Columbia professor finds work-life balance through recreational drugs
Nearly 15,000 people died from drug overdoses involving heroin in the United States in 2018
An Ivy-league professor has made it his mission to remove the stigma around recreational drug use in America.
Columbia University psychology and neuroscience professor, Carl Hart, explained how using heroin has made it possible for him to have a steady work-life balance, according to the New York Post.
In his new book, Drug Use For Grown-Ups: Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear, Professor Hart wrote “there aren’t many things in life that I enjoy more than a few lines by the fireplace at the end of the day.” For Hart, the experience of using heroin leaves him “refreshed” and “prepared to face another day.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 15,000 people died from drug overdoses involving heroin in the United States in 2018.
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Hart is not only a fan of heroin, but also admits to using MDMA (also known as Molly or ecstasy) and methamphetamine. The professor claims MDMA provides him with an “intense feelings of pleasure, gratitude, and energy.”
“When I’m rolling, I just want to breathe deeply and enjoy it. The simple act of breathing can be extremely pleasurable.”
His bold admission undoubtedly turned some heads especially for people who believe illegal drug use is bad no matter how you try to repurpose it.
However, Hart believes he is opening the door to a much larger conversation on drug use in society and wants to be an advocate for decriminalizing recreational drug possession.
According to the book’s publisher, Hart shared that “ the demonization of drug use – not drugs themselves – [has] been a tremendous scourge on America, not least in reinforcing this country’s enduring structural racism.”
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The Columbia professor has high hopes that the Biden administration can help with making changes by working toward federal regulation and licensing of recreational drugs.
While acknowledging in his book that “drug use is not for everybody,” Hart cites America’s founding documents and their promise of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as reasons for having the choice to snort lines, smoke weed, and expand one’s mind.
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