Pubdate: Sat, 18 Jan 2014
Source: Dallas Morning News (TX)
Copyright: 2014 The Dallas Morning News, Inc.
Contact: http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/send-a-letter/
Website: http://www.dallasnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/117
Author: Dianne Solis

CHANGES URGED ON DRUG POLICIES

Brain Scientist, an Ex-User, Advocates Decriminalization

Drug policy is a far greater problem than illegal drugs, says Dr. 
Carl Hart, a brain scientist, author and federal government adviser.

Drug policy is a far greater problem than illegal drugs, says Dr. 
Carl Hart, a brain scientist, author and federal government adviser.

Hart delivered that uncomfortable message Friday at a Dallas 
conference organized by Mothers Against Teen Violence, a nonprofit 
group focused on drug policy.

"I sold drugs. I used drugs. I engaged in petty crimes," the 
neuroscientist told an audience of about 150 at the Adolphus hotel. 
"I tell you this not as a badge of honor. ... We need people from a 
wide range of backgrounds so that when we talk about solving 
problems, we actually have people there who understand something 
about the problem."

Hart's 2013 memoir, High Price, weaves science through his story of 
an African-American kid in Miami in a world of drugs, basketball, 
family violence and the love of five older sisters. He became the 
first tenured African-American professor in sciences at Columbia 
University in its psychology department. He sits on the National 
Advisory Council on Drug Abuse for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

During his luncheon talk, Hart choked up as he paid tribute to a 
now-deceased mentor and scientist who put him on the deeper path of 
science, social consciousness and ethics. Hart believes many 
researchers and law enforcement officials exaggerate the impact of 
drugs to sustain funding for their projects.

He started out studying how cocaine affects rats. That research 
eventually included study on humans taking crack cocaine in a 
supervised environment at Columbia. He told the crowd, which included 
Dallas County Sheriff Lupe Valdez, that when he delved deeper into 
research methods, he found some studies overstated results.

The lawyers, professors and policy advocates at Friday's luncheon 
will reconvene Saturday to hear more from Hart and to discuss 
prospects for drug policy change in the Texas Legislature. Leaders 
from the Democratic and the Republican parties are scheduled to talk.

Nearly two dozen states have made medicinal marijuana legal. Two 
states, Colorado and Washington, have legalized recreational use. And 
the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the sentencing disparity 
between powder cocaine and crack cocaine from 100 to 1, to 18 to 1. 
In other words, it now takes 18 times the quantity of powder cocaine 
to trigger the same statutory punishment as crack cocaine.

The pendulum is shifting, Hart said in an interview. But it isn't 
enough for a scientist who wants decriminalization of possession of all drugs.

Harts said that "waving the flag at how awful drugs are" avoids a 
tougher discussion. "Then we don't have to look at the person's lack 
of education, the person's lack of employment, the person's lack of 
opportunity, discrimination, racism and all those complicated issues. 
When I hear researchers overstating their findings on the influence 
of drugs on some societal problem, it really frustrates me.

"It becomes noise, and noise that distracts us from the real problems."

[sidebar]

MLK awards

Mothers Against Teen Violence presented these awards Friday to honor 
civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.:

Humanitarian Award: Dr. Carl Hart, a scientist at Columbia University 
who advocates reassessing drug policy

Community Service Award: Bob Ramsey, an Irving-based activist for 
drug policy changes

Outstanding Legislator Award: State Rep. Helen Giddings, who has 
authored legislation aimed at assisting children
- ---
MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom