The #1 guide for people who love psychedelics
Carl Hart will change the way you think about drugs
Carl Hart of Columbia University says that most of the millions of Americans who use illegal drugs have overwhelmingly positive experience Photo: Simbarashe Cha for The New York Times
Carl Hart is a researcher whose work shows that drug policies are more dangerous than drugs themselves.
He is pushing for studies that assess the risks of drugs and their benefits and analysis in context. He also believes that research should look at both the risks and benefits of drugs. Especially when treating patients with PTSD, depression, phobias and relationship problems.
Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, Hart writes about how the idea of "psychedelic exceptionalism" is destructive. This idea claims that supposedly less harmful or less addictive drugs are better than other drugs.
When we take the idea of psychedelic exceptionalism to its extreme, we can stigmatize certain drugs and the people who use them. We should avoid drawing arbitrary lines around the drugs we like and those we disapprove of. For example, many drugs that researchers praise share similarities with other substances deemed as "hard drugs."
Hart called for a focus on "treating" drug use, treating mental and physical illnesses and addressing people's traumatic life experiences. He also advocated treating socioeconomic stratification, exemplified by poverty and homelessness, which only compound problematic drug use. Hart said, "We have to guard against drug elitism, the thinking that your drug is better." The brave man Hart says that it is not easy to speak out against this problem, but he does it anyway because he knows it's essential for his community to have better opportunities.
The way we think about drugs can change.
How can we nurture this thinking to sustain our communities to further learn and evolve a balanced perspective?
Self-reflection can lead us in our healing journey by providing a safe space for growth and exploration with ourselves as we discover who we are on this earth today -
Stay safe.