dr. carl hart, thank you for being with us, author of the new book, "high price: a neuroscientist's journey self-discovery that callenges everything you know about drugs and society." dr. carl hart is associate professor of psychology and psychiatry at columbia university. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. moment withack in a the first socialist city inncilmember in decades seattle, washington. she is being sworn in today. ♪ [music break] >> this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. turn now to seattle, washington, where a former occupy wall street activist is being sworn in today to the city council. kshama sawant is the first socialist elected to the city office in seattle in generations. >> we have shown it is possible to succeed as an independent grassroots, openly socialist campaign, not taking any money from big business, not occurring favor with the establishment parties of big business, having an unapologetic campaign platform for improving the living standards of seattle's working people a

dr. drew pinsky and carl hart author of "high price" and society professor of psychologi psychology at thea university. doctor, you bring folks into the lab and test them. when people talk about this as a gateway drug do you buy that at all? >> we have to understand what gateway means. if people are saying the majority of people who use cocaine and use heroin have used marijuana that's absolutely right. but the vast majority of the people who use marijuana don't go on to those other drugs. >> so you're saying it's not that the pot necessarily leads to these things, it's just that he's that's what they were first able to get their hands on. >> a gateway drug is tobacco and alcohol. those are gateway drugs. i'm really disturbed by the whole idea that whether or not something is addictive is a criteria for it being illegal. that whole logic is very flawed to me. if that's the case for sure alcohol has to be illegal, tobacco has to be illegal. pills have to be illegal. ambien. >> but it's very easy to demonize marijuana. it has been for so long. i think the studies are changing because more pe

dr. keith ablo, a psychiatrist. here in new york city, carl hart, author of the book "high price." all right. kids and pot. you don't recommend that, right? >> of course, not. i don't recommend kids taking alcohol or smoking tobacco. >> any intoxicants at all, bad for them. >> that's right. >> we have common ground. >> absolutely. anybody who can think would agree with you. >> thank you, and i appreciate that. texting, you know it's an addiction. it's going crazy. you're aware of that, right? >> no, i'm not aware that it's an addiction. >> you don't think texting is an addiction among some children now? >> it depends how you define addiction. >> they are compelled to do it, have to do it, have a machine in their hands all the time. >> you are compelled to do this show. >> i get paid to do the show. >> exactly. >> it's not a compulsion, it's a business decision. >> you get paid to do it, there's a reason for you to do it. it does not disrupt what you're doing. sompt >> so if you had a son or daughter -- >> i do. >> teens? >> that's right. >> if they are texting more than 100 times a