bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Raced and Gendered Reactions to the Deviance of Drunkenness: A Sociological Analysis of Race and Gender Disparities in Alcohol Use
Authors: Peralta Robert L.
Published: February 2015

Research has consistently documented race and gender disparities in alcohol use. In this article, I refine the “time-out” hypothesis while arguing that these longstanding disparities in use are in part due to the impact of gender and race on deviance categorization. Public drinking behaviors operate within social spaces that may or may not be hospitable to a given person's gender and/or race status. I explore how formal and informal modes of social control influence alcohol use behavior. Findings are based on semistructured interviews with 78 American Black, White, male and female college students. Grounded theory was used in the development of three themes: (a) Acute awareness of women's otherness: multiple jeopardy and the multiple standard of alcohol use; (b) the gendered violence of women's marginalization; and (c) fear of violent victimization: alcohol and the dangerous Black male. Each theme illustrates how social inequalities structure alcohol use and reactions to alcohol use differently, depending on the intersections of race, gender, and situated contexts.
For the Marginalized or for the Integrated? A Comparative Study of Addiction Treatment Systems in Sweden and the United States
Authors: Stenius Kerstin , Witbrodt Jane , Engdahl Barbro , Weisner Connie
Published: February 2015

This article compares the roles of two different addiction treatment systems, one in Stockholm county, surrounding the Swedish capital, and the other in a county in Northern California, in relation to marginalized and socially integrated misusers. It investigates: (a) whether the Swedish treatment system, as suspected, treats more marginalized clients than the American system, (b) where in the two systems those with stronger or weaker social ties show up, and (c) what kind of formal and informal pressures the socially marginalized and more integrated groups experience. The analyses are based on structured interviews with two representative samples of clients/patients entering different parts of the treatment systems (926 persons in the Californian county in 1995, 1,865 persons in Stockholm county 2000–2001). The Stockholm county treatment system has a much higher share of marginalized persons than the Californian, and a large proportion in California, almost one third, has both a job and a stable housing (15% in Stockholm). The Stockholm clients were considerably older. Drug use was connected with a marginalized position in both countries, and particularly so in Stockholm. The socially integrated in Stockholm stood out as the group with the highest share of alcohol-dependent persons, the highest Addiction Severity Index (ASI) alcohol scores, and the highest amount of heavy drinking. In both sites, the marginalized had more treatment experience and were more often found in inpatient treatment. There was a somewhat clearer social division in the U.S. system than in the Swedish. Some reasons for this are discussed, including the relation of the treatment system to other handling systems.
Societal Heavy Drinking and Suicide Mortality among Russian Youth
Authors: Kaylen Maria T. , Pridemore William Alex
Published: February 2015

Research has found an aggregate association between heavy drinking and suicide rates in general, and in Russia specifically. Alcohol is one of the most serious drug problems facing Russian youth, yet the aggregate alcohol-suicide association has not been tested for this population. Aggregate mortality data for Russian regions (n = 78) for the year 2000 were used to measure youth (age 10–19) suicides and a proxy for societal heavy drinking. We employed the negative binomial estimator to test the heavy societal drinking-youth suicide hypothesis, controlling for other structural factors thought to influence suicide rates. The results showed a positive and significant association between the two for overall, male, and female rates. These results are consistent with studies of alcohol and suicide in Russia, suggesting youth suicide rates are influenced by levels of heavy drinking among youth and those close to them.
Controlling “rivers of Grog”: The Challenge of Alcohol Problems in Australian Indigenous Communities
Authors: D'Abbs Peter
Published: February 2015

In 2007, a report into the sexual abuse of children in Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory, Australia, led to allegations that “rivers of grog [alcohol]” were destroying these communities. It also precipitated a dramatic shift in Aboriginal policy by the Australian government, in which principles of self-determination were discarded in favor of top-down measures designed to restrict Aboriginal access to alcohol. While not disputing the gravity of current levels of alcohol-related harm in some Indigenous settings, this article challenges the assumption that “rivers of grog” have swept away all capacities for local control, and argues that a more theoretically and empirically informed analysis of the nature, determinants, and outcomes of social control provides a basis for a more viable policy than the current so-called emergency response. The article traces the evolution of policies affecting Indigenous alcohol use, and of concerns expressed by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous commentators about problems in controlling drinking at a local level. It then examines sociological perspectives on social control. The article concludes by reviewing initiatives by Aboriginal organizations aimed at developing more effective local controls over alcohol.
The Political Response to Alcohol and Drug Advice in Australia: Comparing the Response to Two Expert Reports
Authors: Room Robin
Published: February 2015

