High Price audiobook

Titoli di giornale roboanti che provocano l’isteria collettiva. Organizzazioni governative che si compattano contro il Mostro Droga diffondendo campagne che allarmano facendone terrorismo psicologico.Ecco che lo Stato stesso diventa spacciatore e quello che smercia è una valanga di dati pompati, di informazioni che non sono tali perché non danno conto delle reali componenti farmacologiche.Le campagne di questo genere hanno nei decenni rinforzato tutta una serie di pregiudizi sociali che condannano a vista ogni minoranza etnica.La risposta è una chiusura sempre maggiore delle comunità che non a caso sono sempre più ghetto con propri codici e linguaggi di riconoscimento. Disoccupazione ed esclusione sociale si assommano alle mancate opportunità di scolarizzazione.Un importante testo critico che mantiene un ottimo equilibrio tra il testo scientifico divulgativo e la testimonianza diretta ed autobiografica dell’autore Carl Hart che nel 1996 fu l'unico studente nero in tutti gli Stati Uniti a conseguire un dottorato in neuroscienze. . La sua storia, però parte dal ghetto di Miami e sono solo piccoli particolari quelli che lo porteranno a distanziarsi sempre più dal destino comune a tutti i ragazzi e le ragazze della comunità afroamericana. Piccole svolte della vita che hanno fatto la differenza.Un testo critico molto importante perché è vero che ci parla di una realtà sociale che non è quella nostrana ma nonostante le ovvie differenze dobbiamo riconoscere lo stesso humus di fondo che rende fertile il terreno di crescita dei pregiudizi socio-culturali. Come si può negare che nero ↔ droga ↔ delinquenzasia una concatenazione di pensiero diffusa?Tutto viene dato per scontato ma Hart ci fa capire non lo è perché la vita di una persona è composta da tante varianti e non può essere massificata e giudicate per il gruppo etnico di appartenenza. Il pregiudizio come sempre trova fondamento nella grande ignoranza e quelli che si fanno chiamare organi d’informazione non informano affatto ma, al contrario, diffondono falsità per cui se dico cocaina penso a consumatori ricchi (bianchi) e non pericolosi; se, invece, dico” crack” penso ai neri, poveri, dipendenti e assolutamente nocivi per la società.Quanti sanno, invece, che cocaina e crack sono farmacologicamente la stessa cosa?Che i difensori della pubblica morale non si spaventino, però, il Professor Carl Hart non propugna la liberalizzazione ma qualcosa che si chiama depenalizzazione *.Basta non scrivo altro se non:leggetelo,informatevi e diffondete.Link utili▲ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Hart▲ http://dcarlhart.com/▲ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKXWe...* L’esempio del Portogallo che dal 2001 ha scelto la depenalizzazione di tutte le droghe:▲ https://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2016...▲https://www.ilpost.it/2013/03/28/depe...

The first 50 pages or so were pretty stiff and I didn't think I'd finish this one. But then, every other page or so, he'd take one of my preconceptions about drugs, behavior, or society and smash it into teeny tiny bits. Also, as he progressed through his own amazing life story, the book flowed better for me. By the time he got to the science that has transformed his own ideas about how we mishandle drug use/abuse in America, I was completely on board. The science wasn't too dense for me, a non-scientific reader. One of the best things Hart did was make clear to a lay reader the difference between public policy based on anecdotal (often hysterical) "evidence" and policy based on thorough, dispassionate science. He shines a light on some forms of drug research for which the data don't remotely support the dire conclusions--which are then hyped into charicature by the media. My favorite example: Have you heard about the experiments in which rats will perform a task, such as tapping a bar, in order to get a hit of cocaine or heroin, and they just tap-tap-tap that bar until they die? Sure, I'd heard of that one. But those rats, Hart points out, were isolated in a distinctly un-rat-like environment. They were the rat equivalent of bored/scared/pissed. When the same type of experiment was performed on rats that lived more naturally with other rats, having sex, burrowing in dark places, driving tiny race cars (OK, I made that last one up), and otherwise having plenty of meaningful stuff to do, they often didn't tap that bar enough to even be considered addicted, much less to OD. Haven't heard of that experiment before? Me neither.Hart says some drug research is skewed because reinforcing the demonization of drugs helps researchers compete for grants. It also happens because the researchers truly believe--as Hart once did--the underlying myths about the nature, extent and effects of drug addiction. Hart doesn't crusade for legalizing drugs. It's a nuanced argument I won't even try to summarize, other than to say he makes a strong case for at least decriminalizing drugs and devoting more resources to studying the potential effects of legalization/decriminalization. His point is that we have to stop the cycle of incarcerating drug users, thus making it nearly impossible for them to get jobs, parent their children, and generally have a stake in a civil society. Drugs and addiction do shatter lives, no question. But the underlying problem isn't the drugs, it's the misguided war on drugs.

