scholarly journals Narratives of Starting, Using, and Stopping Methamphetamine Use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
John Dance
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Methamphetamine Use ◽  
Problematic Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cognitive Decision ◽  
Behavioural Theories

<p>Methamphetamine use has come to be seen as a significant policy issue in New Zealand and elsewhere. Panic about methamphetamine’s effects, the increasing prevalence of its use and its alleged potential to cause more harm than other drugs has been fundamental in elevating public concern and initiating a raft of law and order responses. Using the familiar tropes of addiction and drug-induced criminality, authoritative discourses conveying the nature of the ‘meth problem’ have obfuscated the social, cultural and structural forces which intersect decisions about drug use. Instead, explanations of meth-use anchored to behavioural theories about risk have emphasised drug-use is as being the product of individualised cognitive decision making. In taking a narrative approach to analyse 17 drug-users’ stories about starting, using and stopping methamphetamine use, this thesis sets out to theoretically engage with the experiential and contextual nuances of drug-taking decisions which continue to be excluded from authoritative accounts of problematic use. In doing so this thesis reveals how decisions about starting and using methamphetamine had occurred within established trajectories of problematic poly-drug taking behaviour. Collectively, the experiences of starting, using and stopping methamphetamine use storied by this sample of drug users help challenge pejorative constructions of problematic users of drugs as being wilfully self-destructive by highlighting that “risk actions are rarely the product of any one individuals’ rational decisions”(Rhodes: 1997:216).</p>

scholarly journals Narratives of Starting, Using, and Stopping Methamphetamine Use

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
John Dance
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
Law And Order ◽  
Drug Induced ◽  
Methamphetamine Use ◽  
Problematic Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cognitive Decision ◽  
Behavioural Theories

<p>Methamphetamine use has come to be seen as a significant policy issue in New Zealand and elsewhere. Panic about methamphetamine’s effects, the increasing prevalence of its use and its alleged potential to cause more harm than other drugs has been fundamental in elevating public concern and initiating a raft of law and order responses. Using the familiar tropes of addiction and drug-induced criminality, authoritative discourses conveying the nature of the ‘meth problem’ have obfuscated the social, cultural and structural forces which intersect decisions about drug use. Instead, explanations of meth-use anchored to behavioural theories about risk have emphasised drug-use is as being the product of individualised cognitive decision making. In taking a narrative approach to analyse 17 drug-users’ stories about starting, using and stopping methamphetamine use, this thesis sets out to theoretically engage with the experiential and contextual nuances of drug-taking decisions which continue to be excluded from authoritative accounts of problematic use. In doing so this thesis reveals how decisions about starting and using methamphetamine had occurred within established trajectories of problematic poly-drug taking behaviour. Collectively, the experiences of starting, using and stopping methamphetamine use storied by this sample of drug users help challenge pejorative constructions of problematic users of drugs as being wilfully self-destructive by highlighting that “risk actions are rarely the product of any one individuals’ rational decisions”(Rhodes: 1997:216).</p>

Estimation of Mortality Rates, Life Expectancy, and Life Potential of Illegal Drug Users

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-294
Author(s):  
Zofia J. Mielecka-Kubień
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
Illegal Drug ◽  
Social Costs ◽  
Preventive Effect ◽  
Illegal Drug Use ◽  
The Social ◽  
Negative Effect

The study presents proposed methods of estimation for mortality rates of illegal drug users and nonusers and their application in estimation of the life expectancy and the life potential loss of the users in Poland. Mortality rates for male users were in Poland in 2013, as an average, 4 times higher for male illegal drug users than for nonusers, and 7 times as high for females. For male illegal drug users, the loss of more than 12 years of life can be expected, whereas for females the figure stands at about 8 years. Similar losses of life potential of the users can be expected. The applied methods can be particularly useful in estimation of the social costs of illegal drug use. The results strongly underline the negative effect of the drug use which may have a preventive effect.

scholarly journals Reassessing geographic bottlenecks in a respondent-driven sampling based multicity study in Brazil

