Introduction
Debates around drugs and drug use are of crucial importance for critical psychology. While most debates are centered on pharmacological, medical, and criminological fields, the debates incorporate central issues for critical psychology, as well as for sociology, anthropology, economics, anti-psychiatry, studies on gender, sexuality, race and class, and every other aspect of the biopolitical economy.
Definition
Contemporary definitions of drugs are primarily derived from medical and legal fields, as well as from religious understandings. There are a range of different approaches to the topic that vary according to the social function of drugs, such as food, medicine, poison, recreational use, social habits, and religious rituals (Courtwright, 2001; Douglas, 1987; Escohotado, 1998; South, 1999; Xiberras, 1989).
There is some controversy on the etymology of the word drug; the most accepted is the Middle Dutch word droghe vate meaning “barrel of dry goods” (Vargas, 2008),...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Berridge, V., & Edwards, G. (1987). Opium and the People - Opiate Use in Nineteenth Century England. London: Yale University Press and New Haven.
Campbell, N. (2000). Using women – Gender, drug policy and social justice. London, England: Routledge.
Chomsky, N. (1991). Deterring democracy. London, England: Verso.
Coomber, R. (1998). The control of drugs and drug users: Reason or reaction? Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Harwood.
Courtwright, D. T. (2001). Forces of habit: Drugs and the making of the modern world. Havard, MA: Harvard University press.
Dally, A. (1996). Anomalies and mysteries in the ‘war on drugs’. In R. Potter & M. Teich (Eds.), Drugs and narcotics in history (pp. 199–215). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Douglas, M. (Ed.). (1987). Constructive drinking – Perspectives on drink from anthropology. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Escohotado, A. (1998). Historia de las Drogas (Vols. 1–3). Madrid, Spain: Allianza Editorial.
Ettorre, E., & Riska, E. (1995). Gendered moods – Psychotropics and society. London, England: Routledge.
Goldberg, T. (1999). Demystifying drugs – A psychosocial perspective. London, England: MacMillan Press.
Goodman, J., Lovejoy, P., & Sherratt, A. (1995). Consuming Habits - Drugs in History and Anthropology. London: Routledge.
Hugh-Jones, S. (1995). Coca, beer, cigars and yage: Meals and anti-meals in an Amerindian community. In J. Goodman, P. Lovejoy, & A. Sherratt (Eds.), Consuming habits – Drugs in history and anthropology (pp. 47–67). London, England: Routledge.
Inciardi, J., & Harrison, L. (2000). Harm reduction: National and international perspectives. London, England: Sage.
Keane, H. (1999). Adventures of the addicted brain. Australian Feminist Studies, 14(29), 63–76.
Kohn, M. (1992). Dope girls – The birth of the British underground. London, England: Lawrence and Wishart.
Lenson, D. (1995). On drugs. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.
Loose, R. (2002). The subject of addiction – Psychoanalysis and the administration of enjoyment. London, England: Karnac.
McDonald, M. (1994). Gender, drink and drugs. Oxford, UK: Berg.
Mountian, I. (2013). Cultural ecstasies: Drugs, gender and social imaginary. London, England: Routledge.
Musto, D. F. (1999). The American disease – Origins of narcotic control. