Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Dr. Carl Hart in Conversation with Janna Levin

Neuroscientist, psychologist, and author, Dr. Carl Hart urges us to change the way we think about drug use. In his new book Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, published January 2021, he argues that the demonization (and profiteering) of drug use causes more harm than the drugs themselves-that as responsible American adults, we have an inalienable right to pursue happiness, and if that pursuit includes responsible drug use, we should be able to do that. He joins Janna Levin to discuss his recent book.
Dr. Hart is the Chair of the Department of Psychology at Colombia University. He is also Ziff Professor of Psychology in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry at Columbia University. In 2014, Dr. Hart was awarded the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award for his book High Price: A Neuroscientist’s Journey of Self-Discovery.
Janna Levin is Chair and Director of Science at Pioneer Works and Professor of Astronomy and Physics at Barnard College of Columbia University.
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The Pioneer Works Broadcast is supported in part by Science Sandbox, a Simons Foundation initiative dedicated to engaging everyone with the process of science, and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Program in Public Understanding of Science and Technology, bridging the two cultures of science and the arts.

[@sadaoyujo8935]

there is no responsability possible without freedom, when you deny the individual to do something, you also deny him from learning

[@ReasonableForseeability]

I have an urge to correct typos. It's 'responsibility'. Sorry.

[@tyroneslyce4879]

Dude, this guy has dedicated his life to truth and righteousness. I wish more people had his sensibilities.

[@amycones3343]

😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@martinparidon9056]

Amen

[@healthyfreshvegan387]

Dr Carl Hart is an open minded and educated person. World needs more people like him! Support for Dr. Carl Hart

[@healthyfreshvegan387]

I like how he openly talks what USA does wrong and has no fear to speak out. Everything what he is saying is true and makes sence.

[@DrBrainTickler]

I agree. There are problems with this though. The majority of the population hate intelligent people. Anti-intellectualism in America is the epidemic not enough people are talking about. Of course, anti-intellectualism is just code or a mask for a deeper systemic issue which is the hatred of anyone who's more intelligent than the majority. The smarter people are, the more they are hated and shunned which is what a cult does by the way. Additionally, The smartest people of every era are non-conformist and the only people who have any chance of doing anything in this world are the people who conform and they have to throw away integrity and become a Nazi sympathizer enabling corporate and religious fascism as well as mindless status quo driven conformity. The people you want more of exist but you'll be exceedingly lucky to even discover any of us because we are being oppressed and we're not even allowed to defend ourselves. As soon as I mention that I'm one of the smartest people alive and my life is being sabotaged, I don't have equal rights and I'm being oppressed, everyone just accuses me of being a narcissist. How convenient. Then I get shunned, the likes of you or anyone else who might appreciate me and empower me to fix the world's problems never discovers me. The likes of publication outlets like this KZbin channel were commenting under are part of the societal cult of Opinionism and justice prejudice and discriminatory as every other Nazi sympathizer has always been. Big Think and TED talks are just as guilty and so is KZbin itself because they shadow ban me, blocking my hashtag so I get no organic growth.

[@DrBrainTickler]

And Carl Hart isn't saying anywhere near how much he should be saying about all of this. He's mostly a conformist and he's capitalizing on this niche. He's also wise enough to know that what he's saying is logical and intellectually accurate so he's maintaining integrity by siding on what the study has proven and of course you can just observe most of this. Like he said, it's axiomatic. Logic rules us all.

[@DrBrainTickler]

Those of us who have been cast out of society for refusing to conform to corporate and religious fascist whims are the ones who have all the perspectives that the world really needs to hear and until we have legal protections like every other protected minority, we will never be allowed to speak. The likes of publication outlets like this very KZbin channel and even every antisocial media platform will continue to get away with discriminating against the likes of me, economically sabotaging my life and overall shaving years off my life by denying me access to basic human rights. I even get denied basic medical care because I'm smarter than my doctors and they're not used to it. I won't let my doctors bully me into allowing them to be my medical proxy and they'll deny me medical service claiming that it's because we have a difference in philosophy. It's disgusting. The department of Justice does not care. Think about it. There are no laws to protect geniuses from being discriminated against and denied services and employment. Search hating smart people and read everything you find. Search for genius phobia. And remember, every single thing I've ever done on social media has been oppressed either directly by the platform moderators or by the users themselves. I have been pushed out of society, to the fringes, turned into a dead man walking and never had equal human rights all because I'm too smart to be ruled by a bunch of fucking idiots.

