A recent study in the UK has found that a common heart disease drug, propranolol, may have the unusual side-effect of reducing implicit racial bias.
Volunteers given the beta-blocker, used to lower heart rates, scored lower on a standard psychological test of 'implicit' racist attitudes. While explicit racial views were unaffected the participants appeared to be less racially prejudiced at a subconscious level than another group treated with a placebo drug.
Co-author Professor Julian Savulescu, from Oxford University’s Faculty of Philosophy, said: 'Such research raises the tantalising possibility that our unconscious racial attitudes could be modulated using drugs, a possibility that requires careful ethical analysis".
What do you think? Could drugs be the solution to racism?
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www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9128888/Heart-disease-drug-combats-racism.htmlIt is proposed that if further trials support these findings that drugs such as propranolol should be used to help reduce racism.