Drug Use for Grown Ups: Session 144 with Carl Hart

I've been wanting to interview Dr. Carl Hart ever since I first heard him speak at the 2015 Mass ABA conference. Put differently, when asked who would be a 'bucket list' interview, Carl Hart was usually the first name that I answered with.

Ever since learning about Carl's work, I've admired his ability and willingness to advance science-based arguments in the popular press media. If this is your first time hearing his name, let me share a little of his background information. Carl is the Ziff Professor of Psychology at Columbia University, where he's been researching the behavioral and neuropharmacological effects of psychoactive drugs in humans for nearly 20 years.

Carl's research, along with his personal experience and observations, has shaped an honest and refreshing point of view as to how society treats the behavior of drug taking, and what we need to do in terms of changing public policies in this area. Even if you disagree with his main thesis, I encourage you to listen all the way through our interview. Personally, I have my own homework to do in terms of thinking through whether the full legalization of all classes of drugs is a good idea, but I think in general, it's good to challenge our assumptions and views, even if only periodically.

One of the other things that I like about Carl is that he has been successful in communicating complex and nuanced scientific findings in the area of mass media. He's been featured in the op-ed pages of major newspapers and on network television. Carl has also been a guest on The Joe Rogan Experience, which is, by audience standards, very likely the largest podcast out there right now.

Even more impressive though is how Carl has taken the time to share his views in popular press books. His first book, High Price, was a New York Times bestseller, and I have no doubt that Drug Use for Grown Ups will meet or exceed the success of it. Long story short, I think there are lessons for dissemination we can all learn from him. 

Here are the links to the various sources we mentioned:

• Carl's latest book, Drug Use for Grown Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear.
• His debut book, High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery that Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society.
• The Declaration of Independence.
• The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914.
• Carl's website.
• Carl's Twitter.
• Carl's appearances on the JRE.
• The difference between a Coroner and Medical Examiner.

Today's episode is brought to you with the generous support of the following:

• Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their brand new 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations.
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• The long-awaited Behavioral Observations Patreon. For the last few years, I've run a private membership group on my website, and I'm excited to announce that I'm transitioning this over to the Patreon platform. There are several different options based on your needs and budget, so if you're interested in getting awesome discounts for professional development from Greg Hanley's company, FTF, accessing an ad-free podcast, listening to bonus patrons-only content, and more, head over to patreon.com/behavioralobservations.