[@OldManRogers]

"I changed my mind when new information came to me" = true scientist

[@iAmMattN]

Great convo! Dr. Carl Hart's work is helping me heal from multi-generational trauma related to drug propaganda/ignorance and the industrustries surrounding the drug war.

[@DrBrainTickler]

No he isn't. He's just saying what the likes of you and I have been saying for over 20 years. Carl Hart does not have any curative solutions and he's nothing but a fucking distraction using our plight as a hot button issue to get attention and sell books as well as research grants. Carl & Janna are both just weapons of mass distraction and not much better than a parasitic journalist. The both of them is capitalizing off of our pain and misery and just distracting everyone while becoming gatekeepers of intellectualism and robbing the likes of me from having a voice and of course preventing me from offering the curative solutions which equate to my life's work.

[@PauloConstantino167]

This man is a national treasure.

[@DrBrainTickler]

He's a conformist coward and a hypocrite. He joined the military which is nothing more than a fascist for-profit murder machine that equates to global terrorism and he was a cop within the military. That's how he got the money so he could go to school and continue to be a fucking parasite. Now he uses this plight that has ruined lives and equates to corporate and medical fascism as his hot button issue to get money for research, and of course sell books. The likes of Carl Hart and this KZbin channel owner, Janna, are both clout chasing wannabe cult leaders that will oppress anybody who is smarter or wiser than them because they don't want anybody stealing their thunder and by doing so they will prevent the smartest people on the planet from offering curative solutions. The smartest people alive are non-conformists who have been sabotaged to the point of never having the money to go to college and have the privilege to have the microphone and this fucking bullshit virtue signaling stage they have going on here.

[@user-xd8pj2mm4t]

HERO

[@bluemamba5317]

UUUUUHHHHHHHMMMM

[@user-tl8tc6ft3r]

Love your work Dr. Hart, youre one of my heroes❤

[@amyroach26]

This same exact thoughts about freedom of choice and happiness hit me so deeply when I caught my first drug charge and the state of MD offered me 68yrs as a Plea Bargain..!! For 3 scramble caps of Herion! I literally was considering suicide. No joke. If I had died ...everyone says aww... Prayers! However, Ive gotten charges several times and been treated like a Devil and forced to be so many drug programs. I can go on 4ever.. it's just about time someone like Mr. Hart shared his ideas and experience w the U.S.... I mean our food, cigs and pills are harder on our bodies than pure Herion! It's should be my choice what I wanna put in my body. Hart should be a Politician!

[@AbhishekKumar-et4vk]

I got tortured in a so called rehab for one year for drug addiction, I feel for you too.

[@grawakendream8980]

I’m glad you made it through! Would like to have a conversation with you further about this if you’re open to it…

[@imobile108]

Blind leading blind: food is the same as drug.

[@dustinemerzian5989]

@@AbhishekKumar-et4vk Teen Challenge?

[@Raw_Roots]

Plus it's natural, but instead doctors pushed cigarettes. Oh, don't question the science, smoke that camel.

[@superjoint2727]

This man needs to be put in a governmental capacity, whatever areas for drugs it may be. Such a great mind.

[@Raw_Roots]

Too much money being made, by keeping the Mother Earth's medicine away from us. Yes, heroine is made by a beautiful poppy flower.

[@DrBrainTickler]

Carl Harte does not have one curative solution and anything he proposes is going to sound an awful lot like everything I've been preaching since before this fucking conformist coward finally decided to chase clout and feign having integrity... These myopic specialists that are produced by conformity and in the collegiate environment don't have the capacity to produce curative solutions and all they ever do is poach the great minds who are being oppressed, like mine!

[@barrygol7146]

Marihuana is legal in the netherlands, but it is devastating when you have anxiety issues. Heroin and MDMA helped me.

