Drug Use for Grown-ups: Where the Liberty, Policy and Science Collide

The Murphy Institute’s Center for Ethics will welcome Dr. Carl Hart as the featured speaker for the first installment of 2025-2026’s Public Lecture Series.

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 neuroscientist and psychologist, his research focuses on the behavioral and neuropharmacological effects of psychoactive drugs in humans. He is the author of the award-winning 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 received the 2022 Abraham L. Halpern Humanitarian Award for his contributions to human rights and drug policy reform. Through his research and public engagement, he continues to challenge misconceptions about addiction and promote science-based approaches to drug use and justice.

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 is 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.

Live Stream: youtube.com/live/XCrR6T5bIUI