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The Discursive Construction of Drug Realities: Discourses on Drugs, Users, and Drug-Related Practices

  • Benno Herzog
Chapter

Abstract

Drugs are substances, that is, material realities with specific, describable chemical characteristics. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the scientific literature about drugs is dominated by bio-medical viewpoints. This scientific literature is based upon ‘hard facts’, chemical or neuronal reactions independent of the researcher’s viewpoint, and – of course – not the result of discourses. However, discourse and discourse analysis encompass more than text and talking. Discourse analysis can be used to better understand even apparently ‘objective’ realities.

Keywords

Drug User Harm Reduction Subject Position Drug Policy Addiction Research 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
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Recommended reading

  1. • Brook, H., & Stringer, R. (2005). Users, using, used: A beginner’s guide to deconstructing drugs discourse. International Journal of Drug Policy, 16(5), 316–325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. • Herzog, B., Gómez-Guardeño, E., Agulló-Calatayud, V., Aleixandre-Benavent, R., & Valderrama-Zurián, J. C. (2008). Discourses on drugs and immigration: The social construction of a problem. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 10(1), http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs090172.
  3. • Reinarman, C. (2005). Addiction as accomplishment: The discursive construction of disease. Addiction Research & Theory, 13(4), 307–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. • Reinarman, C., & Duskin, C. (1992). Dominant ideology & drugs in the media. International Journal on Drug Policy, 3, 6–15.Google Scholar

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© Benno Herzog 2016

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  • Benno Herzog

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