I read this book for a local book club and well it made think of many facts that I believed so strongly in. This book has two parts, at first Dr. Hart talks about his past, him growing up in a black poor neighborhood in Miami, Florida where there were always violence, drugs and poverty. He talks how he was good in math but never cared for, how in those areas education was known as a burden for black people and the only thing aside from drug was sport and he chose Basketball. He believe it was pure luck that he never were engaged in armed robberies and drug dealing. Among his sibling he and only one sister were brought up by a grandmother which emphasized nonstop about importance of education.He opens his way to arm force and then following his girlfriend to another city and a local college where he meets three mentor who change his life and he follows a carrier in education and science.In the other part of the book he uses his studies to deflect the belief about how truly harmful are drugs. We always heard that Cocaine, Crack Cocaine and many other drugs are immediately addictive and even being a random drug user will lead to addiction. Dr Hart doesn’t believe in this saying.There are interesting statistics in the book like how decriminalization of drug in Portugal has decreased the crimes and even drug addiction there and how most of criminalizing drug in US is aiming only a poor minority of society.I’d recommend this book,we need to hear this side of story of drugs and justice system around it.

Once and a while a book reaches into your heart. For me, this is one of those.This book resonated with me in a way that felt uncanny, almost as if the author was speaking directly to me. For reasons I can't easily describe, this book moved me to tears again and again.Reading some of the negative and lukewarm reviews was equally odd for me. Did we read the same book? The answer must be yes. So I'm left to conclude that the book is particularly resonant with me for some very personal reasons. As a man. As a father. As an aspiring professor that spent time in the learning disability "trailer" too. As a hard core functional contextual big B cognitive behavioral therapist. As a neuroscience fanatic. As a clinician working with dual diagnosed, low SES, substance dependent populations. As a human that strives and struggles, I relate to this part memoir, part neuroscience, part behavioral analysis, part political critique, part sociological analysis part confused rant book.Will everyone love this book? Fuck no! Obviously not. But for me, reading it was an immensely powerful, validating, invigorating, transformative experience.Dr. Carl is a fucking ROCK STAR. Thank you for sacking up and giving voice to this dangerous and important perspective. It needed to be said, and it took huge balls to say it. I don't agree with every little utterance. But this book is a game changer and I'm grateful to have read it.

Did you know that crack cocaine and powder cocaine are chemically the same drug?As are Meth and the prescription drug Adderall?Then why are crack cocaine and meth believed to be such horrifyingly devastating drugs, while cocaine and Adderall are often seen as recreational drugs of high society?Dr. Carl Hart enlightened me to these questions in High Price.High Price is a book with many layers:- A scientific assault on what we've been conditioned to believe about drugs. While Dr. Hart does not minimize the dangers of drugs, he exposes a number of myths steeped in unfounded anecdotal evidence and racial biases, which he believes has led to the continued losing battle of the War on Drugs.- A direct and provocative dialogue on the role of public policy, social standards, race and drugs...and why our policies are contributing to the problem, not the solution.- A biography of an infinitely interesting, talented and flawed man - Dr. Carl Hart - who grew up around drugs and violence. His storytelling allows the reader to follow his evolution of consciousness, from the streets, to the Air Force, to Columbia University as a Dr. of Neuroscience. I find myself wanting to seek out and meet after finishing reading his story.I recommend this book to anyone who is:- Seeking a rich dialogue on the true scientific effects of drugs (and blowing away commonly held perceptions)- Unafraid to explore their own social/racial biases and blind spots- Interested in reading the biography of a fascinating man who beat the odds, is breaking down decades of scientific mis-truths, and who continues to struggle to find his home while caught between the worlds of his past and present

