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More lives have been destroyed by alcohol than have ever even tried heroin. What you are describing sounds no different than an alcoholic. The whole point of th

More lives have been destroyed by alcohol than have ever even tried heroin. What you are describing sounds no different than an alcoholic. The whole point of this article, and Dr. Hart's research in general, is that it's not ok to demonize some drugs over others just because they are culturally accepted. Addiction is addiction, and there's zero evidence to support the fact that heroin is any more addictive or dangerous than alcohol.

zigh 6y ago
You will not be able to say this if heroin is as accessible as alcohol. It's easy to test objectively which one is more addictive.
JoelMcCracken 6y ago
Sure, I also think the way alcohol is treated is problematic too! This article was about Heroin, though. (Alcohol) prohibition ended, not because people changed their minds about alcohol being problematic, but because it failed, basically, and I think such an arrangement is politically unpalatable in today's world. I think that Dr Hart makes a lot of good points, but he also makes some dubious ones. For example, his point about the "normal range" of height. Its a fine thing to point out, but it is such an incomplete picture that its borderline preposterous. Lets say you are 6'5". If I take a chainsaw and cut off 7 inches of your feet/shins, does that mean you are just fine? You would still be within the normal height range, after all! In fact, theoretically you might be better off, because before you were outside of the normal range! This is intentionally absurd, so no need to point it out, but that is my point; the way some points in this article are made, it really makes me worry how many people who are on the border of being sure they have a problem are going to keep going down their destructive paths. To be honest, I bet my brother in law would have said the same thing about himself -- he is "fulfilling all of his obligations", after all! He did work, aside from periods when he was homeless/unable to hold down steady work/keep himself from spending literally all of his income on drugs. But, the last few years, he has been working and had an apartment, all while using.
- aphextron 6y ago
  >Sure, I also think the way alcohol is treated is problematic too! This article was about Heroin, though. It really isn't though. Hart's entire thesis is that drugs like heroin are no different than alcohol. The economic damage and emotional brainwashing from 50 years of the racialized war on drugs has ingrained to people's minds that they are somehow different, but they objectively are not. And if we live in a society where it is socially acceptable to be a recreational alcohol user, there is simply no reason other than racism or classism to think that recreational heroin use is not an equally valid way to destress. >To be honest, I bet my brother in law would have said the same thing about himself -- he is "fulfilling all of his obligations", after all! He did work, aside from periods when he was homeless/unable to hold down steady work/keep himself from spending literally all of his income on drugs. But, the last few years, he has been working and had an apartment, all while using. And again, this is literally no different from an alcoholic. The entire point is that the substance is not the issue. Addiction is the issue. And addiction stems from factors that are entirely unrelated to the substance itself. Focusing on the substance is like focusing on cheeseburgers as the cause of obesity in our society; it is a profoundly more complex issue than that, and banning cheeseburgers or putting people in jail for eating cheeseburgers will not solve it.

zigh 6y ago

You will not be able to say this if heroin is as accessible as alcohol. It's easy to test objectively which one is more addictive.

JoelMcCracken 6y ago

Sure, I also think the way alcohol is treated is problematic too! This article was about Heroin, though. (Alcohol) prohibition ended, not because people changed their minds about alcohol being problematic, but because it failed, basically, and I think such an arrangement is politically unpalatable in today's world. I think that Dr Hart makes a lot of good points, but he also makes some dubious ones. For example, his point about the "normal range" of height. Its a fine thing to point out, but it is such an incomplete picture that its borderline preposterous. Lets say you are 6'5". If I take a chainsaw and cut off 7 inches of your feet/shins, does that mean you are just fine? You would still be within the normal height range, after all! In fact, theoretically you might be better off, because before you were outside of the normal range! This is intentionally absurd, so no need to point it out, but that is my point; the way some points in this article are made, it really makes me worry how many people who are on the border of being sure they have a problem are going to keep going down their destructive paths. To be honest, I bet my brother in law would have said the same thing about himself -- he is "fulfilling all of his obligations", after all! He did work, aside from periods when he was homeless/unable to hold down steady work/keep himself from spending literally all of his income on drugs. But, the last few years, he has been working and had an apartment, all while using.

aphextron 6y ago
>Sure, I also think the way alcohol is treated is problematic too! This article was about Heroin, though. It really isn't though. Hart's entire thesis is that drugs like heroin are no different than alcohol. The economic damage and emotional brainwashing from 50 years of the racialized war on drugs has ingrained to people's minds that they are somehow different, but they objectively are not. And if we live in a society where it is socially acceptable to be a recreational alcohol user, there is simply no reason other than racism or classism to think that recreational heroin use is not an equally valid way to destress. >To be honest, I bet my brother in law would have said the same thing about himself -- he is "fulfilling all of his obligations", after all! He did work, aside from periods when he was homeless/unable to hold down steady work/keep himself from spending literally all of his income on drugs. But, the last few years, he has been working and had an apartment, all while using. And again, this is literally no different from an alcoholic. The entire point is that the substance is not the issue. Addiction is the issue. And addiction stems from factors that are entirely unrelated to the substance itself. Focusing on the substance is like focusing on cheeseburgers as the cause of obesity in our society; it is a profoundly more complex issue than that, and banning cheeseburgers or putting people in jail for eating cheeseburgers will not solve it.