Drug Use for Grown-Ups

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Drug Use for Grown-Ups
Drug Use for Grown-Ups.jpg
Book cover
Author Carl Hart
Subject Recreational drug use, addiction
Genre Non-fiction
Publisher Penguin Press
Pages304

Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear is a 2021 book by Columbia University professor [1] Carl Hart. [2] [3] In part a memoir that discusses Hart's own experiences as a heroin user, [4] [5] the book analyzes the science of addiction and advocates recreational drug use as part of the "pursuit of happiness". [6]

Contents

Reception

Drug Use for Grown-Ups received mixed reviews upon its release. [7] Nicholas Cannariato wrote a generally favorable review for NPR that focused on Hart's civil libertarianism and focus on institutional racism. [8]

The Los Angeles Review of Books gave the book a mixed review, supporting Hart's conclusions on drug liberalization and yet opposing his "cherry picking" of evidence: "Carl L. Hart’s Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear is good drug policy based on bad rhetoric." [9] City Journal similarly argued that Hart ignores evidence in the book, instead focusing primarily on "personal anecdote". [10] Michael Shellenberger intensely criticized Hart's work in his 2021 book San Fransicko . [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heroin</span> Opioid analgesic and recreational drug

Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the dried latex of the opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Heroin is used medically in several countries to relieve pain, such as during childbirth or a heart attack, as well as in opioid replacement therapy. Medical-grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brown powders sold illegally around the world as heroin are routinely diluted with cutting agents. Black tar heroin is a variable admixture of morphine derivatives—predominantly 6-MAM (6-monoacetylmorphine), which is the result of crude acetylation during clandestine production of street heroin.

<i>The French Connection</i> (film) 1971 American film by William Friedkin

The French Connection is a 1971 American neo-noir action thriller film directed by William Friedkin and starring Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider, and Fernando Rey. The screenplay, by Ernest Tidyman, is based on Robin Moore's 1969 nonfiction book. It tells the story of fictional New York Police Department detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo, whose real-life counterparts were narcotics detectives Eddie Egan and Sonny Grosso, in pursuit of wealthy French heroin smuggler Alain Charnier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harm reduction</span> Public health policies which lessen negative aspects of problematic activities

Harm reduction, or harm minimization, refers to a range of intentional practices and public health policies designed to lessen the negative social and/or physical consequences associated with various human behaviors, both legal and illegal. Harm reduction is used to decrease negative consequences of recreational drug use and sexual activity without requiring abstinence, recognizing that those unable or unwilling to stop can still make positive change to protect themselves and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Illegal drug trade</span> Global black market

The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types of drugs through the use of drug prohibition laws. The think tank Global Financial Integrity's Transnational Crime and the Developing World report estimates the size of the global illicit drug market between US$426 and US$652 billion in 2014 alone. With a world GDP of US$78 trillion in the same year, the illegal drug trade may be estimated as nearly 1% of total global trade. Consumption of illegal drugs is widespread globally, and it remains very difficult for local authorities to reduce the rates of drug consumption.

<i>New Jack City</i> 1991 film by Mario Van Peebles

New Jack City is a 1991 American crime action film directed by Mario Van Peebles and written by Thomas Lee Wright and Barry Michael Cooper, based on a story by Wright. The film stars Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Allen Payne, Chris Rock, Judd Nelson, Bill Cobbs, Bill Nunn, and Van Peebles. Its plot follows Nino Brown, a drug lord in New York City during the crack epidemic, and Scotty Appleton, an NYPD detective who vows to end Nino's rise to power by going undercover to work for Nino's gang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Speedball (drug)</span> Combination of narcotics

Speedball, powerball, or over and under is the polydrug mixture of a stimulant with a depressant, usually an opioid. The most well-known mixture used for recreational drug use is that of cocaine and heroin; however, amphetamines can also be mixed with morphine and/or fentanyl. A speedball may be taken intravenously or by nasal insufflation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">War on drugs</span> Campaign against illegal drug use and trade

The war on drugs is the policy of a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, foreign assistance, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the US. The initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments, through United Nations treaties, have made illegal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black tar heroin</span> Impure form of heroin

Black tar heroin, also known as black dragon, is a form of heroin that is sticky like tar or hard like coal. Its dark color is the result of crude processing methods that leave behind impurities. Despite its name, black tar heroin can also be dark orange or dark brown in appearance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Opium production in Afghanistan</span> Overview of illicit drug production in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has long had a history of opium poppy cultivation and harvest. As of 2021, Afghanistan's harvest produces more than 90% of illicit heroin globally, and more than 95% of the European supply. More land is used for opium in Afghanistan than is used for coca cultivation in Latin America. The country has been the world's leading illicit drug producer since 2001. In 2007, 93% of the non-pharmaceutical-grade opiates on the world market originated in Afghanistan. By 2019 Afghanistan still produced about 84% of the world market. This amounts to an export value of about US$4 billion, with a quarter being earned by opium farmers and the rest going to district officials, insurgents, warlords, and drug traffickers. In the seven years (1994–2000) prior to a Taliban opium ban, the Afghan farmers' share of gross income from opium was divided among 200,000 families.

<i>The Paper Chase</i> (film) 1973 film by James Bridges

The Paper Chase is a 1973 American comedy-drama film starring Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, and John Houseman, and directed by James Bridges.

