Post 9

Sometimes when a disastrous event occurs, people forget about the facts and succumb to the hysteria of the media and others around them. This potentially leads to further complication of the issue and creates more frustration among the people affected. One of Carl Hart’s main points of his talk on Tuesday at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute was to advise those in attendance to think differently and not “believe the hype”. I believe this statement is true to a certain extent; however, there are situations where this ideology should not be taken literally.

For example, Hart explained how a majority of drugs are not as harmful as believed. Hart said that marijuana is not as addictive as nicotine, tobacco, or methamphetamine. It is definitely important that he brought this topic to the audience’s attention, but there are some unintended consequences from this kind of talk. From discussion period on Friday a classmate spoke about an uncle who had a drug abuse problem and only recently due to repeated pleas from the family stopped using them. My classmate believes that if his uncle had heard this talk, his uncle would be tempted to start using drugs again. Obviously that would be a huge misunderstanding between what the speaker intended to convey to the audience and what the uncle understood.

Another issue I have with the “looseness” of the talk was that Hart implied that drugs should be decriminalized, or at the very least reduce the consequences of being caught with “illegal amounts” of a drug. Yes, I understand that most drugs are not as harmful as the government and media portray them as, however if drugs were decriminalized this would probably lead to more overdosing because larger amounts of a drug would be acceptable. Instead of being busted for 5 grams of cocaine (example), it could be that up to 8 grams is legal. I understand that some may argue that the government has kept these strict laws on drugs so more money can be collected for something Hart considers, “about the equivalent of traffic violations” (http://www.drcarlhart.com). But, it is no myth that any chemical in a certain dosage or amount has negative health effects on the human body and mind.

Overall I found Hart’s talk to be refreshing and gave me a different perspective in to the drug world. I agreed with most of his points, however all within certain parameters. Hart seemed to believe in a complete overhaul of current drug policy and promote decriminalization of drugs. Although there is work to be done in this area, complete overhaul is not needed but rather a simple change in perception.