Post by Admin on Feb 13, 2021 17:26:03 GMT
INTERVIEW PRISONS & POLICING
Legalizing All Drugs Is Just the Beginning of a Compassionate Drug Policy
truthout.org/articles/legalizing-all-drugs-is-just-the-beginning-of-a-compassionate-drug-policy/
President Joe Biden has shifted some of his positions on drug policy in recent years: He’s now against mandatory minimums for certain offenses. He’s open to commutations for people serving long drug sentences. And the Biden-Harris platform proclaimed, “No one should be incarcerated for drug use alone.”
However, peer a bit closer, and you’ll see that Biden’s drug policy approach still assumes there is something inherently wrong with illicit drugs and the people who use them. For example, the administration’s “solutions” regarding drug policy involve mandating treatment for people convicted of drug possession. This mandated treatment policy is coercive and illogical, given that most people who use drugs are not addicted to them, and even those with serious addictions are generally not helped by involuntary “treatment.”
Biden is hardly unique in this regard. Even as marijuana legalization gains momentum around the country, the U.S. has a deep and abiding problem when it comes to both policy and public consciousness around drugs. In order to approach drug policy rationally and compassionately, we must drop our assumptions and expand our imaginations. That’s what acclaimed neuroscientist Carl Hart does in his new book, Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear. Hart, a leading drug researcher and a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Columbia University, suggests a full-scale reframing: Don’t assume that drugs are bad. He recognizes that pretty much any drug can have benefits, including typically vilified drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines.
In his book, Hart courageously presents this new framing through the lens of his own experience. He regularly uses illicit drugs, and shares how heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine, MDMA and others have served useful purposes in his life — including just relaxing and having fun. Hart notes that addiction affects “only 10 percent to 30 percent of those who use even the most stigmatized drugs, such as heroin or methamphetamine.”
Yet most U.S. drug policies are constructed with addiction and harm as justifications. In practice, those policies play out as other forms of criminalization do, targeting Black, Brown, poor, trans and disabled people, and other marginalized groups. Meanwhile the real and tragic problem of drug overdose persists — and Hart shows how criminalization makes it impossible to confront that problem, too.
Hart urges us to not only decriminalize drugs but also to legalize them. There are many reasons for legalization — including that decriminalization still comes with fines, civil penalties and stigma. (It should be noted that legalizing drugs equitably would need to come with reparations for communities impacted by the drug war and significant opportunities for people who currently sell illicit drugs.)
But in addition to acknowledging the importance of curbing arrests and incarceration, Hart focuses on how legalization could substantively improve people’s lives by reducing the risk of overdose, reducing interventions of child protective services, and increasing safety and awareness for all.
I chatted with Carl Hart about his book — and about what a life-saving, life-affirming, freedom-affirming set of drug policies could look like in this country.
Maya Schenwar: For me, one of the most refreshing aspects of your book was your acknowledgment that not only aren’t we going to have a “drug-free America,” but also that we shouldn’t want one. You argue that it’s OK to take drugs for all kinds of purposes, including just the pursuit of happiness — and you talk about this through the lens of your own current drug use. Why did you decide to tell this story through such a personal lens?
Carl Hart: Well, one of the things I know is that, having published more than 100 papers in the scientific literature, nobody knows and nobody cares. Nobody reads that boring shit. I learned that you have to tell a narrative — stories people identify with. I have all of these inconsistencies that are part of my character. I thought — take advantage of this character to tell this story. And that’s what I did here.
You used to support decriminalization of drugs but not legalization. Many of us agree that drugs must not be criminalized: We should not be policing and incarcerating people for these things. But legalizing drugs is an additional step. Where did that change come from, for you?
I think about what the real concerns are, when it comes to drug overdoses. First, we start with the quality — knowing what you’re putting [into] your body is the most important thing. Decriminalization does not even address that issue. And so, people are getting toxins, adulterants, and then they don’t have a chance. With decriminalization, we’re not arresting people, which is really important. But if people are putting substances in their bodies, there should also be some quality control. That’s the main thing. When I realized that more of the dangers flow from the adulterants in substances, that’s when I realized that we need to do something about regulating the quality.