The article examines the contents and policy response to two expert reports, one on drugs and one on alcohol, which were commissioned by the government of Victoria, Australia. The drug report was a wide-ranging response to what was seen as a crisis, but its main recommendations were not adopted. The recommendations were primarily in a highly contested policy area, but the lack of action may also have reflected a dramatic reduction in heroin overdose deaths shortly after the report appeared. The alcohol report was commissioned in a narrow frame of loosening liquor licensing restrictions to increase competition, defined as taking precedence over public health and order considerations. Its recommendations were quickly adopted, setting the stage for a political furor a decade later over alcohol-fueled violence. The lessons from the decade of experience after the reports are considered.
Working with the “hierarchy in the Underworld”: Insights for Communication Skills Training with Peer Educators
Authors: Treloar Carla , Rance Jake , Laybutt Becky , Crawford Sione
Published: February 2015

Peer education programs emphasize training in communication skills but provide little direction on training content. This research examines the specific strategies used by people who inject drugs (PWID) when engaging peers in education to promote safer injecting and to prevent the transmission of blood-borne viruses. People who inject drugs (PWID) participated in a series of three focus groups to develop peer education messages and strategies which they then trialed in their networks. Participants' strategies for peer education were profoundly shaped by concerns about not offending or challenging others' perceived social status. Some participants preferred only to influence others' injecting practice using nonverbal strategies, such as modeling safer practice. Although peer education may be based on the notion of a shared social status among PWID, these results demonstrate the heterogeneity of social relations existing within networks of PWID. PWID trained as peer educators require a repertoire of communication skills to be deployed in appropriate circumstances.
Hepatitis C in an Australian Migrant Community: Knowledge of and Attitudes towards Transmission and Infection
Authors: Horwitz Robyn , Brener Loren , Treloar Carla , Sabri Wa'el , Moreton Renée , Sedrak Ashraf
Published: February 2015

This exploratory study focuses on the knowledge and awareness of hepatitis C, and attitudes towards people living with hepatitis C, in the Australian-Egyptian community. Surveys were completed by 121 participants recruited in inner and suburban Sydney. Significant gaps in hepatitis C knowledge existed around transmission and treatment. A favorable attitude towards people living with hepatitis C, having heard about hepatitis C, and having had a blood test for hepatitis C, independently predicted better hepatitis C knowledge. Positive attitudes towards people with hepatitis C were found to be positively correlated with participants knowing someone with hepatitis C but negatively correlated with the amount of time spent in Australia. This study strengthens the findings of previous research that knowledge of transmission and treatment of hepatitis C among migrant communities is poor. Findings emphasize the need for further research concerning culturally appropriate hepatitis C interventions and information.
Shame, Labeling and Stigma: Challenges to Counseling Clients in Alcohol and other Drug Settings
Authors: Gray Rebecca
Published: February 2015

This study explores the impact of perceptions of shame on counseling in alcohol and other drug (AOD) settings. While some recent research points to the potential treatment barriers that result from discrimination against AOD clients by health care professionals, there is a dearth of research on the impact of shame and stigma on the work of allied health professionals. The qualitative data presented here are drawn from 17 in-depth interviews with counselors and AOD workers based in New South Wales, Australia. The article focuses on the professional tensions arising in managing stigma, alongside the alienating and isolating manifestations of shame, by exploring three themes: (a) the application of negative labels such as “addicts” and “junkies,” (b) the stigmatization of AOD settings, and (c) the impact of labeling and stigmatization on service provision. These findings point to the potential treatment barriers of stigma when counselling clients in AOD settings.
Regulating Malt Liquor in Urban Areas in the United States
Authors: Jones-Webb Rhonda , McKee Patricia , Toomey Traci , Hannan Peter , Miazga Mark , Barajas Elizabeth , Nelson Toben
Published: February 2015

The objectives of our study were to learn whether malt liquor is a problem for cities, how many cities have passed policies to restrict sales, what factors distinguish cities with policies from cities without policies, and whether policies are perceived to be effective. One alcohol policy official and one enforcement officer from each of the 115 largest American cities were solicited to participate in a telephone survey. Most respondents (65%) said malt liquor was a serious problem. Thirty cities adopted policies to restrict malt liquor sales. The odds of having a policy were higher if city leaders placed greater priority on addressing malt liquor-related problems (OR = 2.6) or had greater local authority over alcohol control (OR = 3.5). Respondents (54%) said the policies were effective in reducing malt liquor sales. Policies to restrict malt liquor sales offer a promising strategy to reduce problems associated with street drinking.
Generalizing Applied Qualitative Research on Harm Reduction: The Example of a Public Injecting Typology
Authors: Pearson Mark , Parkin Stephen , Coomber Ross
Published: February 2015

