The War on Consciousness - Johann Hari #61

The war on drugs, which in many ways is really a war on the freedom of our minds, restricts a natural, evolutionarily adaptive human behavior, that of exploring non-ordinary states of consciousness. Johann Hari — British journalist and author of Chasing the Scream — spent three years and journeyed thirty-thousand-miles investigating the war on drugs. In this show, Johann shares some of his discoveries through the stories of the people he met and interviewed along his journey. Let's have a look at some of the unexpected outcomes of restricting human access to psychoactive medicines. Episode Breakdown: * Is drug addiction real? * Substance abuse when coping with pain * The cultural repercussions of prohibition * Drug-related violence * Portugal’s experiment and the case for legalization * Animals and drug use * Modern drug education for children * Is there an end in sight for the war on drugs?