and might not change anyone's mind about anything.....

But it's worth noting what Carl Hart has put forward specifically about crack addiction and the 'crackhead' behaviour we see.

So you see a guy all cracked out, talking to a pigeon and all that. It sounds really counter-intuitive to us...but it's not actually the crack that is directly causing them to behave that way. It's sleep deprivation. The problem....is an addict can't stop. A recreational user can use crack or coke....then decide the night is over, have an uncomfy comedown and hit the sack. So the addict who can't stop sometimes ends up staying awake for 3, 4, 5 days at a time. Even someone who is NOT on drugs will start hallucinating and seeing shit in the shadows and talking to pigeons if they are awake for that long. So what they REALLY need is a valium or something to make them sleep. The 'crackhead' state that they're in is extremely temporary.

I think that distinction can change the way people see the problem. When we see a violent drunk...what do we say? 'Go sleep it off'. We don't tend to think that way for a crackhead but I think it would benefit everyone if we did.