Columbia Professor Says He Uses Heroin Every Day: “I Am Better For My Drug Use”

Columbia University professor Carl Hart says he routinely uses heroin and that it is not something he is ashamed of, in fact, it helps him feel “refreshed” and ready to take on the day. Hart reveals the extent of his unexpected drug use in his new book Drug Use for Grown-ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear. 

“There aren’t many things in life that I enjoy more than a few lines by the fireplace at the end of the day,” he says, according to the New York Post. “… I pay my taxes, serve as a volunteer in my community on a regular basis and contribute to the global community as an informed and engaged citizen. I am better for my drug use.”

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Hart also avocates for drug reform in the United States and references the war on drugs as being a failed idea. He believes that drug use can help people who are not at risk for addiction with their “work-life balance.”

He adds: “A large percentage of people who meet criteria for addiction have co-occurring psychiatric illnesses: depression, anxiety disorder, schizophrenia, a wide range of other psychiatric illnesses. A large percentage of them also have other illnesses. They may be pain patients. So that increases the likelihood of them becoming addicted … Another reason is that some people just have not developed responsibility skills. They haven’t developed an ability to exercise inhibitory control. It’s just one of these things that develops over time.”

“You could have a massive public-service-announcement campaign that says ‘If you’re going to use opioids, don’t use alcohol as a background or other sedatives in combination, because it increases the likelihood of respiratory depression and death,’” he continued.

Drug Use for Grown-ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear is available now.

[Via]