Jacob Sullum on Crack Canards and Meth Myths
Growing familiarity with marijuana has been accompanied by growing support for legalization because people discovered through personal experience that the government was lying to them about the drug's hazards. But it is easier to demonize less popular drugs such as crack cocaine and methamphetamine, which in the public mind are still linked, as marijuana once was, with addiction, madness, and violence. Any attempt to question the use of force in dealing with these drugs therefore must begin by separating reality from horror stories, says Senior Editor Jacob Sullum, and that is where Columbia neuropsychopharmacologist Carl Hart comes in.