The small sample sizes and context-bound findings of qualitative research are commonly viewed as significant factors that limit its use (or “transferability”) in settings other than those in which the research was originally conducted. This perceived limitation is of particular importance in a field such as harm reduction where small sample sizes may be the only realistic option for studying the behavior of hard to reach groups. In this article we use Miles and Huberman's (1994) structured method of appraising qualitative research for its transferability to other settings. We consider the extent to which a typology (based on ethnographic field research into public injecting sites) can be used effectively by practitioners in settings other than those in which the original research was conducted. Through appraising the strengths and weaknesses of this research, we demonstrate that contextualized qualitative findings can enable the transferability of qualitative research findings and be of significant applied value for harm reduction services.
Understanding Punishment Responses to Drug Offenders: The Role of Social Threat, Individual Harm, Moral Wrongfulness, and Emotional Warmth
Authors: Durrant Russil , Fisher Stephanie , Thun Maria
Published: February 2015

The harm that drugs cause to users and society is the typical rationale for the regulation of illicit drugs and the punishment of drug offenders. However, what factors actually influence people's punishment responses to drug offenses? A sample of 196 residents of Wellington, New Zealand completed measures that assessed their perceptions of the social threat caused by drugs, the harm of drugs, their feelings of emotional warmth towards drug offenders, and their perceptions of the moral wrongfulness of drug offenses. They then assigned punishment to different drug offenses. Perceptions of moral wrongfulness was the best predictor of punishment responses across offense types, although perceptions of individual harm and social threat also independently predicted punishment to, respectively, cannabis-use offenses and cannabis-sale offenses. The results of this study suggest that the amount of punishment deemed appropriate for different drug offenses is most strongly influenced by individuals' perceptions of the moral wrongfulness of drug offending.
A Profile of Self-Reported Alcohol-Related Violence in Ireland
Authors: Hope Ann , Mongan Deirdre
Published: February 2015

In Ireland alcohol consumption rose sharply during the years of economic growth (1995–2006) and harmful use of alcohol is a serious issue. This article examines the association between alcohol-related violence and alcohol consumption, based on the secondary analyses of two national surveys of adult and college student populations. In both the general and college populations, the factors most associated with alcohol-related violence (fights and assaults) were risky drinking (frequent), gender (male), and age (younger). While men are more commonly linked to alcohol-related violence, the risk of violence among women is emerging. In the general population younger women are more likely to be victims of violence (assaults) in comparison to their female student counterparts, while reported fights are similar. Reported fights for young men are higher in the general population in comparison to their male student counterparts while assaults are similar. This suggests that the drinking context of young adults in the general population is more diverse and supports the niche theory that greater number of outlets provide subgroups with attractive venues for problem drinking (Gruenewald, Remer, & Treno, 2009). The policy response has been limited and one-sided: prosecution of offending drinkers with no national alcohol strategy implemented in the past two decades.
The Association of Drinking Pattern with Aggression Involving Alcohol and with Verbal versus Physical Aggression
Authors: Wells Samantha , Giesbrecht Norman , Ialomiteanu Anca , Graham Kathryn
Published: February 2015

In a general population survey of 1,019 Ontario adults, the present study examined the relationships of (a) drinking pattern (i.e., drinking frequency, heavy episodic drinking (HED), and hazardous drinking with alcohol involvement in aggression (i.e., no aggression, aggression without alcohol, and aggression involving alcohol); (b) drinking pattern with level of aggression (i.e., no aggression, verbal, and physical aggression); and (c) alcohol involvement with level of aggression (i.e., physical versus verbal). All three drinking-pattern measures were associated with aggression involving alcohol but not with aggression not involving alcohol. HED and hazardous drinking were associated with physical aggression (compared with no aggression). Alcohol involvement in aggression was associated with physical aggression (vs. verbal). The findings suggest that, while a pattern of heavy or hazardous drinking is associated with increased risk of aggression, this increased risk only applies to alcohol-related aggression and drinking at the time may contribute to severity of aggression.
Deep Entanglements: The Complexities of Disengaging from Injecting Drug Use for Young Mothers
Authors: Martin Fiona S.
Published: February 2015

Most studies of relapse and recovery among women drug users with children focus on improving their access to drug treatment. This article explores disengagement from a sociological perspective, as a process of personal and social identity transition. Drawing on an ethnographic study of young mothers and pregnant women attempting to disengage from injecting drug use, I suggest that this process is further compounded by a number of factors. Many women find it difficult to establish ties to the non-drug-using world, in part due to social isolation and in part due to ongoing stigmatization. Despite wanting to do what is best for their children, many are also ambivalent about giving up drug-using activities and relationships that remain integral to their identities. I argue that these are significant, complicating factors in the process of disengagement for women with children, which have implications for the kind of services and programs available to them.
How Do Researchers Categorize Drugs, and How Do Drug Users Categorize Them?
Authors: Lee Juliet P. , Antin Tamar M.J.
Published: February 2015

