recreational drug use

Question 1

what is recreational drug use?

Answer 1

• best way to explain it is…
• uses cannabis or ‘party drugs’
• young people using drugs with friends
• doesn’t use drugs everyday
• doesn’t experience symptoms without drugs
• doesn’t commit crime to fund their drug habit
• uses drugs without experiencing or causing particular harm
• so it’s chemical substances taken for enjoyment rather than for medical reasons

Question 2

Parker et al idea about recreational drug use

Answer 2

• illegal leisure: The normalisation of adolescent drug use
• drug use has become normalised within youth age groups
• drug use is no longer seen as ‘deviant’ but part of mainstream culture

Question 3

what is sensible drug use? (with examples)

Answer 3

• moderation
• drug titration use which is the process of adjusting the dose of a medication for the maximum benefit without adverse effects
• pill and powder testing
• peer advice from internet forums

Question 4

what is the benefits of drug use

Answer 4

• Hunt et al argues…
• release from everyday pressures
• bonding with friends
• positive changes in mental-well being
• long-lasting changes to social interaction/increased confidence

Question 5

what the difficulties of defining recreational drug use?

Answer 5

• is all cannabis use recreational?
• can (intervenous) heroin use be recreational
• where do you draw the line between recreational and problematic

Question 6

what about the racial disparity

Answer 6

• black people use less drugs that white people (10.5% of white people use drugs whereas 5.8% of black people use drugs)
• but black people are 6 times more likely to be stoppered and searched for drugs

Question 7

what does duff (2008) argue about recreational drug use?

Answer 7

• they make other things more pleasurable
• intimacy
• spontaneity and connection
• self-discovery
• love of the place,event and setting
  -physical feelings, sensations

Question 8

why is pleasure important?

Answer 8

• could undermine efforts to reduce drug harms
• denies the experiences of drug users
• criminalisation may intensify the pleasure

Question 9

why are the pleasures of drug-taking ignored?

Answer 9

• counters the dominant discourse
• counters government rehetoric
• pleasure under-valued in general
• research on pleasure and drugs doses’t have an impact
• rise of harm reduction
• irresponsible pleasure is threatening

Question 10

what the six dimensions of normalisation

Answer 10

1) drug availability, drug trying, current usage, intended future use, drug knowledge and cultural accpetance