Everything Americans Think They Know About Drugs Is Wrong: A Scientist Explodes the Myths

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/drugs-addiction



What many Americans, including many scientists, think they know about drugs is turning out to be totally wrong. For decades, drug war propaganda has brainwashed Americans into blaming drugs for problems ranging from crime to economic deprivation. In his new book High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society, Carl Hart blows apart the most common myths about drugs and their impact on society, drawing in part on his personal experience growing up in an impoverished Miami neighborhood. Hart has used marijuana and cocaine, carried guns, sold drugs, and participated in other petty crime, like shoplifting. A combination of what he calls choice and chance brought him to the AIr Force and college, and finally made him the first black, tenured professor of sciences at Columbia University.

Intertwined with his story about the struggles of families and communities stressed by lack of capital and power over their surroundings is striking new research on substance use. Hart uses his life and work to reveal that drugs are not nearly as harmful as many think. For example, most people who use the most “addicting” drugs do not develop a problem. Rather, Hart says, drugs are scapegoated for problems related to poverty. The policies that result from this misconception are catastrophically misguided. AlterNet spoke with Hart about his life and research.

Kristen Gynne: What are some of the false conclusions about drugs you are challenging?

Carl Hart: There are multiple false conclusions. There is a belief, for example, that crack cocaine is so addictive it only took one hit to get hooked, and that it is impossible to use heroin without becoming addicted. There was another belief that methamphetamine users are cognitively impaired. All of these are myths that have have been perpetuated primarily by law enforcement, and law enforcement deals with a limited, select group of people—people who are, in many cases, behaving badly. But to generalize that to all drug users is not only shortsighted and naive, it’s also irresponsible. The impact of that irresponsible behavior has been borne primarily by black communities. Nobody really cares about black communities, and that's why this irresponsible behavior has been allowed to continue.

It's also true that we've missed critical opportunities to challenge our basic assumptions about drugs. If drugs really were as damaging as we are led to believe, a respectable society should do something to address that problem. But the thing is, the very assumptions driving our drug policy are wrong, and must be questioned.

[chervilant]

1. Another essential read is

Licit and Illicit Drugs by Edward Brecher (and the editors of Consumer Reports).
This is an informative, meaty discussion of the history of drugs, and the reasons why certain drugs have been criminalized.

[tech3149]

2. I got to listen to an interview with him yesterday

It was on KPFK on the Free Forum show. Definitely worth listening to.

[Ligyron]

3. Google "Hedonist Imperative" if you want to read something interesting.

[Skidmore]

4. Guess we are due for another round of hedonism

post asterity. Wouldn't be the first time in history this has happened and it won't be the last. Humans never learn.

[jollyreaper2112]

6. What's wrong with it?

The original definition of hedonism was pleasure-seeking but not screwing everyone over for a dollar.

The only harm from pleasure is when it distracts you from your goals. You want to be something? You will have trouble if you get stoned and do nothing all day. Accomplish your goals and then smoke a bowl? Have fun. Is there any problem with sex? No. But if you lie to people about who you are and what you need, sex hurts. People will agree with monogamy and then cheat. Sex isn't the problem, lying is.

One person lacking control doesn't mean everyone else should suffer. It's finding a balance of courtesy.

[Skidmore]

7. People never do things in moderation when it becomes fashionable.

That's why the hedonist fads of the past have failed. They collapse eventually when everyone has either fizzled out or disgusted the rest of the public in their obnoxiousness.

[jollyreaper2112]

5. Hmm

Interesting article. Not sure about all his claims.

With regards to meth, it does make your teeth fall out but it's because of the way the illegal stuff is made. USAF pilots use proper amphetamines as go-pills and still have teeth. Meth is more like bathtub gin that makes you go blind. Proper alcohol doesn't do that.

I think it's so sad that the very programs that helped him out of poverty ba e been destroyed by those fucking conservatives. Reagan really was the devil.

[Warren Stupidity]

10. I give up.

it does make your teeth fall out but it's because of the way the illegal stuff is made.

So "it" being methedrine doesn't make your teeth fall out. Ersatz black market meth might wreck your gums because it is full of dubious shit. The conclusion: keep it illegal so we can continue to be terrorized by scary meth-head dental disaster pictures.

[jollyreaper2112]

11. Way to go

Excellent reading compression there, sport.

I didn't say keep it illegal. He says meth is not harmful as is. I said that I heard the illegal stuff can be harmful simply on account of the manufacture. The stuff the government uses doesn't have those problems.

If you are going to give up, let it be over poor reading compression. Me, I am for the repeal of all prohibition.

[LooseWilly]

12. "poor reading compression" ?...

The irony is making my teeth ache...

Obviously, government issued irony doesn't have that problem.

...

When meth is ingested, it causes the user's blood vessels to shrink, limiting the steady blood supply that the mouth needs in order to stay healthy. With repeated shrinking, these vessels die and the oral tissues decay. Similarly, meth use leads to "dry mouth" (xerostomia), and without enough saliva to neutralize the mouth's harsh acids, those acids eat away at the tooth and gums, causing weak spots that are susceptible to cavities. The cavities are then exacerbated by behavior common in users on a meth high: a strong desire for sugary foods and drinks, compulsive tooth grinding, and the general neglect of regular brushing and flossing.
...

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/body/#3

It's more complicated, apparently, than just being "simply on account of the manufacture". Imagine that...

[LWolf]

8. "Rather, Hart says, drugs are scapegoated for problems related to poverty. "

YES.

This country is willing to do anything, to throw resources anywhere, to avoid the issue of poverty.

[ismnotwasm]

9. I agree and disagree

This guy knows better than to challenge the basic physiology of the effect drugs have on neurotransmitter production--call it a matter of diminishing returns--and what actually causes withdrawal symptoms.

Of course you don't get hooked by one hit of crack, but I'll tell you what; rent a hotel room for a month with your drug of choice in sufficient quantities and you're going to need to detox somehow.

Heroin is highly addictive. So is cocaine. Jesus. I've cleaned up enough infected abscesses in my line of work and been to enough funerals of friends to call bullshit on that one.

Kids are taking their parents OxyContin, turn 18 and hit the heroin scene practically innocent of how to keep their shit clean. Had a kid lose his leg by digging in an abscess, hitting the femoral vein and nearly bled out. Sometimes heroin is cut with something that causes kidney failure. Sometimes street heroin isn't cut enough and you OD.

I'm a transplant nurse. We offer what we call 'high risk' organs all the time. Someone who OD'd. The recipient has a choice, and sometimes are so sick they take that choice .

You stop-- you get well--in street parlance. Your body recovers enough to make you high again.

On the other hand, we have patients who OD on Vicodin-- the culprit? The Tylenol in the Vicodin. Trashes your liver.

BUT I agree institutional poverty and institutionalized racism are the real monster.

I also agree not all drug users are dysfunctional misfits. And I definitely think drug laws need an overhaul.