The Columbia professor talks to Amy Chozick about what the public, politicians and even Public Enemy don't get about drug addiction.

You begin your book “High Price” with a story about an experiment you did. You offered a crack addict a hit or $5. He chose the cash. Why did you lead with this? We have rigorous science to support that crack cocaine is not as addictive as people think and that they have been hoodwinked. I was hoping people would want to read further if they had a myth busted right up front.

How do you think Hollywood plays into our perceptions about drugs and addiction? It’s not only Hollywood. One of Public Enemy’s bigger songs, “Night of the Living Baseheads,” is all about this crack addict who’s just fiending. Public Enemy did so many good things, but on that song, they were wrong. And “New Jack City” is on TV, like, every week. Remember “New Jack City”?

Yes, the movie about a drug kingpin who turns an apartment complex into a crack factory. Again, the filmmakers were trying to help their community, but the problem was that crack wasn’t the real problem. The real problem was unemployment, lack of education, lack of skills. Politicians are happy not to have to focus on those larger issues. You can just focus on crack cocaine, put more cops on the street and make tougher laws.