What If We’re Wrong about Drugs?

Fifty years into “Just Say No,” the United States has made little progress with its significant drug problems. The overdose crisis is escalating, access to addiction treatment is limited, and people are still sent to prison for simple possession. Even as we shift toward the legal use of some drugs, other drugs remain deeply stigmatized and criminalized. Yet proven solutions are out there—so what’s not working?  

In a talk that incorporates both scientific data and examples from popular culture, professor Ingrid Walker shows that our perceptions about “drugs” depend on who is taking which drugs. Why are we stuck in the same failed approaches? Could it be that the answer is as basic as questioning and changing our cultural stories about drugs and their users? 

Program is part of our annual Wine & Wisdom series at Basalt Cellars and made possible with support from Humanities Washington.