This article considers the drug classifications and terms widely used in American survey research, and compares these to the classifications and terms used by drug users. We begin with a critical review of drug classification systems oriented to public policy, health services and survey research. We then consider the results of a pile sort exercise we conducted with 76 respondents within a study of Southeast Asian American adolescent and young adult drug users in Northern California. The pile sort aimed to clarify how respondents handled specific terms related to Ecstasy and methamphetamines. Like survey researchers, the respondents tended to separate Ecstasy from methamphetamines, but unlike survey researchers, they also created taxonomies based on consumption method and the social contexts of use. We suggest these differences reflect the tendency for survey researchers to standardize persons and experiences, and for drug users to represent their experiences as hybrid and diverse.
Effect and Process Evaluation of a Norwegian Community Prevention Project Targeting Alcohol Use and Related Harm
Authors: Rossow Ingeborg , Storvoll Elisabet E. , Baklien Bergljot , Pape Hilde
Published: February 2015

Based on a combination of effect and process evaluation, we aimed to (a) assess whether a community prevention project succeeded in curbing alcohol use and related harm among adolescents and (b) explain the results of the effect evaluation. School surveys among adolescents (n = 20,000) and purchase trials (n = 162) were carried out in intervention and control communities before and after the intervention. Qualitative data from key actors and documents were collected throughout the 3-year project period. The effect evaluation revealed no impact of the intervention on the availability of alcohol, drinking, and alcohol-related harm. The process evaluation showed how and why the prevention project was delayed, that the preventive programs implemented were not likely to be effective, and why these programs were chosen. The latter was essential to explain the finding of the effect evaluation and illustrates the utility and necessity of mixed-method approaches when evaluating a complex intervention.
Alcohol-Related Laws and Avoidable Burden and its Costs Due to Motor Vehicle Collisions in Canada
Authors: Popova Svetlana , Patra Jayadeep , Sarnocinska-Hart Anna , Gnam William , Mann Robert E. , Rehm Jürgen
Published: February 2015

The purpose of this study was to estimate the avoidable alcohol-attributable burden and costs of health care, criminality, and the indirect costs of lost productivity due to disability or premature death attributable to motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) in Canada. A policy effectiveness approach was used and the impact of three effective alcohol policy interventions aimed to reduce alcohol-impaired driving was modeled. The results demonstrated that implementation of drunk-driving countermeasures will further reduce the alcohol-attributable burden and costs due to MVCs in Canada. Implications for policy formation and targeted prevention efforts are discussed.
Has the Boozing Finn Been Tamed? Changes in the Relationships between Drinking, Intoxication, and Alcohol-Related Harm When Turning from a Spirits-Drinking Country to a Beer-Drinking Country
Authors: Mäkelä Pia
Published: February 2015

The aim of this study is to examine whether there is evidence of a “taming” of drinking patterns and a decrease in the rate of harms per each liter of alcohol consumed during the time when Finland transformed from a spirits-drinking country with a low alcohol consumption level to a beer-drinking country with a high level of consumption. According to the results, there has been a nearly constant increase in both alcohol consumption and related harm. Results on harms-per-liter were ambiguous, with stronger increases for chronic than for acute harm and stronger increase in register-based aggregate-level data than in survey data. The same amounts of alcohol are nowadays drunk more slowly than before. Overall, there is no compelling evidence in the data that Finnish drinking patterns would have become more moderate or that Finnish drinking habits would have been tamed. The Finnish case, then, does not lend support to reduction of intoxication-related drinking problems through modifying beverage preferences.
Effects of the Transition to Beverages with Lighter Alcohol Content in Sweden 1950–2001
Authors: Landberg Jonas
Published: February 2015

The aim of this article was to study whether the transition to lighter beverages in Sweden has been associated with a decrease in alcohol-related harm. The analyses were based on Swedish aggregate time-series data on alcohol consumption and different forms of alcohol-related mortality for the period 1950–2001. A descriptive trend comparison revealed that, since the 1970s, the mortality rates per liter for most studied outcomes followed the trend in proportion of spirits fairly well. Time-series model estimations only partially supported this picture: Beverage-specific models revealed that, of all beverages, spirits was significantly related to most different forms of mortality, but in models that included proportion of spirits (controlling for total consumption), the association was only significant for male liver cirrhosis. In conclusion, the findings do not support the idea that the composition of beverages in the total compossition has an independent effect on alcohol-related harm. However, because per capita consumption of spirits was significantly related to more forms of mortality than beer or wine, we cannot rule out alcohol policy measures directed towards the consumption of stronger beverages as being noneffective in terms of reducing alcohol-related harm.
Beverage-Specific Mortality Relationships in United States Population Data
Authors: Kerr William C. , Ye Yu
Published: February 2015