[@user-xd8pj2mm4t]

My now dead Doctor prescribed my Diazipam and Fentanyl, I was so high functioning and content in life, took it as prescribed,and then he died. I lay in bed now, suffering. P.S. my bones are dying, but I cannot get my once working medications. Will I buy on the streets, ABSOLUTELY!!!

[@MikeyBAAZ]

I wish I had a Dr like this.

[@janet6948]

Has anyone noticed his digression in speech since he first started this journey? I respect this man so much, I also recognize that his speech and vocabulary have dramatically changed since he first started this KZbin journey many years ago.

[@martinparidon9056]

What do you mean exactly? I do think that it changed, too! He even says so. At first, he believed in all of the War on Drugs propaganda bullshit like all of us. Then he realized what it's really about and tried to tell people about it. And I think the more you think about how inhumane and dumb these policies are, the more frustrated you get about the fact that everyone is still supporting them. He is a great fighter and I hope that people will understand his message. And join the fight against inhumane bullshit.

[@nicknashtaramtamtam5955]

Big THANK YOU from south Germany ( black forest) people Here are crazy and cheering up the war in drugs

[@Brigadier88]

5:25 facts. Live your life as an adult, no other adult have permission to control your life.

[@ReasonableForseeability]

Live your life as an adult BUT wait until you're 18 or 21 or whatever.

[@imobile108]

Live an adult life and controlled by drugs.

[@Jupitertvv]

There needs to be 1000 more Dr. Carls

[@ReasonableForseeability]

I think 647 will suffice! Just being silly...

[@Jupitertvv]

@@ReasonableForseeability no because we got to account for a portion of them being assassinated

[@DrBrainTickler]

There are people far more intelligent than Carl Hart but because everyone hates people who are smarter than them, we get our entire lives sabotaged and then people like you wish for us to exist while we're right here. You just don't want to fucking know us. You will never respect us. As soon as we teach you something that you weren't ready to learn, you'll shun us. Prove me wrong.

[@user-xd8pj2mm4t]

Millions more

[@anonharingenamn]

The most important part is that people don't end up with criminal records from drug use, because it just keeps people down with even less of a chance to "make it" in society. Drug use is a medical matter, not a criminal one. It's not immoral to use drugs, if it was drinking alcohol would be immoral, too. Morality isn't based on the law, if it was it would be immoral to be gay in Saudi Arabia and it sure af isn't.

[@righttofreedom2091]

I can't believe how little this lady knew about what Carl Heart is even trying to do before interviewing him. She said imagine for sake of argue we all agree in decriminalization.... like where have you been. What a waste of his time and the viewers. Clearly this is about regulation amd legalization like alcohol and cigarettes. Wake up

[@meiswhoibethareal1272]

100% a step in the right direction. Dr. Hart, a true Patriot ! Thank you for your work. Am eager to help in your cause.

[@meiswhoibethareal1272]

also truly wish you had more time. Groundbreaking!

[@DrBrainTickler]

My entire life I have been punished over what stupid people may or may not do in the future. Drugs have never been the problem, it's always been abusive law enforcement that's the problem.

[@jeffnorman6489]

TY again!

[@melissab7487]

This interview is so hard to follow. I think the ideas are good and meant to be well. however the drugs situation in our society requires more nuanced approach. The media will take this sub par interview and twist it into a whole new issue. Goal should to be to get accurate information to the american public as soon as possible. Needs someone who is able to navigate the digital social media landscape and create a strong brand that is easily identifiable

[@ReasonableForseeability]

Interesting comment. Need to think about it...

[@robbuilder2377]

i agree drugs should be controlled and legalized through a regulated pharma. not going to share my experiences or will be here forever but it deffo needs regulating and the money made should be put into something good. it would have a worldwide affect to the source in terms of this regularity and prevent poverty in 2nd world countries

[@DrBrainTickler]

The 13th amendment was supposed to abolish slavery but there's a loophole that says a criminal can be forced into servitude. That's the main issue with the war on drugs and many of the laws that still exist are all just excuses to get cheap slave labor and that addiction to slave labor is the addiction that really needs to be dealt with!

[@Shervin86]

Society can only become ready when they're informed. Just as they were misinformed with war on drugs. Now we need an officially accepted opposition to argue these points.

