What does the poster boy for drug misuse really look like?

Carl Hart takes heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine – but he’s not a toothless down-and-out, he’s a college professor, which begs the question: is our view of drug-takers accurate? Ed Prideaux reports

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Carl Hart likes taking drugs. It’s one of his favourite pastimes with his wife, Robin. “We always have a good time on methamphetamine,” he says. “We have a good time on MDMA, cocaine and the rest of these things. Our drug experiences are usually really good and illuminating.

“And we're better people for it.”

As well as methamphetamine – “crank”, “ice”, “crystal”, the devilish compound of Breaking Bad – Hart, 54, is especially fond of snorting heroin, which he’s used regularly for five years. After a long day at work, he says, a few lines of heroin by the fireplace can take the edge off like little else. It clarifies his thoughts, induces deep personal reflection, and pushes everyday pleasures to enhanced and ecstatic realms. Heroin makes him a “better person”, too, he claims.