I use my comics to challenge the social taboos about illicit drugs, and the social taboos about drug addiction.
Our society has topsy-turvy attitudes towards drugs. From a young age, our culture subconsciously instils us with strong views towards drugs and the people who people who take them.
In short, I believe that the so-called “drug problem” is caused by factors beyond the chemicals themselves. Most of the hazards of drugs—including crime and addiction—are due to the way that our society manages drugs, rather than the chemicals themselves.
With my comics, I have examined drugs from two major angles. War on Drugs is about the drug laws, and the way that prohibition laws influence society’s drug-taking. Rat Park is about the science of drug addition, and the way that drug addiction is shaped by social factors.
I have also written blog posts about my own personal experiences with drug-taking, as well as the insights that I discovered when researching my drug-themed comics.
I am utterly proud of all of the comics and essays that I feature on this page. Enjoy.
Rat Park
A classic experiment into drug addiction science. Would rats choose to take drugs if given a stimulating environment and social company?
A bustle in the cage-row: the making of Rat Park
This is a lengthy blog post about the behind-the-scene 'making of' Rat Park. Includes historical photographs of the actual Rat Park experiment from the 1970s, and interesting tidbits which I couldn't quite fit into my comic.
Globalization of Addiction: the post-Rat Park research of Bruce Alexander
The 'main character' of my comic Rat Park is Professor Bruce Alexander - a real life psychologist from Vancouver. This blog post describes Bruce's post-Rat Park research, including his book The Globalization of Addiction. If you liked my comic, you will love his book.
My Drug Period
By 'drug period', I refer to the 12 months I spent researching, writing and drawing War on Drugs and Rat Park. This blog post discusses everything I think and feel about drugs as a result of this research.
10,000 / 1,500 / 15: Breaking the Silence on Responsible Drug Use
Here's the deal: I'm 27 years old, which means I have been alive on this planet for 10,000 days. During that time, I used alcohol on about 1,500 days. Additionally, I used caffeine (from tea) about 1,500 times. Also during that time, I used ‘magic’ mushrooms 7 times, cannabis 4 times, MDMA 3 times, and LSD 1 time.
