Thursday, February 4th, 2010...6:38 am
Carl Hart: The drug data pusher
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Hart next tried offering these participants the choice between a low dose of meth and a small monetary voucher, at different times of day. The prediction was that, meth being a potent reinforcer, users would take it compulsively; what he found was that people would take it in the morning but not in the evening, when it would stop them sleeping — using it to get through the day in the same way office workers self-administer caffeine; and if the monetary reward was large enough, they would pass up the dose. These findings call into question the notion that addiction is driven by the reward of a chemically induced euphoria and that meth — legally prescribed to treat ADHD, narcolepsy and obesity — is the destructive drug so maligned by the NIDA and the popular press. Hart’s conclusion was that his subjects were indeed making rational choices about their drug use.
via wired.co.uk
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