Carl Hart: Tenured Columbia professor, father of three... and admitted regular heroin user

Is that a sliver of gold in the front tooth— as well as the ear?

Not sure why you are baffled. Maybe you could talk to professional gay men age 30 to 50 or beyond who use drugs and are not degenerate drug addicts at all.

It’s odd to hear of people who use heroin occasionally but don’t get addicted to it. I never could do that, I’d be a hopeless addict in less than a month and dead within a year.

[quote] professional gay men age 30 to 50 or beyond who use drugs Where are they?

I couldn’t do it. I’ve battled multiple addictions. Being a an occasional user just isn’t in my genes. I’m a born abuser. But more power to him. I hope do for his sake he’s right, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea for most people.

R3

Brain chemistry plays a role.

Many U.S. troops in Vietnam used heroin to get through that shitshow. When they got back, some managed to stop, others didn't. As far as I know, there's no way to know if a given person has the brain chemistry for serious addiction, so it's still risky to start.

He looks like Ben Carson with dreds.

Fast-forward 10 years. He will be dead from an OD.

This dude loves to pretend that you can be "normal" and regularly use heroin but he looks freaky in interviews: glassy eyed, spacey, and regularly stumbles over his words. I'd like to ask his wife how functional she thinks he is & whether she's cool with him seeming constantly checked out. I feel bad for their kid.

[quote] Maybe you could talk to professional gay men age 30 to 50 or beyond who use drugs and are not degenerate drug addicts at all.

While I'm at it, I'll also consult the unicorns and the mermaids.

many find him creepy and want no part of him....not popular at Columbia.

Do he get to expense the heroin for research purposes?

Students or faculty or administrators, r11?

Someone in the comments of the JRE interview he did says that Carl was his professor at Columbia 10 years ago and was much more vibrant and sharp back then--totally different energy. Says it's sad to see how slow and out of it he seems now and he wishes that people around him would try to get him some help. So don't take anything Carl says seriously, he's just a functioning addict justifying his addiction with a suspiciously shallow knowledge of what he speaks. Yes, he raises valid points about the social side of things, like mass incarceration, but otherwise he's useless. I don't want to call him a diversity hire, but... he's a clown.

Why is his hair 2-toned?

[quote] So don't take anything Carl says seriously,

You mean like the book he's just published advocating the use of heavy drugs, with the weight of his named chair in psychology at Columbia University behind him?

R16 Columbia loves nothing more than an edgy diversity hire :) He can't even pronounce the words "experimental" or "amphetamine" correctly and actually made Joe Rogan seem smart, comparatively speaking. He's a hack.

He sounds like an undergrad TA at a state school, not a tenured professor at Columbia.

He needs to explain how to use opioids without becoming constipated.

his fellow teachers regard him as an asshole.

Da big mystery is why columbia dint fire his fug ass yrs ago.....hmmm

oh, he would claim racism? prob....

Many gays that I know, pre-Covid, used drugs recreationally. Is it really that big of a deal?

OP, facially he looks like NFL QB Jameis Winston, all the way down to the smile.

Not buying that one can be a recreational heroin user

Even with cocaine -- my drug of choice in former years -- the space between "I use for fun" and "I have a problem" is quite narrow

[quote]Why is his hair 2-toned?

Because he's a middle aged person who's greying? If you never cut your hair it will be multi-toned as you age.

He is a fukin joke at school, ev body know he an addict.

R6, I worked in the Vietnam Era Study, continues to follow veterans who did or did not use heroin during their time in Vietnam. There is considerably more than "brain chemistry" involved in individuals continuing with heroin use and addiction, quitting, switching to other substances, or relapsing. Risk and protective factors are often highly social and dependent on interpersonal relationships and family patterns. Long-term issues are associated with but not inevitably related to SES, unstable family backgrounds, life and military-time traumas and PTSD, and co-existent psychological disorders.

R24, heroin indeed can be and is a "recreational" substance for some, if by that you mean a drug that is intermittently used and can be dropped for periods of time without serious psychological and/or physical consequences. Even in cases of "addiction," specific dosage and frequency of use varies. The myth of a monolithic, black-tunnel nature of heroin use and abuse has hindered public understanding and treatment for decades. The commonplace that it can be easier to quit heroin than to quit smoking tobacco is not just hyperbolic.