Nearly all countries regulate distilled spirits differently from beer and wine. However, the scientific basis for this differential treatment has not been clearly established. This review covers beverage-specific relationships with alcohol-related mortality causes at the population level in the United States and includes a new analysis of motor-vehicle-accident mortality. Spirits were found to be more strongly related to, or the only beverage type with a significant positive association with, cirrhosis, IHD, and head and neck cancer mortality. Spirits sales, along with beer, were also implicated in motor-vehicle-accident mortality and homicide. While all three beverage types were found to be associated with suicide mortality, only spirits had a significant unlagged association. These associations were found under policy arrangements where spirits were discouraged with relatively higher taxes, lower availability, and more restricted marketing opportunities. This suggests that the differential policy treatment found in the United States and most other countries is justified on the basis of differential-harm relationships.
A Bottle of Beer, a Glass of Wine, or a Shot of Whiskey? Can the Rate of Alcohol-Induced Harm Be Affected by Altering the Population's Beverage Choices?
Authors: Mäkelä Pia , Hellman Matilda , Kerr William C. , Room Robin
Published: February 2015

This article summarizes and puts into context the findings from the five articles contained in this thematic issue. The question of interest has been the connection between different beverage types and alcohol-induced harm. The key question is whether policy makers can affect rates of harm by affecting beverage choice. In the discussion, four different potential pathways for such an effect are differentiated. The first is the direct effect of the beverage over and above the effect of the ethanol it contains. The review of results suggests that the size of this effect may be modest, and it is clearly overmatched by cultural factors relating to who chooses to drink which beverage and how. However, even more relevant than the direct effect may be the other three mechanisms, which potentially affect the amounts of alcohol drunk or allow the influencing of drinker groups of interest.
Are Alcohol Prices and Taxes an Evidence-Based Approach to Reducing Alcohol-Related Harm and Promoting Public Health and Safety? A Literature Review
Authors: Patra Jayadeep , Giesbrecht Norman , Rehm Jürgen , Bekmuradov Dennis , Popova Svetlana
Published: February 2015

This literature review examines alcohol prices and taxes as potential prevention strategies—examining the links with high-risk drinking and drinking patterns and alcohol-related harm. A literature search of the studies on alcohol price and taxation was conducted using multiple electronic bibliographic databases. Examined outcomes were a) drinking patterns and high risk drinking; and b) harm from alcohol. Fifty-four relevant studies were evaluated, and the majority found that a change in price or taxes on alcohol had an impact on one or more of the two main outcome variables. Significant variations exist across studies in terms of designs, settings, effects across groups, and types of harm. In order to reduce alcohol-related trauma, chronic disease, and other consequences of high-risk drinking, an increase in pricing/taxation is a central component of an overall alcohol strategy.
Brief Intervention Experiences of Young High-Frequency Cannabis Users in a Canadian Setting
Authors: Rudzinski Katherine , McGuire Fraser , Dawe Meghan , Shuper Paul , Bilsker Dan , Capler Rielle , Rehm Jürgen , Fischer Benedikt
Published: February 2015

High-frequency cannabis use is prevalent among young adults and has been linked to negative health consequences, yet effective therapeutic interventions are currently limited. Brief Interventions (BIs) for problematic substance use have shown promise, but are typically limited to quantitative outcome measures. This study aims to document the qualitative experiences of young, high-frequency cannabis users with BIs. Sixty-two high-frequency cannabis users, recruited from university student populations, participated in one of two newly developed cannabis BIs and were surveyed qualitatively at the 3-month post-intervention follow-up. Results show that 69.4% of the respondents believed they had undergone changes in actions/thinking/attitudes regarding their cannabis use, with diversion to potentially less harmful cannabis use patterns—including reductions in the frequency/quantity of use and declines in deep-inhalation/breath-holding techniques—being reported. Findings suggest that a personalized, interactive, culturally appropriate format may be a promising BI template for this population. Future qualitative research on BI experiences is urgently needed.
Data-Driven Decision Making in the Prevention of Substance-Related Harm: Results from the Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant Program
Authors: Orwin Robert G. , Edwards Jessica M. , Buchanan Rebecca M. , Flewelling Robert L. , Landy Ann L.
Published: February 2015

The Strategic Prevention Framework State Incentive Grant Program (SPF SIG) is a national public-health initiative in the United States to prevent and reduce substance-related harm. The model promotes data-driven decision making (DDDM), with an emphasis on using epidemiological data to help select prevention priorities and to allocate prevention resources. This article examines how well the first two cohorts of SPF SIG states (N = 26) implemented DDDM, and also explores what factors facilitated and hindered the process. Data were collected by reviewing and coding states' strategic plans, supplemented by interviews with state project directors, evaluators, and epidemiological workgroup chairs. Fidelity to the process was scored as high, medium, or low, based on transparency and support from relevant evidence. On selecting prevention priorities, 81% of states received high or medium scores on all priorities selected. On allocating prevention resources, 85% received a high or medium score. Facilitators included collaboration among stakeholders, training and technical assistance, and efforts of epidemiological workgroups and evaluators. However, states that lacked established data infrastructures for prevention were at a decided disadvantage in implementing the model. Future implications for SPF SIG states and ongoing challenges to DDDM in general are discussed.
Bike Racing, Neutralization, and the Social Construction of Performance-Enhancing Drug Use
Authors: Sefiha Ophir
Published: February 2015

