Columbia Professor Carl Hart breaks taboos surrounding drug use in America.

The U.S. was founded on the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

So, why does the government prohibit Americans from altering their state of consciousness with drugs it has deemed illegal? After all, drug prohibition has not only proven ineffective and unjust in many cases, but it also impinges on one’s right to live life as they see fit. It restricts liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Given these inconsistencies between principle and policy, what role should the U.S. government play, if any, in regulating mind-altering substances as we move forward into the 21st century?

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About Dr. Carl Hart:

Dr. Hart is an Associate Professor of Psychology in both the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at Columbia University, and Director of the Residential Studies and Methamphetamine Research Laboratories at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. A major focus of Dr. Hart’s research is to understand complex interactions between drugs of abuse and the neurobiology and environmental factors that mediate human behavior and physiology. He is the author or co-author of dozens of peer-reviewed scientific articles in the area of neuropsychopharmacology, co-author of the textbook, Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior, and a member of a NIH review group. Dr. Hart was recently elected to Fellow status by the American Psychological Association (Division 28) for his outstanding contribution to the field of psychology, specifically psychopharmacology and substance abuse.

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