“Drug Use for Grown-ups” is the title of a book by Dr Carl Hart.  The sub-title for the book is “Chasing Liberty in the Land of Fear”.  He is a Professor at Columbia University and one of the world’s best known experts on the effects of recreational drugs on our minds and bodies.  Despite that, and perhaps because of that, he openly admits that he takes heroin and while he was initially against drugs, his research found less harm in their use.  That does not mean he supports drug use, but what he does say though is that we turn a blind eye to some drugs like alcohol and imprison people for the use of other drugs that in some cases do less damage. 

He also points out, and this is true in South Africa and in America, that the vast majority of people that are arrested for drug use or drug dealing are almost always black people, even though the research shows that white people deal drugs and use drugs in pretty much the same numbers as non-white people.  He says many of the arguments against drugs and in favour of bans and tough prison sentences, are bankrupt arguments.  People die because they have to get hold of drugs illegally and those drugs are often contaminated with poisons and impurities.  He says, in a land like America where people have individual liberties, the decision as to whether he takes drugs or not should be each person’s decision and not the Government’s decision.  He writes, “Further, my responsible drug use should not be subjected to punishment by authorities.  These ideas are central to our notions of liberty and personal freedom.  The current punitive approach to dealing with recreational drug users is wholly un-American.”