Drawing from participant observation and interviews, I examine the attitudes and beliefs of elite and former professional cyclists and team personnel regarding performance-enhancing drug (PED) use and the neutralization techniques they employed to excuse and justify PED consumption. Participants most frequently adopted accounts in which they condemned the condemners, viewing as hypocrites those labeling PED use as deviant, and arguing that all manner of PED use is commonplace throughout society. Participants further expressed distrust of sporting federations, law enforcement, and medical professionals, whom they viewed as exaggerating and distorting information about the dangers of PED use. Riders also appealed to higher loyalties and defense of necessity, claiming that PED use was for many professional cyclists nearly an occupational necessity. Members viewed PED use as a rational means to an end while also embodying fundamental tenets of professional cycling culture which prizes risk taking and commitment.
Problematizing Alcohol through the Eyes of the Other: Alcohol Policy and Aboriginal Drinking in the Northern Territory, Australia
Authors: D'Abbs Peter
Published: February 2015

This article traces the evolution of alcohol policy in the Northern Territory, Australia, over the past half century, from the removal of prohibition on the possession and consumption of alcohol by Aboriginal people, to the emergence of spatially-defined restrictions which, while not overtly referring to Aborigines, are designed primarily to contain consumption in public by Aboriginal drinkers. Aboriginal alcohol-related problems, which are serious and broad-ranging, continue to be defined for policy purposes primarily by non-Aboriginal people in terms of public drunkenness and perceived threats to urban amenity. Meanwhile, a non-Aboriginal, heavy-drinking culture is positively sanctioned discursively through the social construction of “the Territorian.” The article argues that discourse and policies combine to perpetuate Aboriginal marginality with respect to urban spaces, and to deny a voice to Aboriginal people and organizations in defining alcohol-related problems and identifying solutions.
Swedish Drug Treatment and the Political Use of Conceptual Innovation 1882–1982
Authors: Edman Johan
Published: February 2015

This article investigates the concepts applied to drug use and drug users in Sweden during the years 1882–1982. As a theoretical point of departure, concepts are treated as political tools and conceptual descriptions as political work. From an analysis of 43 public reports, three distinct periods stand out. In the first period, 1882–1962, there was no specific political need for conceptual clarity. During the second period, 1964–1969, the political need for certain (medicalized) concepts is more evident. Drug users were understood as sick and as potential objects for compulsory treatment. In the third period, during the mid-1970s and early 1980s, the process was reversed: specific concepts of sick drug users gave way to creating the political means for bringing alcohol and other drug users under joint treatment legislation.
Problematizing “Drugs”: A Cultural Assessment of Recreational Pharmaceutical Use among Young Adults in the United States
Authors: Quintero Gilbert
Published: February 2015

Recent trends in the recreational use of pharmaceuticals among young adults in the United States highlight a number of issues regarding the problematization of drugs. Two constructions of recreational pharmaceutical use are analyzed. On the one hand, categorical frameworks based upon epidemiological data are created by institutions and media and depict recreational pharmaceutical use as illicit in unqualified, absolute terms. This is done through discourses that equate nonmedical pharmaceutical use with culturally established forms of illicit drug use. On the other hand, users' multi-dimensional constructions of recreational pharmaceutical use emphasize social context, personal experience, and individual risk perceptions. The problematization of recreational pharmaceutical use points to intergenerational conflicts, as well as to struggles over definitions of “drug abuse” and “hard drugs,” and highlights the impact of pharmaceuticalization on recreational drug use among young people.
“Problematic Intoxications”: Conceptualizing “Abuse” of Illicit Drugs in Postwar Social Treatment Legislation in Finland
Authors: Stenius Kerstin
Published: February 2015

This article analyzes conceptualizations of “drug abuse” in the Finnish postwar parliamentary committees and debates that, in 1961, resulted in the first law for treatment of both alcohol and drug abuse problems. How was the abuse of narcotic drugs viewed as a new problem that merited new solutions? How was abuse of drugs regarded as similar to abuse of alcohol? And how were the conceptual problems solved in this process? The analysis is influenced by theories of conceptual history and focuses on committee reports, parliamentary debates, and postwar research. While abuse of narcotic drugs was a much smaller problem, it was conceived of as more dramatic and, through intoxication, linked to similar social problems as alcohol abuse. The focus on intoxication as a common denominator is shown in the later conceptual development in the substance abuse field in Finland: “päihdehuolto” = care of intoxicant users.
The Silent “G”: A Case Study in the Production of “Drugs” and “Drug Problems”
Authors: Moore Karenza , Measham Fiona
Published: February 2015