The point here really is that substance use, abuse and addiction are understood best on individual terms.

And today's issues with heroin are as much tied up with drug quality, accessibility and altered social attitudes among prospective users as with outmoded assumptions.

His hair is actually tri-toned--it's black and grey near his head, but his dreadlocks in that photo ar reddish.

[quote] Many gays that I know, pre-Covid, used drugs recreationally. Is it really that big of a deal?

Casual heroin use is not that big of a deal at all!

He’s pretty cute.

They key phrase is Tenured Columbia Professor. He doesn't work.

Any drug can be abused, even those that are considered non-addictive (like pot). I've abused pizza at many times in my life. There are also super addictive drugs that some people use recreationally.

There are between 250,000-500,000 Americans who used heroin today. Most are addicts.

The question for any addict (or person who claims not to be an addict but is regularly using) is what happens when you stop using.

He was featured on the Netflix documentary Crack, denouncing the drug as a planned scourge of the US African American population in the 1980s. I’m confused- heroin is ok with him?

I hadn't heard of Carl Hart so I looked him up. I went into my research with an open mind for his ideas. Guess what? I watched a video of him from 2014 he sounded crisp, lucid, coherent, articulate, and sharp. A video from 2017 showed him still sounding lucid but he was slurring words more. And then I clicked on an interview from 2020 -- and he sounds like a totally different person. Talking more slowly, with less enunciation of words. Less diverse word choices. Sounded and looked more depleted, like he has lost some brain cells between 2014 and today. It lines up with what R14 was saying in their post. I am therefore not buying it that he isn't experiencing any fallout from his drug use.

You can casually/occasionally use any drug, but if you are a regular user, and go out of your way to defend that regular use, you're too attached. And I would feel the same way about someone who felt the need to defend their "regular" drinking.

I have an intense desire to find my biggest dildo and play some Barry White.

How much do you think he spends each year on it?

I hope the kid's college fund is in good shape.

It didn't work for Timothy Leary in the 1960s, and it won't work for him now.

It ruins lives. Idiot doesn't even realize that everyone in his orbit is affected. His poor kids.

Terrific, just terrific.

[quote]I watched a video of him from 2014 he sounded crisp, lucid, coherent, articulate, and sharp. A video from 2017 showed him still sounding lucid but he was slurring words more. And then I clicked on an interview from 2020 -- and he sounds like a totally different person. Talking more slowly, with less enunciation of words. Less diverse word choices. Sounded and looked more depleted, like he has lost some brain cells between 2014 and today.

Sounds just like Donald Trump from 1994 to 2020.

He is a college professor. He has a guaranteed high income in a job that will embrace his 'quirkiness'. He was indeed in the documentary Crack denouncing that drug and the fallout from its misuse. I wonder how many regular people. People who wok hourly jobs, who work in manual labor, who won't ever have a 'college fund' for their kids because feeding them every night is a struggle will watch him and continue with their substance abuse because this guy is validating their excuses and belief that they are not addicts. Like a lot of things in life the consequences for regular people and overpaid urban white collar professionals who like to think themselves 'just middle class' in need of substances to get through their very difficult, stressful lives (major eyeroll) are not the same.

I know somebody who used to be a very vocal vegan appearing on podcasts and keeping a blog. He stopped and deleted his blog when he realized that a vegan diet was healthy for him (a single guy in a big city with a 6 figure income and access to alternative foods on every street corner and the money to pay for them) but it wasn't healthy or feasible for the young women in rural America who didn't have money or access to alternative proteins and fats and just pushed the meat off their plates and lived on ramen, rice, pasta and little else and no healthcare to get help when they were deficient and in terrible health.

I have this feeling Van Jones would think he's misunderstood and tremendous.

"He is a college professor. He has a guaranteed high income in a job that will embrace his 'quirkiness'. "

There is so much wrong there.

Columbia does pay a lot, but it is still not high by New York City standards. Unless you are doing scientific research or are a celebrity in your field, college profs do not make a lot.

