The current U.S. attorney general, Jeff Sessions, recently made a statement about how we had to go back to the 1980s and to Nancy Reagan's “just say no” approach. He thinks that's the way to prevent drug use: if people are just told how bad drugs are, they'll stop using them. The public conversation on drugs simply does not take into account the realities of why people use and get addicted in the first place. In your view, Dr. Maté, what are the realities of why people use drugs and get addicted in the first place, and how would that inform public policy?
On September 13th, 2017. See this statement in context.