Yeah, this is what we’re seeing with fentanyl in heroin, which people don’t know is there…. In your book, you talk about how offering widespread drug-safety testing could save lives. [Drug-safety testing involves checking drugs to inform people about what’s in the substances they’re using.] But when you suggest drug-safety testing to politicians — including liberal politicians — it’s off-limits; they don’t even consider it. They want things like naloxone to treat overdoses after people are already in horrible peril, but they oppose safety-testing the drugs, which could prevent so many health crises from happening. To me, this way of thinking is actually killing people.
That’s exactly what we have to say. People are acting like these half-assed efforts should be praised when, in fact, they’re killing people.
Some liberals think they know what’s best, and you should be praising them simply because their hearts are in the right place. They think they know more about your experience than you do.
I speak about overdose potential. I separate that from addiction because the people who are overdosing, a lot of them are not addicted. The thing we can do immediately to wipe out a number of overdoses is — it’s simple — implement nationwide drug checking.
You talk about how there needs to be much more awareness and education around drug combinations, like the fact that combining heroin and alcohol is extremely dangerous. I was thinking about the drug “education” programs I went through as a child, and how they contained no useful information. In addition to the widespread drug awareness that’s needed for adults (for instance, around drug combinations), I was wondering if you could share a little bit about what you think a real useful drug education program could look like, for kids.
All the evidence, for decades, shows that the drugs that children under 17 or 18 years old are most likely to use are marijuana, alcohol and tobacco. That’s where my education would focus. With teaching about other drugs at that age, you are distracting them and using scare tactics with them. If you’re doing the education because you’re concerned about the health of the people who you’re talking to, then you’re talking about alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.
For marijuana, the major effect that young people have to worry about is taking too much of it [which can prompt paranoia and anxiety]. I would make sure I explained to them that the difference between the oral route and smoking in terms of onset, the effects and how long the effects will last, and make sure they understand all of that really, really well.
Legalizing All Drugs Is Just the Beginning of a Compassionate Drug Policy
truthout.org/articles/legalizing-all-drugs-is-just-the-beginning-of-a-compassionate-drug-policy/
President Joe Biden has shifted some of his positions on drug policy in recent years: He’s now against mandatory minimums for certain offenses. He’s open to commutations for people serving long drug sentences. And the Biden-Harris platform proclaimed, “No one should be incarcerated for drug use alone.”
However, peer a bit closer, and you’ll see that Biden’s drug policy approach still assumes there is something inherently wrong with illicit drugs and the people who use them. For example, the administration’s “solutions” regarding drug policy involve mandating treatment for people convicted of drug possession. This mandated treatment policy is coercive and illogical, given that most people who use drugs are not addicted to them, and even those with serious addictions are generally not helped by involuntary “treatment.”
Biden is hardly unique in this regard. Even as marijuana legalization gains momentum around the country, the U.S. has a deep and abiding problem when it comes to both policy and public consciousness around drugs. In order to approach drug policy rationally and compassionately, we must drop our assumptions and expand our imaginations. That’s what acclaimed neuroscientist Carl Hart does in his new book, Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear. Hart, a leading drug researcher and a professor of psychology and psychiatry at Columbia University, suggests a full-scale reframing: Don’t assume that drugs are bad. He recognizes that pretty much any drug can have benefits, including typically vilified drugs like heroin, cocaine and methamphetamines.
In his book, Hart courageously presents this new framing through the lens of his own experience. He regularly uses illicit drugs, and shares how heroin, methamphetamines, cocaine, MDMA and others have served useful purposes in his life — including just relaxing and having fun. Hart notes that addiction affects “only 10 percent to 30 percent of those who use even the most stigmatized drugs, such as heroin or methamphetamine.”
Yet most U.S. drug policies are constructed with addiction and harm as justifications. In practice, those policies play out as other forms of criminalization do, targeting Black, Brown, poor, trans and disabled people, and other marginalized groups. Meanwhile the real and tragic problem of drug overdose persists — and Hart shows how criminalization makes it impossible to confront that problem, too.