And colleges are VERY sensitive to scandal. Going public about his drug use insures that Columbia will be on the lookout for anything that can justify letting Hart go. He is tenured, so that means they will have to really work to find something, but you can be sure his profile as a recreational heroin user has already cost them some donations and funding.

I wonder if he'll let you suck his dick if you have good blow.

r44, it's very hard to fire a tenured professor. He'd have to show up high for class more than once.

Is this the new frontier for the Times? Legalize everything? Yes, I know it's going well in Portugal, but it's the transparent advocacy that's annoying.

What about fentanyl?

R20 Which is true of 95% of all professors in the Academy.

He's obviously using his own hunger and denial as data to support pretty broad conclusions. But lost in the response to him is a real truth - not all humans respond to chemical alterations in the same way. And given the moral constructs around "getting high", we've done little research, and seem uninterested in the question.

Genetic pre-disposition to certain cancers have led to people getting radical prophylactic surgeries... but if Billy is for sure going to be an alcoholic/junkie we don't give Billy any information or alternatives.

He does talk about fentanyl and how it is the real problem. In other words, it's not so much the prescription opioids that kill, but rather the "street" or "designer" opioids, which are cut with deadly fentanyl. I believe that's what killed Prince. And Tom Petty.

I still have to call bullshit. I personally know someone that was a heroin user in the 90s. Ruined their life at the time. Then they got sober and reclaimed their career and their life was back on track, seemingly. Then in mid 2000s they got a "back injury" and were prescribed oxycontin, for got knows what reason. And they TOOK the prescription, for got knows what other reason. Suddenly, they are falling asleep at work all the time, messing things up for everyone else, flaking out, and just acting generally very erratic. The pill-popping evolved into crushing and snorting the oxy pills. Ended up losing their career AGAIN. I have lost touch with the person since the fallout. And it looks like they got out of that hole again with help from family. But you know...it was pretty dramatic at the time.

I guess this guy is saying there's a 7 in 10 chance you will NOT become an addict (how did he arrive at these numbers?) and the above story is dramatic because this person was already determined to be have the addict's brain. But these are still very strong drugs. You absolutely cannot live a normal, vibrant life and be doing opioids regularly for "recreation" or "relaxation." They are so potent and they inhibit functionality.

^Also, they inhibit your ability to feel joy in anything BUT the drug. Opiates are supposedly that good. Literally nothing compares to the feeling.

[quote] his fellow teachers regard him as an asshole.

What would your source for that be? Do you teach at Columbia?

'Columbia does pay a lot, but it is still not high by New York City standards'

I am sick and tired of people saying this. Yes I get it, NYC is expensive and you can live better on 60K in Hellhole, AK than on 200K in NYC BUT this is why the Dems are being pushed further left and this is why the Dems are losing support with people in the rust belt.

I went through a period of really liking opioid pills about twenty years ago. I never think about or crave them anymore and it was true that quitting cigarettes was harder. However I’m not that addictive of a personality and can take or leave anything (except that nicotine). I know a few people that are now in their fifties and sixties and who have given up trying to quit smoking.

I appreciate a lot of black and brown men, but can't agree with those here who think this dude is handsome.

He doesn't seem particularly intelligent. Does he teach the history of narcotic? I'm less surprised that he dabbles in drugs than that he's a professor at Columbia.

R57 He seemed way more intelligent and articulate several years ago than he does today. He's got clear signs of cognitive decline. He also looks like he lives in an alley. He used to be very cute. It's sad for his wife and kids, I would imagine.

He looks like he knows about the man going up inside the man.

I love a man who wears braids, but dreadlocks are harder to pull off.

[quote] He doesn't seem particularly intelligent.

Based on what? You're just pulling that out of your ass.

Reminds me of when Stoney and I would go over to Buckle's and Puff would turn us on to a hot load of mescaline crumbled into a tumbler of ether with a float of Percocet jimmies. I'd wake up with blood on my ass, and then we'd get high. Those were some good times!

R47

Portugal's drug policy is much more tightly controlled and punitive than what American drug use advocates are calling for. My understanding is that, if a drug user buys more drugs than their government-allowed allotment illegally, there are serious consequences. Hart et al want no consequences even something as basic as trying to divert an addict into treatment.