[@DrBrainTickler]

There's no argument and pretending there is just enables a childish game of high school debate team bullshit that all of these fucking shill mongering cult members will use as a distraction so nothing ever fucking changes. There's no fucking argument. Not your body, not your mother fucking business. Anybody who says otherwise is a fucking slave driving Nazi fascist piece of shit that deserves a swift death. Facts exist and it's time for the simple-minded majority to wake the fuck up and accept it. It's time for the stupid fucking majority to accept the facts of reality that there are people who know better than them and it is not a bunch of conformist privileged motherfuckers that came out of the industrialized curriculum system/academia. These fucking toxic conservative conformist fucking cowards in academia all signed morality clauses enabling the blanketed character defamation and the religious fascists as well as all of this intellectual gatekeeper fucking bullshit to ruin and oppress my brilliance and I'm not the only rebel genius who's known better than his parents and the entire Boomer generation as well as the stupid fucking conformist majority for our entire lives. Seriously, I was smarter than my parents at 5 years old and I was smarter than everyone ruling the world by the time I was 14. I had cured of solutions by the time I was in my mid-20s. Nobody fucking listened and everyone ruined my life instead! Now I'm on the verge of just wanting everyone dead and I'm about to withhold the curative solutions on purpose while I rub everyone's nose in the fact that I'm a mass murderer by doing nothing else but withholding. The fucking pathetic piece of shit simpleton majority better start to recognize what intelligence is and learn the difference between people just go to the gym and learn shit, lift intellectual weights and become knowledgeable and those of us who are actually brilliant as well as wise from a lifetime of experience. I'm honest. This is what honesty looks like. The likes of Carl Hart is a manipulative fucking honey dicker, just like every other token fake wise person that gets an investment in this broken fucking world.

[@cazoon]

“Now that’s some shit for your ass.” Profound!

[@MixtapeKilla2004]

I wanna see Dr. Carl Hart & Dr. Ron Paul write a book together

[@jakehollabaugh6139]

Lol Ron Paul would never endorse vaccines. “You should be able to put whatever you want in your body” “ oh, except vaccines, because the government said I should and I care about people”. Dude is just pushing his agenda. This cat is not a libertarian.

[@DJTripleRRR]

OMG I would absolutely love to sit with Dr Hart. I would love to brainstorm and discuss with him. Brilliant mind!

[@DrBrainTickler]

Well, he won't because he's a pious piece of shit fucking snob and a coward that's capitalizing on the plight of others to sell books and he's nothing but a weapon of mass distraction who doesn't have curative solutions but I'm the real deal. I never conformed and I've been focused on producing curative solutions for all of these problems for my entire life now. I've been sabotaged, oppressed, vilified and criminalized, bullied to the fringes of society by a bunch of toxic conservative conformist Nazi sympathizing pieces of shit like everyone in the collegiate realm always has been! Fuck every conformist coward on this planet! Fuck every mindless simpleton that thinks their opinions matter! Fuck the entire Boomer generation! Fuck every alphabet agency! Fuck the police! Fuck KZbin and fuck this channel!

[@JohnE2B]

This man is a hero

[@DrBrainTickler]

I'm so angry I can't sleep.

[@HarryNicNicholas]

this is interresting from the point of vieew that i've been watching a lot of debates on morality with tom jump - TJump on youtube, and his main line of argument is any imposition on someone's will is immoral, that we deal with criminal acts pragmatically, but jailing people is still an immoral act. as he deates a lot of religious people the question of free will arises also, if we have no free will then how responsible are we for our actions - it would be interesting to see a cross over here.

[@dmtdreamz7706]

James and his friend are truly in a world known only to them. Here you see them pass a cigarette to each other, only there is no cigarette. James friend later smokes it and actually flicks the ashes, again there was nothing in his hand. James Styles his hair with an imaginary comb. He beckons to friends in the room that only he can see. There is fear in the eyes of both boys and major anxiety. Motor coordination skills are almost completely gone.

[@user-xd8pj2mm4t]

This would reduce crime dramatically!! And allow humans some dignity!

[@thomasnihil4878]

I like his work but I think it's absolutely naive to trust the same system (government), which keeps failing with the war on drugs, to (de)regulate them appropriately.

