According to neuroscientist and drug abuse specialist Carl Hart, most of what we have been told about drugs and addiction is wrong. Growing up in an impoverished and predominantly African-American neighborhood of Miami, Carl witnessed and experienced the multitude of factors that lead to addiction. A “combination of choice and chance” led him to leave his community and attend college, starting Carl on a path that culminated in his appointment as the first African-American tenured professor of the sciences at Columbia University. His scientific research and personal experiences have informed the thrust of Carl’s book The High Price — that addiction is less prevalent and problematic than we have been led to believe, and that drugs have been scapegoated for problems related to poverty and race.