This article focuses on “G” in the United Kingdom (UK), G being the collective term for gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and gammabutyrolactone (GBL). Drawing on empirical data and taking a critical drug studies perspective, we use G as a case study in how drug cultures move through phases whereby a diffuse and contested network of emergent practices, agencies, and processes become progressively ordered into a more stable and conventional set of problems and actors, here G and the “G problem.” The production of former “legal high” G as a particular kind of drug in this network has shaped its relative neglect within UK research, policy, and practice as compared to mephedrone, another former legal high. Our case study supports the longstanding observation that researchers, policy makers and practitioners contribute to the performative and material constitution of “drugs” and “drug problems,” upon which we reflect in our conclusion.
A Comparison of Private and Government-Controlled Liquor Stores in British Columbia
Authors: MacDonald Scott , Treno Andrew , Stockwell Tim , Martin Gina , Zhao Jinhui , Ponicki Bill , Greer Alissa
Published: February 2015

British Columbia (BC), Canada, has unique regulations for sales of alcohol in off-premise establishments where both government (n = 199) and privately controlled stores (n = 977) sell all types of off-premise alcoholic beverages. The purpose of this study is to compare the different marketing approaches of government and private stores and examine how their sales vary in relation to demographic characteristics within the regions that they operate. Data was collected for 89 geographic areas of BC from the following sources: a survey of BC private stores, BC demographic statistics, and sales records for different types of alcoholic beverages from private and government stores. Private stores had higher average prices, longer hours of operation, and were more likely to refrigerate beverages than government stores. Also, types of beverage sold differed between government and private stores depending on the demographic characteristics of the regions being served.
Towards a Critical Anthropology of Smoking: Exploring the Consequences of Tobacco Control
Authors: Bell Kirsten , Dennis Simone
Published: February 2015

The World Health Organization warned today that countries will need to be much more aggressive in their attempts to stamp out smoking if they are to counter the tobacco industry's marketing techniques (WHO, 2008).
The Making and Changing of Smoking Persons in Public Health Policy and Practice: Ethnography of a World-First Illicit Tobacco Program
Authors: Carro-Ripalda Susana , Russell Andrew J. , Lewis Sue , Heckler Serena
Published: February 2015

In this ethnographic investigation of an “upstream” public health program to tackle illicit tobacco, we identify various processes by which particular kinds of people—both smokers and nonsmokers—are constituted in public health policies and practice, and what effects these constructions have for those so constituted and for the overall project. Our suggestion is that notions and dynamics implicit in public health (and, in this case, tobacco control) theory, epistemology, and procedures, create the conditions for negative consequences, notwithstanding any explicit aim to “improve people's lives.” In making our argument, we draw on several conceptual framings, including Foucault's notions of anatomo-and biopolitics and their impact on the constitution of suitable subjectivities and Hacking's ideas about “making up people.” We thus argue that through the rhetorical redeployment of categorizations of smokers and models of smoking personhoods, in the context of tobacco control practice, stakeholders in the illicit tobacco program created and reified the subjects of interventions as particular kinds of smoking persons, which then befitted the “smoking realities” which had been simultaneously produced in these movements of rhetorical practice.
After the Smoke Has Cleared: Reflections from a Former Smoker and Tobacco Researcher
Authors: Haines-Saah Rebecca J.
Published: February 2015

I grew up in a home where both parents smoked and I had my first cigarette at about age 13. I became a regular smoker sometime in my late teens, and at age 27 began working towards a doctoral degree in public health sciences on the topic of young women and smoking. As an active smoker entering into academic tobacco research circles, I felt very much like a stigmatized outsider and the antismoking sentiments of tobacco researchers and health advocates often felt to me like exclusionary “antismoker” views. In the tradition of autoethnographic writing, in this reflective piece I narrate my experiences as a smoker and my process of quitting in an effort to be critical and reflexive about my research, and also about the absence of the perspectives and active contributions of people who smoke to tobacco control research, programming, and practice.
Road Accidents, Alcohol, and Drugs: An Emergency Room Study in Florence, Italy
Authors: Allamani Allaman , Holder Harold , Santarlasci Veronica , Bardazzi Gabriele , Voller Fabio , Mari Francesco , Bertol Elisabetta , Orsini Cristina , Pepe Pasquale
Published: February 2015

This article describes the potential contribution of alcohol and illicit drugs to increased risk of road accidents in Italy. Blood and urine samples were taken from patients admitted to five Emergency Rooms (ER) in metropolitan Florence, Italy, due to road traffic accidents within 3 hours of the accident. Seven hundred and thirty-five patients were tested to determine if alcohol and illicit drugs (amphetamines, opiates, cocaine, methadone, and cannabis) were present in urine and blood. Approximately 22% of patients were positive for at least one substance at night-time (20:00 to 5:59), and 18% were positive on the weekends (20:00 Friday to 05:59 Monday). Almost 80% of all alcohol-positive patients had a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) equal to or exceeding the legal limit. Findings indicated that alcohol and illicit drugs were important contributors to traffic accident risk and suggest prevention strategies for alcohol-related road accidents in Italy may need to follow those employed in other countries, including frequent and highly visible enforcement of drunk-driving laws.
Cultures of Intoxication: Young Women, Alcohol, and Harm Reduction
Authors: Hutton Fiona , Wright Sarah , Saunders Emma
Published: February 2015