[@antifantastisch4467]

Would you rather trust corporations? Look at Purdue to find out how that would work. Maybe some nice anarchocapitalism? Read some dystopian novels.

[@tashibalampkin8555]

1:50 13:30 28:30 33:10

[@DrBrainTickler]

I feel like I can't even speak in public anymore because I'll be targeted with abuse in multitudes while also just serving up a bunch of academia insights that they weren't looking at and making points they weren't making just so they can sell more books.

[@grawakendream8980]

i want to believe, to which i think he'd probably respond i don't give a shit what you believe. to me, until he can connect in a dispassionate way to people from the genuinely curious to the vigorous detractors to foster the dialogue, it's hard to see this move forward. simply being ``right'', i don't feel would be enough. the drugs seem to be sort of assisting in the cultivation of a deep self awareness and emotional responsibility. but they don't make it digestible for people. it may not be his task to bear though, too. just my take

[@holmavik6756]

” Liberty…happiness…”. Just like many ofthers here, I have used these drugs on the streets, among academics and politicians etc. And it is not without risks. Getting sacked, a divorce, loved ones passing away etc. It is soo easy to slip, start taking more, start taking several drugs simultanous and so on. Now all of a sudden you may find yourselfves in a miserable state. I would like to hear about these cases as well.

[@DrBrainTickler]

Everybody wants to brand me the enemy, the villain, the bad person, the criminal or worst of all, socially unacceptable yet I'm the one that dedicated the majority of his life to coming up with curative solutions to save millions of people's lives. I made every sacrifice necessary... I think all these people painting me as the villain need to take a look in the fucking mirror if they want to see who the real problems are!

[@NoBody-xj4bc]

🔥

[@palsyddad]

Watching Carl Hart videos and listening to Don Cherry albums in the background on a rainy Summer day with a belly full of kratom. I wonder what Dr. Hart thinks about the green goblin.

[@DrBrainTickler]

Intelligent lives matter!

[@DrBrainTickler]

You want my respect? You want me to be polite? Well, you first.

[@realdeal1164]

1:50 first question 13:30 second question 28:30 third question 33:10 last question

[@DrBrainTickler]

I've been living off of under 11,000 a year for over 20 years. In my state, average of 44,000 a year is what the taxpayer pays for a prisoner's life so what that says to me is that the taxpayer and the government think that my life is worth only 1/4 of the value of a rapist or a murderer. If I'm that big of a villain then maybe I should start committing some serious fucking crimes. If I'm so fucking worthless and I don't have equal rights then why should I respect the law! The government has never protected me. The justice system has never served me justice!

[@user-xx6ox6md7y]

I don’t understand how he can say it’s his responsibility to get vaxed to protect other ppl but he can use heroin daily and that doesn’t put ppls safety at risk?

[@jason661js]

The whole world is on drugs.

[@ranin.5794]

I love you Carl, I believe in you and your bravery, help make white lightjingmpleas? Fed black cat first😊

[@richardpedley6291]

Years ago you could buy cockain and heroin in a pharmacy in england then wen thay broute out the drugs act the crimnals took over and won

[@DrBrainTickler]

I also have to point out how disgusting it is that I've been saying everything Carl Hart has been saying since I was 17 years old and I never conformed to this broken fascist society... Yet the only way any of you will listen is if it's appeal to authority logical fallacy backing it. You'll listen to a PhD but you won't listen to someone who's just brilliant and intellectually honest.

[@ChadV13]

His stance on the vaccine is good don't tell me I have to do it for my health it's to help everyone

[@richardpedley6291]

Finaly a humanbean with is head screws on i was a heroin addict for well over 32 yrats and i now for a fact if i could of just got my heroin from a cemist i could of made somethong with my life i started on drugs at 13 now im 48 such a wast of money and my hole life pluss metjerdone and siboxone take months to get off heroin is only a few weeks the guvermant want you to be hooked on long life opits over my hole life iv bin addicted to probly every opit thir is and trust me id never tuch a nover opit ever agin but if it was regulated like this guy is saying it takes all the crime and suffering out of it all no brainer is it

[@MikeyBAAZ]

My doctor put me on Suboxone for a year 8 mg now I found a new doctor that's going to give me the sublocade shot I got to wait one stinking year I'm going to say it fu_cking year to a doctor to give Hydrocodone. I have Chronic Pain for 17 years.

