"DRUG USE FOR GROWN-UPS: Where Liberty, Policy & Science Collide" - Carl Hart, CE Public Lecture '25

The Murphy Institute’s Center for Ethics welcomed Dr. Carl Hart as the featured speaker for the first installment of 2025-2026’s Public Lecture Series. The anticipated event, “Drug Use for Grown-Ups: Where the Liberty, Policy and Science Collide,” was held on Thursday, October 9th at 4:00 PM in the Kendall Cram Lecture Hall of the Lavin-Bernick Center. Dr. Carl Hart is the Mamie Phipps Clark Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University, with a joint appointment in Psychiatry. A leading neuroscientist and psychologist, his research explores the behavioral and neuropharmacological effects of psychoactive drugs in humans. His work challenges conventional narratives around addiction and advocates for evidence-based drug policy reform. He is the author of High Price and Drug Use for Grown-Ups, and co-author of the widely used textbook Drugs, Society and Human Behavior. Dr. Hart has published over 100 scientific and popular articles and was awarded the 2022 Abraham L. Halpern Humanitarian Award for his contributions to human rights and drug policy. The Center for Ethics public lectures serve as a vital platform for intellectual exchange, where scholars and practitioners from a broad range of intellectual and professional disciplines and concerned citizens can engage with pressing ethical questions. Since 2001, the Center for Ethics has hosted more than 200 guest speakers discussing contemporary topics in ethics. Lectures are free and open to all members of the Tulane community as well as the general public. This event was co-sponsored by Tulane University's School of Medicine's MS in Bioethics and Medical Humanities and The Program in Medical Ethics and Human Values, Tulane University's Department of Psychology, and by 89.9 WWNO.