Much attention has been paid in the last decade to the “cultures of intoxication” of modern Western societies such as Britain, Australia, and New Zealand. This has manifested in an intense focus on the amount of alcohol that young people in particular consume per session and their resultant practices. This article explores young women's drinking cultures and focuses instead on their social motivations for socializing in specific places as well as their emotional connections to these particular spaces. The role of alcohol is reflected on within these motivations and connections in relation to the way it engenders particular practices. Places of risk (as well as pleasure) are identified and considered in terms of harm-reduction interventions. Young women's drinking practices are also positioned within a neoliberal social context, producing tensions in their engagement with, and negotiation of, cultures of intoxication. Harm-reduction initiatives need to speak to these tensions and to avoid producing campaigns based on conservative ideals of femininity and respectability.
The Role of Parents, Peers and Partners in Cannabis Use and Dependence Trajectories among Young Adult Frequent Users
Authors: Liebregts Nienke , van der Pol Peggy , van Laar Margriet , de Graaf Ron , van den Brink Wim , Korf Dirk J.
Published: February 2015

In a 3-year qualitative longitudinal study the role of social relationships in cannabis use and dependence in young adults (all frequent users at baseline) was explored. Overall, cannabis use and dependence declined. Changes in use were, for a considerable part, attributable to processes and life events in social relationships with peers and partners, while parents had little influence. Negatively experienced events often triggered increased use and positively experienced events decreased use. Participants often adapted their use to others, depending on associate's use. Underlying mechanisms appear related to both socialization and selection. Gender-specific processes occurred, particularly with regard to partners; females selected using partners and males nonusing partners, and subsequently cannabis use increased (females) or decreased (males) by socialization. Transitions in cannabis dependence could be explained by using peers, cohabitation and, for females, a new partnership. Persistent and newly nondependent participants were less susceptible to social influences than dependent interviewees.
Negotiating the Challenges of Coerced Treatment: An Exploratory Study of Community-Based Service Providers in Queensland, Australia
Authors: Thomas Natalie K. , Bull Melissa
Published: February 2015

The use of legal pressure to convince drug users to access treatment has become a popular drug-policy strategy in Australian and international jurisdictions. Providing drug treatment in this context necessitates partnerships between criminal justice agencies and drug treatment and support agencies, including community-based agencies. Drawing on data from qualitative interviews, this article explores the issues that coerced treatment presents for community-based service providers. We employ the analytics associated with Foucault's notion of governmentality to “make sense” of our research findings. We argue that these service providers negotiate the challenges of working in a criminal justice context by treating their clients as “informed choice-makers,” and by employing more liberal techniques of governance that rely on the possibility of freedom as well as the threat of constraint.
Debating Safe Injecting Sites in Vancouver's Inner City: Advocacy, Conservatism and Neoliberalism
Authors: Elliott Denielle
Published: February 2015

North America's first and only legal, supervised injection site is located in Vancouver and has been one of Canada's most controversial biomedical interventions. Emerging from a progressive harm reduction model, and adopted in many cities around the globe from Sydney to Paris, safe injection facilities are considered by many to be the hallmark of innovative programming for the urban poor. In Vancouver, an intense public debate resulted, focusing attention on addictions, the rights of drug users, and the politics of knowledge. Drawing on the work of Nikolas Rose and Michel Foucault, this ethnographic article suggests that the politics of activism and care that have emerged from the Insite controversy among scientists, researchers, and advocates are characterized by a neoliberal logic, which limits the full potential of this health care intervention. This article considers the specific ways in which scientists and advocates inadvertently adopted neoliberal techniques of governing and conservative politics.
Impacts of Tourism on Drinking and Alcohol Policy in Low-And Middle-Income Countries: A Selective Thematic Review
Authors: Örnberg Jenny Cisneros , Room Robin
Published: February 2015

The article considers impacts of the drinking patterns of tourists from high-consumption, high-income societies on low- and middle-income societies, thematically reviewing a rather sparse literature. Drinking — indeed, drinking more than at home — fits well into the context of tourism. Heavy drinking by tourists has a substantial impact on many elements in the host society, increasing consumption levels particularly among young people working within the tourism sector. Tourist industry interests have often successfully argued for policies that result in a wider general availability of alcohol in the society, and provision for tourists has often served as an entry point in the society for the global alcohol industry. National and international consideration of policies to reduce alcohol problems should take into consideration the potential adverse influences on national alcohol policies arising from tourism.