Dr. Hart's persuasively argued memoir delivers. I have been having serious doubts about the "War on Drugs" and I have always been outraged by sentencing disparities. Hart demonstrates that the drug narrative we've been listening to for decades is supported neither by science nor by his own experience growing up in a community disproportionately affected by drug policy. While I did not find his writing style to be as elegant as my mother did (she was in raptures)he wrote competently and accessibly, which is an even greater feat for a neuroscientist writing for the general public. This was the tipping point for me in my view of the criminalization of drugs. Like Hart, I think we need to move toward decriminalizing drugs (yes, even the "hard" ones)long before we can talk about legalizing them. As Hart points out, humans have been finding ways to alter their consciousness since there were humans--a drug-free America is not just unrealistic, the policies put in place to enforce that pipe dream have been devastating.

Loved Hart's memoir-cum-drug scientific book. The research here is sound and employs the oft-argued scientific method (will we ever evolve as a species, collectively?) Also, I loved the struggle from the hood to the lab, great inspiration for anyone who starts out in the trailers of sub-continuation public schooling. I related because I too occupied those same trailers when I was a confused adolescent. Now, I teach at an Ivy League school, despite what the naysayers proselytized. From that perspective, I found Dr. Hart to be a kindred spirit.

A perfect book for me right now. Maybe not a perfect in structure and language otherwise, but I have to give it five stars. So bright and pure.This tells the story of Carl Hart from early childhood to his life now as a professor and a doctor and a neuroscientist. Going from rough life of a black man in the very racist and problematic United States to the life of a scholar was very inspiring to read. There was not even a slight of bragging, not even humble-bragging, quite the opposite – a lot of shame and loss, about losing connection to roots and being kicked out of the life you used to own, just because you learned a few new words. And all the while trying to connect to the old self and feeling phony. Very refreshing to read!I'm writing something similar and this gave me tons of insight while keeping me entertained.This book read like a memoir, which was necessary, but it wasn't actually just that. It was about something totally else; about drugs and the society. About how drugs are blamed while the real problems are overlooked. I'm reading this in unison with Gabor Maté and feel like I'm getting a clear picture of addiction and society as a whole. The one's who are hurt the most are being punished the most harshly.David Foster Wallace said that the life of a true addict is like filling a leaky bucket – it's never-ending, because it's the wrong way to attack the problem. Another metaphor: if there's a knife sticking out of your body there is no use to pull it a few inches back – you have to bandage the wound. The roots of the issues lay somewhere else than in the substance, so don't blame it - and don't blame the groups of people who are dealing with either personal traumas or traumas laid upon them by history and society; talking about POC, about the poor, about sexual minorities, etc.It's about choices; if you have have multiple paths and an encouraging environment, there's a world of difference. Even lab rats don't seem to be that interested in doing drugs when they have food, activity and friends.So; the dopamine hypothesis is plain wrong.Decriminalization is the way as we have seen for example in Portugal. Providing help, not punishing (and forever stigmatizing) the users, especially when dealing with just trace amounts of the substance. Some familiar, yet necessary stuff; "This is your brain on drugs", the war on drugs, Ronald fucking Reagan and the deeply racist unjust sentences for cocaine and crack cocaine.This became a very dear book to me very fast. Also the audiobook was exceptionally well-read.I feel like I'm going to write this exact same thing to the piece I'm working on. Consider it as a sneak peek.