Illicit drug use in Australia is the recreational use of prohibited drugs in Australia. Illicit drugs include illegal drugs, pharmaceutical drugs when used for non-medical purposes, and other substances used inappropriately. According to government and community organisations, the use and abuse, and the illegality, of illicit drugs is a social, health and legal issue that creates an annual illegal market estimated to be worth A$6.7 billion. Estimates made in 2022 place the figure at A$11.3 billion per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Shellenberger</span> American author and environmental policy writer (born 1971)

Michael D. Shellenberger is a professor, author, and journalist who writes on a wide range of topics including free speech, homelessness, and the environment. He is a co-founder of the Breakthrough Institute and the California Peace Coalition. Shellenberger founded the pro-nuclear non-profit Environmental Progress in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luigi Zingales</span> Italian economist and author (born 1963)

Luigi Zingales is an Italian academic who is a finance professor at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. His book Saving Capitalism from the Capitalists (2003) is a study of "relationship capitalism". In A Capitalism for the People: Recapturing the Lost Genius of American Prosperity (2012), Zingales "suggests that channeling populist anger can reinvigorate the power of competition and reverse the movement toward a 'crony system'."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Lieberman</span> American psychiatrist (born 1948)

Jeffrey Alan Lieberman is an American psychiatrist who specializes in schizophrenia and related psychoses and their associated neuroscience (biology) and pharmacological treatment. He was principal investigator for CATIE, the largest and longest independent study ever funded by the United States National Institute of Mental Health to examine existing pharmacotherapies for schizophrenia. He was president of the American Psychiatric Association from May 2013 to May 2014.

Ted Nordhaus is an American author and the director of research at The Breakthrough Institute. He has co-edited and written a number of books, including Break Through: From the Death of Environmentalism to the Politics of Possibility (2007) and An Ecomodernist Manifesto (2015) with collaborator Michael Shellenberger.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carl Hart</span> American neuroscientist (born 1966)

Carl L. Hart is an American psychologist and neuroscientist, working as the Mamie Phipps Clark Professor of Psychology at Columbia University. Hart is known for his research on drug abuse and drug addiction, his advocacy for the legalization of recreational drugs, and his recreational use of drugs. Hart became the first tenured African-American professor of sciences at Columbia University. He is the author of two books for the general public, High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery that Challenges Everything You Know about Drugs and Society (2013) and Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear (2021).

The Breakthrough Institute is an environmental research center located in Berkeley, California. Founded in 2007 by Michael Shellenberger and Ted Nordhaus, The institute is aligned with ecomodernist philosophy. The Institute advocates for an embrace of modernization and technological development in order to address environmental challenges. Proposing urbanization, agricultural intensification, nuclear power, aquaculture, and desalination as processes with a potential to reduce human demands on the environment, allowing more room for non-human species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2-Methylmethcathinone</span> Stimulant designer drug of the substituted cathinone class

2-Methylmethcathinone (2-MMC), also known as ortomephedrone is a recreational designer drug with stimulant and euphoric effects. It is a substituted cathinone derivative, closely related to better known drugs such as 3-methylmethcathinone and 4-methylmethcathinone (mephedrone). It was first identified in Sweden in 2014, and has subsequently been reported in other European countries such as Poland and Spain.

<i>San Fransicko</i> 2021 book by Michael Shellenberger.

San Fransicko: Why Progressives Ruin Cities is a 2021 book by Michael Shellenberger. The book discusses homelessness and crime. The title is a pun on San Francisco, a city in California, U.S.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicholas Tatonetti</span> American bioscientist and academic

Nicholas Pierino Tatonetti is an American bioscientist who is Vice Chair of Operations in the Department of Computational Biomedicine and Associate Director of Computational Oncology in the Cancer Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.

References

  1. "Carl Hart". Columbia University Department of Psychology. Archived from the original on November 24, 2016. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  2. Satel, Sally (January 13, 2021). "'Drug Use for Grown-Ups' Review: A Dose of Dissent". The Wall Street Journal (book review).
  3. Anthony, Andrew (February 6, 2021). "Meet Carl Hart: parent, Columbia professor – and heroin user". The Guardian . Retrieved February 7, 2021.
  4. Leland, John (April 10, 2021). "This Heroin-Using Professor Wants to Change How We Think About Drugs". The New York Times . Archived from the original on April 10, 2021. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
  5. "Why this Ivy League professor is advocating for heroin legalization". CNN . February 27, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  6. Schwartz, Casey (January 12, 2021). "When Getting High Is a Hobby, Not a Habit". The New York Times (book review).
  7. Illing, Sean (February 25, 2021). "A Columbia professor argues against our drug puritanism". Vox Media . Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  8. Cannariato, Nicholas (January 15, 2021). "'Drug Use For Grown-Ups' Serves As An Argument For Personal Choice". NPR . Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  9. Cichosz, Maria (November 16, 2021). "No Easy Fix: On Carl L. Hart's "Drug Use for Grown-Ups"". Los Angeles Review of Books . Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  10. Lehman, Charles Fain (January 27, 2021). "Drug Fiends and Fools". City Journal . Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  11. Shellenberger, Michael (2021). San Fransicko . HarperCollins.