“When you are in a war you don’t want to hear that the justifications are false. And this is what we were saying, we were saying that the main justification – that this drug is an irresistibly addictive substance – was not true.”
Bruce Alexander has spent his life researching drugs and their addictions. In his early career, he started counseling hard-core drug addicts in Vancouver’s darkest city streets and prisons, thanks to his youthful appearance and curious demeanor he managed to build a relationship with some of these addicts which gave him a fresh perspective on substance abuse.
Bruce began to conduct scientific research with animals (including the well-known “Rat Park” studies) and human beings. Now he uses clinical, historical, and anthropological studies to document the ways in which addiction is built into the emerging globalised society of the modern age.
Author of three books including, The Globalization of Addiction: A Study in Poverty of the Spirit (Oxford University Press, 2008), since retiring from Simon Fraser University as Professor Emeritus, he has continued public speaking, primarily in Canada and Europe.
An amazing man, with an amazing story! We hope you enjoy this episode as much as we did.
Lots of Love,
Dave & Steve x
To find out more about Julie Piatt aka “SriMati” and her work check out her For more information on Bruce please visit his website: https://www.brucekalexander.com/
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Produced by Sara Fawsitt and Sean Cahill