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. e2524
Author(s):  
Naíde Teodósio Valois-Santos ◽  
Roberta Pereira Niquini ◽  
Sandro Sperandei ◽  
Leonardo Soares Bastos ◽  
Neilane Bertoni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Spatial Dynamics ◽  
Social Geography ◽  
Positive Association ◽  
Assessment Center ◽  
Respondent Driven Sampling ◽  
The Social ◽  
Informal Settings ◽  
The City

This study analyzes the spatial dynamics of drug users’ recruitment chains in the context of a respondent-driven sampling (RDS) study in the city of Recife, Brazil. The purpose is to understand the geographic bottlenecks, influenced by social geography, which have been a major challenge for RDS-based studies. Temporo-spatial analysis was used. Sequential maps depicted the dynamics of the recruiting process, considering neighborhood of residence and/or places of drug use. Poisson regression was fitted to model the recruiting rate by neighborhood of residence and/or places of drug use, and the different neighborhoods’ demographics. The distance between neighborhood of residence and/or places of drug use and the assessment center was negatively associated with recruitment. There was a positive association between the proportion of the population living in informal settings and the recruiting rate per neighborhood of residence and/or places of drug use. Recruitment chains depend on the social geography and demographics of the population. Studies should incorporate seeds from as many neighborhoods as possible, and more than one assessment center should be utilized.

scholarly journals Control over Drug Acquisition, Preparation, and Injection: Implications for HIV and HCV Risk among Young Female Injection Drug Users

2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karla D. Wagner ◽  
Jennifer Jackson Bloom ◽  
Susan Dodi Hathazi ◽  
Bill Sanders ◽  
Stephen E. Lankenau
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Injection Drug Use ◽  
Injection Drug Users ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Drug Acquisition ◽  
Young Female ◽  
Injection Drug ◽  
The Social ◽  
Lack Of Control

Young female injection drug users (IDUs) are at risk for HIV/HCV, and initiating the use of a new drug may confer additional and unexpected risks. While gender differences in the social context of injection drug use have been identified, it is unknown whether those differences persist during the initiation of a new drug. This mixed-methods study examined the accounts of 30 young female IDUs in Los Angeles, CA, USA from 2004 to 2006, who described the social context of initiating injection drug use and initiating ketamine injection. The analysis aimed to understand how the social context of young women’s injection events contributes to HIV/HCV risk. Women’s initiation into ketamine injection occurred approximately 2 years after their first injection of any drug. Over that time, women experienced changes in some aspects of the social context of drug injection, including the size and composition of the using group. A significant proportion of women described injection events characterized by a lack of control over the acquisition, preparation, and injection of drugs, as well as reliance on friends and sexual partners. Findings suggest that lack of control over drug acquisition, preparation, and injection may elevate women’s risk; these phenomena should be considered as a behavioral risk factor when designing interventions.

Gender, Personal Networks, and Drug Use among Rural African Americans

2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalyn Negrón Goldbarg ◽  
Emma J. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
African Americans ◽  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
African American Men ◽  
Drug Prevention ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
The Social ◽  
Use Behavior

One of the main unifying concepts of research examining gender variations in drug use behavior is the social network. Yet, research specifically focusing on how the social networks of these groups differ by gender is limited. Few studies have investigated the social networks of rural African Americans who use drugs. In this study, we compared the personal networks of 20 rural African-American men and women addicted to cocaine using social network analysis (SNA) methods. The data do not support strong assertions about gender differences in the personal networks of the study sample. However, the results of the study suggest that men tend to have more drug users in their networks than women, as well as less structurally cohesive networks. Women tend to include more men in their personal networks than men included women. Implications of the research results for network-based drug prevention intervention as well as the value of SNA methods for drug use research are discussed.

