【Columbia】 is Dr. Carl Hart? Heroin-use professor at a top University.
“The pursuit of happiness liberty.”
Dr. Carl L. Hart – a neuroscientist at Columbia University, Hart is the first tenured African American professor who is a regular heroin user and high academic achiever.
According to Hart, he doesn’t have drug-use problems each day he meets personal and professional responsibilities. Also, he contributes to the global community as an informed and engaged citizen.
Early Life & Education
Hart grew up in the Carol City neighborhood of Miami garden. He was raised by a single mother and engaged in petty crimes – use and sales of drugs.
He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland. From the University of Wyoming, hart earned a master of science and Ph.D. degree in neurosciences.
Career and Research
Hart arrived at Columbia in 1998 and became the first tenured African American psychology professor at Columbia University in 2009. The National Institute on Drug Abuse granted him $6 million that year.
Hart’s personal history and professional life distinguish him from others in his field. He describes his education as spotty at best. In his childhood, he sold Weed in his high school with magical thinking about his future. He imagined his future as a skilled basketball player or working as a street DJ.
Hart recalls, growing up in Miami in the 70s and 80s, cocaine was a big deal. Drug-related offenses were common among his age group. At that time, Carl wants to know why it was happening.
Carl approached a professor to study the effects of morphine and nicotine on the brains of rats to know why people like drugs. Over the years, Carl found that drug addiction was not a problem; the problem was law enforcement.
Carl’s Books
Where other researchers and professors discourage drug use, Carl strives for the encouragement of drug use among adults through his words: “The pursuit of happiness liberty.”
He has written two books for the general public awareness about drugs:
- High price
- Drug Use for Grown-Ups
High Price:
In this book, he describes the journey of self-discovery about drugs and society. Moreover, he discusses the challenges of learning white cultural norms, dug crime statistics, and details of his lab research. He argues that drugs are symptoms, not the cause of crimes, poverty, and racism. And, he ends his book with an argument for decriminalizing drugs.
Drug Use for Grown-Ups:
This book of Carl Hart presents a more realistic image of a drug user and a professional. Further, he argues that the recreational use of Weed has positive effects on many individuals. By embracing the ideas expressed in this book, a person can enjoy a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
The ideal of Cannabis Users.
Carl Hart states that the misinformation regarding illegal psychoactive drugs in the United States is based on assumptions and anecdotal evidence.
Carl argues that drug helps him maintain work-balance and should be legal for everyone.
Dr. Hart disagrees with other experts about whether drugs can change a person’s brain. However, it believes that society could benefit from drugs too.
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