questioning everything we’re told about them drugs: questioning everything we’re told about them

What is a “drug”? Legalist definition of drugs: excludes legal substances from being categorized as “drugs” Psychoactive definition: drug effects (physical). what the drugs do inside your body and how you feel these effects Sociological definition: drug experience (social). Experience & effects will vary when different meanings are brought into the drug taking-situation

Sociological Perspective on Drugs Pharmacological actions of drugs do not always match the arbitrary meanings assigned to them. Social context matters to drug use, not just the biophysical responses. Examples: Meth/Adderall, Heroin/Morphine, Cocaine/Caffeine Drugs used for religious rituals Power of the state and medicine to define “legal” and “illegal” drugs, and see how drug policies are agents of social control. Critical of drug policy double standards. For addiction to be lessened, think of ways to change society so that it is not as likely to occur. Example: Ritalin’s use as an “academic steroid” raises concerns about treating social problems with prescriptions.

Legality of a drug ≠ harm of a drug 2010 Lancet study Researchers analyzed how addictive a drug is and how it harms the human body, in addition to other criteria for harm like environmental damage caused by the drug, its role in breaking up families and its economic costs--such as health care, social services, and costs to the community. Which drug do you think topped the list?

PRESIDENTS & THE DRUG WAR “Our ultimate destination: a drug-free America. And now in the eleventh hour of this Presidency, we give a new sword and shield to those whose daily business it is to eliminate from America's streets and towns the scourge of illicit drugs.” – Ronald Reagan, 1988 “Terrorists use drug profits to fund their cells to commit acts of murder. If you quit drugs, you join the fight against terror in America.” – George Bush, 2002

PRESIDENTS & THE DRUG WAR “The crime bill makes ‘3 strikes and you're out’ the law of the land, puts 100,000 police on the street, builds more prisons to lock up serious offenders, takes handguns away from juveniles, bans assault weapons, deals more sensibly with the terrible scourge of drugs that are responsible for so many of the crimes we have, and invests in community boot camps for young offenders…” – Bill Clinton 1993 “Prison overcrowding will be addressed through the activation of a newly constructed prison at Aliceville, Alabama, which will add more than 1,750 beds.” [Changes in drug policy: very timid & slow]

State Power & Drugs How the state classifies drugs matters. For example, last year in Britain, the government increased its penalties for the possession of marijuana. One of its senior advisers, David Nutt - the lead author on the Lancet study - was fired after he criticized the British decision. "What governments decide is illegal is not always based on science.” – David Nutt Revenue and taxation, like those garnered from the alcohol and tobacco industries, may influence decisions about which substances to regulate or outlaw. What govts decide is illegal is also based on what a politician can run on to get elected. May be based on racial stereotypes…changing legality of drugs based on race

Note the increase since Reagan expanded the drug war in the 80’s Note the racial disparities in drug sentencing. While illegal drug use is evenly distributed by race (blacks 14% of pop = 13% of drug users), the chart shows enforcement is not evenly distributed. Blacks are incarcerated at a rate of 6X their proportion in the pop. (Source: U.S. Public Health Service 2000)

Solutions Drug abuse should be a public health issue, not a criminal one Focus less energy on reducing drug use per se, focus more energy on reducing death, disease associated with drug misuse. programs to test for MDMA, drug cleaning kits Needle sharing programs Easy to access drug treatment clinics “Soft power” solution: good jobs. the illegal drug industry profits when workers are hurting for a living wage & communities suffer from high income inequality.

References Between politics and reason: the drug legalization debate Crack in America: Demon Drugs & Social Justice Michelle Alexander - The New Jim Crow Erich Goode – A Sociological Perspective on Drugs and Drug Use Drug Harms in the UK: A Multicritical Decision Analysis