[@DrBrainTickler]

The first time I saw Carl Hart talking about all of this I felt hopeful, now years later, it just pisses me off even more. I absolutely hate the academic culture as well as every single western world emulation. I hate the majority of the population. My hate is justified.

[@morganmckinley7946]

I’m a big fan of Dr Hart but he was hypocritical when he spoke about mandating vaccines while he supports liberty…

[@DrBrainTickler]

A lot of people who don't conform to society's bullshit laws are people who are too smart to be commanded and this war on drugs has destroyed the lives of some of the smartest people that have ever existed. Reparations must be paid!

[@willdenham]

I wish she wouldn't have compared taking illegal drugs to getting vaccinated, which is not criminally prosecuted and is a completely different in every way.

[@DrBrainTickler]

Also I want to point out that the medical health profession is medical fascism and every single doctor is demanding to be my medical proxy standing in my way of choosing my own treatment plan in regards to which drugs I take and what my dose is. Meanwhile I don't need them to advise me because I am a lifetime user that is responsible and knows what he's doing. I don't even need their consult. All these laws are being used as a justification to economically enslave the American people to pay for health insurance. It's a fucking scam. The copyrights are just being used to create semi-monopolies that encourage price gouging and of course that's just another form of slavery. Drugs are not expensive, the plastic bottle they come in actually costs more to make than the drugs themselves.

[@michellee8369]

Let us know how fentanyl goes for you.

[@josegaleano1530]

Drug use for grown ups it is as equally as religious for grown ups too is the negative of a stupidity that it doesn't help once be a better person

[@ReasonableForseeability]

Could you rephrase that?

[@grawakendream8980]

what are you saying

[@alfredofloyd]

vaccinated?

[@williamhenderson8731]

You lost me at “My vaccinated guest”.

[@righttofreedom2091]

Yeah I remember him saying he wasn't gunna get it so idk. Maybe he lied to get in ahahah

[@alfredofloyd]

@@righttofreedom2091 remember in what video?

[@barrygol7146]

Tobacco is actually more addictive then heroin.

[@ronrendon]

This guy should be president! He's so smart yet so down to earth. Love him and the work he does.

[@jungleninja8415]

Why is he vaccinated though just dosnt strike me as a man with lack of knowledge of what is in that vaccine

[@krisholden5365]

I’m so tired of hearing the BS trope that drug laws/law-enforcement/brutality is disproportionately applied against people due to race. It’s disproportionately applied against people based on socioeconomic status, period. Come to Northern Michigan, for example. There’s precious few places for people to work, the work that is available is low-wage or seasonal or both. It’s primarily either service work or manufacturing and, as a result, there’s a ton of very poor people that are basically barely getting by and who use drugs to escape or self-medicate. There are maybe a dozen black families in the entire county. But guess what, the extremely poor white people are treated the same way that the media shows black folks being treated in St Louis or Baltimore. The reason isn’t because of race!! They know that poor people are gonna use the public defender who is best pals with the prosecutor. The prosecutor who piles on ridiculous charges against someone who’s pulled over and found to have drugs or has had a couple of beers and is suddenly facing a half-dozen felony charges. Then the public defender comes in and says I got you a sweet deal man. They’re gonna drop all of the felonies and you only have to plead guilty to three misdemeanors and spend 3 years on probation and pay $3k in fines and do 200 hours of community service. The poor bastard doesn’t realize that the charges he’s pleading guilty to would never garner a conviction if it were taken to trial but compare the possibility of 15 years if he’s convicted of all of the charges that he is facing to the probation and fines and it sounds amazing!! I’ve literally seen these poor guys thanking the prosecutor and the public defender for completely destroying their lives. The court knows that they’re going to violate probation because they won’t be able to cope without a beer or a joint or something and when they do they hammer them again. Congratulations, you’re in the system now!! You’ll be there forever. Now they harass you when they see you driving and they come to your house whenever a crime is committed anywhere near you and so on and so forth. Sound familiar? It’s poor people. Full stop.

[@morganmckinley7946]

Amen