Carl Hart - Crack - You can understand (É possível entender)

News

Carl Hart - Crack - You can understand (É possível entender)

25 July 2014

“I am here because this is where I grew up, in a place like a favelas. So I am trying to draw attention to the world about the problem that people face in the favelas”

The neuroscientist, Karl Hart, professor at Columbia University, got international attention after conducting studies with crack cocaine users in his laboratory.

The result of his research- as his own life experiences- deeply question the common sense about the use, abuse and addiction on crack cocaine.

“I would be irresponsible if I had some knowledge that could help poor people and then I did not share it and if I didn’t do so with all of my heart, then my life would be worst living and so that’s why I do what I do. It is not even a choice, it’s so easy to make because I have children and I don’t want to see my children looking back at me and say “what the hell are you doing, all of this is going and you did not do anything ” and I want them to do the same thing."

The professor visited universities and favelas; he met scholars, activists and crack cocaine users and saw how the contradictions between what society thinks and what science tells us about the “crack problem” manifest in Brazil.

Keep up-to-date with drug policy developments by subscribing to the IDPC Monthly Alert.