High : drugs, desire, and a nation of users / Ingrid Walker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Walker, Ingrid, author.

Contributor:

University of Washington Press, publisher.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Drug utilization.

Drug control.

Drug abusers.

Drug abuse.

Drug abusers--United States.

Drug control--United States.

Drug abuse--United States.

Drug utilization--United States.

United States.

Genre:

Informational works.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Seattle, [Washington] : University of Washington Press, 2017.

Summary:

"Whether drinking Red Bull, relieving chronic pain with oxycodone, or experimenting with Ecstasy, Americans participate in a culture of self-medication, using psychoactive substances to enhance or manage our moods. A "drug-free America" seems to be a fantasyland that most people don't want to inhabit. High: Drugs, Desire, and a Nation of Users asks fundamental questions about US drug policies and social norms. Why do we endorse the use of some drugs and criminalize others? Why do we accept the necessity of a doctor-prescribed opiate but not the same thing bought off the street? This divided approach shapes public policy, the justice system, research, social services, and health care. And despite the decades-old war on drugs, drug use remains relatively unchanged. Ingrid Walker speaks to the silencing effects of both criminalization and medicalization, incorporating first-person narratives to show a wide variety of user experiences with drugs. By challenging current thinking about drugs and users, Walker calls for a next wave of drug policy reform in the United States, beginning with recognizing the full spectrum of drug use practices." -- Publisher's description.

Contents:

Preface: Breaking user silence

Acknowledgments

Introduction: We are all users

Picture a drug user

Criminalization : winning the crusade but losing the war

Medicalization : defining drug use

Why we use : the pleasure and the eros of drugs

Conclusion

Notes

Glossary

Selected bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780295742335

029574233X

OCLC:

993623981