Hart urges us to not only decriminalize drugs but also to legalize them. There are many reasons for legalization — including that decriminalization still comes with fines, civil penalties and stigma. (It should be noted that legalizing drugs equitably would need to come with reparations for communities impacted by the drug war and significant opportunities for people who currently sell illicit drugs.)
But in addition to acknowledging the importance of curbing arrests and incarceration, Hart focuses on how legalization could substantively improve people’s lives by reducing the risk of overdose, reducing interventions of child protective services, and increasing safety and awareness for all.
I chatted with Carl Hart about his book — and about what a life-saving, life-affirming, freedom-affirming set of drug policies could look like in this country.
Maya Schenwar: For me, one of the most refreshing aspects of your book was your acknowledgment that not only aren’t we going to have a “drug-free America,” but also that we shouldn’t want one. You argue that it’s OK to take drugs for all kinds of purposes, including just the pursuit of happiness — and you talk about this through the lens of your own current drug use. Why did you decide to tell this story through such a personal lens?
Carl Hart: Well, one of the things I know is that, having published more than 100 papers in the scientific literature, nobody knows and nobody cares. Nobody reads that boring shit. I learned that you have to tell a narrative — stories people identify with. I have all of these inconsistencies that are part of my character. I thought — take advantage of this character to tell this story. And that’s what I did here.
You used to support decriminalization of drugs but not legalization. Many of us agree that drugs must not be criminalized: We should not be policing and incarcerating people for these things. But legalizing drugs is an additional step. Where did that change come from, for you?
I think about what the real concerns are, when it comes to drug overdoses. First, we start with the quality — knowing what you’re putting [into] your body is the most important thing. Decriminalization does not even address that issue. And so, people are getting toxins, adulterants, and then they don’t have a chance. With decriminalization, we’re not arresting people, which is really important. But if people are putting substances in their bodies, there should also be some quality control. That’s the main thing. When I realized that more of the dangers flow from the adulterants in substances, that’s when I realized that we need to do something about regulating the quality.
Yeah, this is what we’re seeing with fentanyl in heroin, which people don’t know is there…. In your book, you talk about how offering widespread drug-safety testing could save lives. [Drug-safety testing involves checking drugs to inform people about what’s in the substances they’re using.] But when you suggest drug-safety testing to politicians — including liberal politicians — it’s off-limits; they don’t even consider it. They want things like naloxone to treat overdoses after people are already in horrible peril, but they oppose safety-testing the drugs, which could prevent so many health crises from happening. To me, this way of thinking is actually killing people.
That’s exactly what we have to say. People are acting like these half-assed efforts should be praised when, in fact, they’re killing people.
Some liberals think they know what’s best, and you should be praising them simply because their hearts are in the right place. They think they know more about your experience than you do.
I speak about overdose potential. I separate that from addiction because the people who are overdosing, a lot of them are not addicted. The thing we can do immediately to wipe out a number of overdoses is — it’s simple — implement nationwide drug checking.
You talk about how there needs to be much more awareness and education around drug combinations, like the fact that combining heroin and alcohol is extremely dangerous. I was thinking about the drug “education” programs I went through as a child, and how they contained no useful information. In addition to the widespread drug awareness that’s needed for adults (for instance, around drug combinations), I was wondering if you could share a little bit about what you think a real useful drug education program could look like, for kids.
All the evidence, for decades, shows that the drugs that children under 17 or 18 years old are most likely to use are marijuana, alcohol and tobacco. That’s where my education would focus. With teaching about other drugs at that age, you are distracting them and using scare tactics with them. If you’re doing the education because you’re concerned about the health of the people who you’re talking to, then you’re talking about alcohol, tobacco and marijuana.
For marijuana, the major effect that young people have to worry about is taking too much of it [which can prompt paranoia and anxiety]. I would make sure I explained to them that the difference between the oral route and smoking in terms of onset, the effects and how long the effects will last, and make sure they understand all of that really, really well.