Cultural models of masculinity and drug use: “machismo,” heroin, and street survival on the U.S.-Mexico border

1998 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 147-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gilbert A. Quintero ◽  
Antonio L. Estrada
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Injection Drug Users ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Cultural Models ◽  
Structural Factors ◽  
Social Forces ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mexico Border ◽  
Mexican Men

This paper examines the interrelations between “machismo,” drug use, and aggression among injection drug users (IDUs) in a US-Mexico border community. Underscored is the directive force and social impact of “machismo” in the day-to-day life-worlds of Mexican male heroin addicts, or “tecatos.” This focus not only provides a broad description of the cultural model of “machismo” elucidated by this group of men, but also illuminates how ideas of masculinity are internalized and re-created through drug use and aggression in the context of life in the streets. Attention to these aspects of drug use invites consideration of several important issues, including the role structural factors play in the expression of masculinity as well as the social forces underpinning representations of Mexican men.

The Lives and Times of Asian-Pacific American Women Drug Users: An Ethnographic Study of Their Methamphetamine Use

1996 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen A. Joe
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Minority Group ◽  
Ethnographic Study ◽  
American Women ◽  
Methamphetamine Use ◽  
Asian Pacific American ◽  
Asian Pacific ◽  
American Society ◽  
And Coping

Although Asian-Pacific Americans have a long history in American society and represent the fastest growing minority group, they remain a relatively “unknown” and “obscure” population. In particular, while ethnic myths about Asian women continue to persist, ranging from the erotic Oriental beauty to the evil dragon lady to the obedient wife and mother, the complexities of the lives of Asian-Pacific American women remain a mystery. Such myths create a number of barriers to understanding the problems of their everyday life including coping and stress, financial worries, family conflict, and drug use. This article represents the first ethnographic account of Asian-Pacific American women drug users, and specifically explores their onset and patterns of drug use and coping strategies in relation to the competing cultural claims on their lives.

Monitoring Problem Drug use in Bristol

1988 ◽  
Vol 152 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Parker ◽  
Yvonne Pool ◽  
Robert Rawle ◽  
Martyn Gay
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Case Register ◽  
Problematic Use ◽  
Problem Drug Use ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The City ◽  
Problem Drug

A prospective multi-agency survey of problem drug use associated with illicit drugs and solvents in the city of Bristol in 1984–1985 found 759 problem drug users, giving a period prevalence rate of 0.4–0.8% of those aged 10–44 years. The group was a young one, with 92% under the age of 35. Over half had problems associated with opiates, mainly illicit heroin; 17% had problems associated with solvents, 9% with cannabis, 13% with stimulants, mainly illicit amphetamine, and 3% with hallucinogens. There was little indication of problematic use of barbiturates or cocaine. The problems associated with drugs and solvents were wide-ranging and not specific for individual drugs. Future community surveys would find it cost-effective to concentrate on the five best sources identified here, and to supplement these with indications of drug-taking among teenagers. The difficulties of using the definition of problem drug use for research and the value of case-register surveys for community drug monitoring are discussed.

scholarly journals Poly and Tricky Dick: The drug war origins of the term “polydrug use”

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 404-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Klein
Keyword(s):  
Drug Use ◽  
Drug User ◽  
Social Practice ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
War On Drugs ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Nixon Administration ◽  
Polydrug Use ◽  
Problematic Use ◽  
The Us

Polydrug use is presented as a particular drug-use phenomenon when the combination of substances is and always has been the practice. The origin of the term is found in the early years of the war on drugs under the Nixon administration in the US, when it was used to justify the intensification of repressive measures against drug users and to counter the growing accommodation and normalisation of cannabis. Only by presenting cannabis as the first step towards the use of harder drugs could the repression of this largely innocuous and widely used substance be justified. Drug users were presented as “polydrug users”, which offered an explanation of problematic use as rooted in the drug user, the addict, who would switch substances in accordance with availability and price. Having become established for political reasons, the term has become entrenched because it resonates and vividly describes social practice. Yet it does not add to understanding of social reality but occludes and confuses because it presents “polydrug” as a particular and peculiar pattern of consumption and not as the norm.

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