“Instead, the adults around us saw school as a quest for a certificate, a stamp of approval you could show around later in life. Rather than valuing the process of education itself and the essential critical thinking skills that can be gained from it, they saw school as a means to an end.” This book really did change my perspective on drugs and society. Since I grew up in a religious family that prohibited drugs and alcohol, I was pretty ignorant about drug addiction. Dr. Hart made me realize that so many of the stereotypes I had about drugs were false. This book is a well-researched and introspective hybrid - a cross between the science, memoir, and sociology genres. After I finished After reading High Price: A Neuroscientist's Journey of Self-Discovery That Challenges Everything You Know About Drugs and Society, I was left inspired not just by Hart's commentaries on drugs and society but his personal journey.How did Hart go from a low-income neighbourhood in Florida to becoming a professor of neuroscience at Columbia University? This was a question that also perplexed him for years, and by writing this book, he hoped to understand why his life turned out so different from some of his peers. He credits most of his success to a logical sequence of events that led him in the right direction: participating in basketball, joining the army, traveling abroad, and positive social influences. Hart studied addiction because he thought drugs were the bane of black communities. But when he analyzed the data, he realized most of the information perpetuated to us about drugs was false. Here was an interesting fact I read in this book: 80-90% of people who use drugs do not become addicted to them. The scary stories we hear about on the news or see in documentaries only represents 10-20% of drug users. When drugs policies are not backed by pharmacological evidence, they do more harm than good. In the long run, our drug policies incarcerate black men at disproportionate levels, even though whites are more likely to sell drugs. If a person acquires a non-violent drug offence than it can make it difficult for them to reintegrate into society. Since our current war on drugs is an epic fail, Hart believes America should try to decriminalize drugs like Portugal did in 2001. After reacting this new law, if authorities caught you with drugs in Portugal, they took you to a healthcare facility instead of a prison. Portugal’s new drug policies were beneficial and actually resulted in drug use dropping for youth 24 and under. This book contained A LOT of information about drug policy, neuroscience, and pharmacology. While I cannot cover it all in this review, I will say that Dr. Hart is one heck of a human being. It was good to see somebody with a similar upbringing to mine achieve academic success. I am glad Hart used his experiences to advocate for an issue that often makes people uncomfortable. Also, Hart has a stunning grasp on the vernacular. He was able to turn a dry subject like drug policy into something fascinating. If you want to learn more about American drug policies, then this book is a great place to start.

O livro é bastante autobiográfico. Bastante mesmo! Conta toda a história de vida do autor, desde sua infância e adolescência nos subúrbios até sua vinculação na Universidade da Columbia. Esse aspecto foi positivamente inesperado, pois esperava um livro meramente científico.Usando sua própria história como exemplo, Carl Hart desmistifica muito do ideário sobre as drogas a partir de sua experiência como neurocientista, além de abordar questões sobre racismo, classe, políticas sociais, etc.É uma leitura leve e tocante, bastante sensibilizadora.

Dr. Carl Hart succinctly explains the detrimental effects of Nixon's "War on Drugs" and subsequent government initiatives to tackle the nation's"drug" problems. Hart apptley points out how those initiatives had a negative impact on the black community. Some would argue that those programs where of a good nature however he points out the issues of poverty had been correlated with the issues of drug abuse.

I had to read this for school, but it was actually really good

Um relato maravilhoso de um neurocientista sobre a sua história pessoal e sobre as descobertas que ele fez estudando o efeito das drogas em seres humanos.

Enlightening and enjoyable to read.

It seems that the drug conversation is getting bigger and bigger nowadays. At least in Israel, legalization is taking up a lot of room in the elections discussions now. It feels like our generation will be the one that will legalize, at least marijuana but perhaps more. So I found this book pretty good. It goes both into his own biography and into his research on drugs. I wanted him to dig deeper into the race issue but yeah, it wasn't quite the topic of the book. It's a broad book though, he goes into a lot of parts of his life. I was in a party in Berlin a few weeks ago and it was my first time being around people who were using things more serious than weed. It was fascinating for me because I found myself challenging a lot of what I had thought about the influence of drugs. I enjoyed the conversations with the people there and it was eye opening. Quite humorous too, they kept teasing me for being sober and saying that they could never imagine going to a party like this sober. Within an American context, it seems somewhat obvious that the black neighborhoods need education and social help more than anything else. That by being a closed off area, the youth don't have options and automatically join the narrative. All in all, this book is well written. I wouldn't say it challenges everything but it's definitely insightful, especially if you're very against drugs. I appreciate science that goes against the mainstream thought. The conversation about how politics and social context influence research is an important one. What I'm taking with Me • Much of the research done with animals is irrelevant because they are in isolation or they are given huge amounts of the drug. Of course this influences how much they use and the impact on the brain. • Having a stake in the society is in many ways more important than simply fighting against drug use. • In Portugal, if you get caught with any drug, you simply have to pay a fine and go to a meeting with various professionals (but no police) who are there to help you if there's a drug abuse problem. If not, you just pay the fine and that's it.