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PDU
travel kid vs.amerika



Registered: 12/03/02
Posts: 10,675
Loc: beautiful BC
Last seen: 8 years, 4 months
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Columbia University professor Dr. Carl Hart says minority of drug users have addictions
#21764964 - 06/05/15 08:17 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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Link.
Before he became a renowned neuroscientist and drug abuse specialist, Dr. Carl Hart dabbled in selling and using drugs while growing up in Miami.
Hart said the overwhelming majority of drugs users don't have a drug problem, and he's advocating for governments to change their approach.
"The first thing I would do," said Hart, a medical doctor and associate professor of psychology at Columbia University, "I would make sure that we stop arresting people."
Drugs are often used as a scapegoat for other problems such as poverty and crime, said Hart, adding that drugs are not as addictive as we have been told.
Hart said the vast majority of people who use drugs like crack cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine are not addicted and are able to go to work, pay taxes, bills, and take care of their families.
"When you have this relatively small percentage of users becoming addicted, it tells you that it's not the drug itself. The people who we see — for example on [East] Hastings — The reason why they are there, it varies. If we really want to know we'd have to give them individual assessments."
"You could disrupt drug taking behaviour if you had a careful understanding of what was motivating [it]," said Hart.
"Sometimes people have trauma or co-occurring psychiatric disorders that you have to treat. Other times they're just destitute."
Hart said public policy needs to shift focus toward treating people's real reasons for their drug addiction, and that may involve better mental health services or economic opportunities.
Instead of the U.S.'s war on drugs, Hart would rather see his country adopt drug policies similar to those in Portugal and the Czech Republic, where all drugs have been decriminalized, and arrests have been replaced with citations similar to traffic violations.
Hart also said we need to change the way we educate people about drugs.
"Stop exaggerating the harmful effects of drugs, and teach people how to be safe with drugs. Teach people how not to overindulge, just like we do with alcohol."
CBC Podcast.
-------------------- GO OUTSIDE.
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OrgasmicBanana
aka "PICO"



Registered: 08/02/08
Posts: 450
Last seen: 7 years, 10 months
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Re: Columbia University professor Dr. Carl Hart says minority of drug users have addictions [Re: PDU]
#21777548 - 06/08/15 06:53 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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Respect, for standing against the grain and admitting drug use. It means something coming from someone like him. I think the guilt about drugs is damaging and most drug addicts I know don't understand their addiction at all. They're so confused anyway and we add a thick layer of societal bullshit they have to wade through.
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misterogerz


Registered: 06/07/02
Posts: 1,433
Loc: Gulf Coast
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Re: Columbia University professor Dr. Carl Hart says minority of drug users have addictions [Re: OrgasmicBanana]
#21777630 - 06/08/15 07:36 AM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
OrgasmicBanana said: Respect, for standing against the grain and admitting drug use. It means something coming from someone like him. I think the guilt about drugs is damaging and most drug addicts I know don't understand their addiction at all. They're so confused anyway and we add a thick layer of societal bullshit they have to wade through.
"Thank the Lord Jesus Christ for helping me quit the cocaine and meths"
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roquet
Expat tippler


Registered: 05/29/07
Posts: 1,195
Loc: Dubai بجدية عربي...
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Re: Columbia University professor Dr. Carl Hart says minority of drug users have addictions [Re: misterogerz]
#21786078 - 06/09/15 11:02 PM (8 years, 7 months ago) |
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Anything that argues against the "addiction is a disease" theory will not be popular on shroomery.
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