[quote] Casual heroin use is not that big of a deal at all!

Watsatusay?

If we view it as a chronic disease than we make reasonable accommodations. It’s just that dealing with active users on a daily basis is exhausting and I feel like a tool used as parent, servant, parole officer, therapist, bank, or scapegoat working with them or on behalf of their best interests.

Political parties are made up of these people bend facts, time, and reality based upon mood and willpower.

R61 Based on seeing him in various interviews especially in Q&As where he reiterates his standard .response rather than using deliberation. He doesn't have anything interesting or original to say and he doesn't strike me as particularly intelligent. And others R14, R17, R18, R34, R41, R58 seem to have noticed a decline in his articulation, clarity, enunciation and word choice.

[quote]this is why the Dems are being pushed further left and this is why the Dems are losing support with people in the rust belt.

Good to know. We've really been wondering what the reason was. Thank you!

[quote] Is that a sliver of gold in the front tooth

Nope, just shiny teeth.

He's got such a handsome face. Sad that he completely ruins his attractiveness with that heinous crap hanging off his head.

R67 They are well aware of this. I volunteer with PA Dems and believe me a New Yorker earning 250K but claiming to be middle class and pulling out the violin would go down like a lead balloon. These are exactly the people that we had to pretend not to know in order to win PA because it comes up over and over when you call undecided voters. Our country chair even wrote answers for people manning the phones for when people brought up out of touch professors and 6 figure earning Dems claiming to be middle class. It's the biggest issue the Dems are dealing - how to bring working and middle class voters back to the party permanently without going so far left that you lose the urban and suburban elites who fund the party. Mrs Pelosi did a video call with is in November 2019 that addressed this issue and what she recommended we do for the 2020 election. She even said we could take a few shots at her if it meant we could get our numbers up in red counties.

R69 Because our country is mentally deranged... those poor PA working class Trump/Republicans obediently and reliably resent the "elite" they are instructed to hate, while completely ignoring, if not actually lovingly admire, that those who are instructing them are oligarchs, international finance criminals, and wealthy crony capitalists whose policies crush the life out of the working class itself....

Seems like just an intellectual version of denial.

It's a shame because he probably has a lot of impressionable twenty something students who look up to him and would feel safe adopting his excuses for their own addictions.

R29, of course heroin is addictive and kills people. So does booze. Hell, I can name just as many people (well, times 1000) who've died of alcohol abuse. Still, most of us can drink without dying from it or being addicted to it. Heroin - though the numbers will be higher as it's more addictive - surely has a similar trajectory: Many will become addicted or die from it, some will not.

looks like his head is taking a crap in the OPs photo.

Some of his statements about the conclusions that he has come to as a result of his lived experience during his academic career seem contradictory.

I can see the value of studying and categorizing different types of drug usage behavior and the effects of those drugs. That is a public service. Also, so is separating the stigmatization and social stratification of drug usage and the effects. I think what he has said about the stigmatization of drug users being harmful is a valid point.

However, Dr. Hart seems to have become elitist and blindly cynical. He goes on and on about how how access to “cocaine that isn’t stepped on” is so great when one travels to South American countries. His earlier talk show and news appearances were always him stating that he didn’t use drugs at all.

Perhaps going on The Joe Rogan Show is the strongest drug. Rogan has brought some academics on there and they have gone into total anti-intellectual altright libertarian bro Ville. One guy got fired and he was angry about it, another guy ended up quitting his academic job after going on Joe Rogan.

Hart had an earlier book where he denounced anti-intellectualism in his family of origin and in all people. That was a very interesting book. I know a lot of people including myself have had to deal with anti-education family members, they just keep themselves in a rut and it’s very sad.

His drug use for grown-ups book doesn’t really give any information about toxicity, withdrawal times, or any other physiological information that might educate people that don’t have access to higher education. I wish he would’ve put some long term natural history data about drug use in there. Erowid is better than his book (sadly) and he has the ability to make a database more accurate than erowid to help many.

I like pizza, main lining and long walks on the beach…

Is the New York Times trying to destroy America?

And also this is not a good message for POC.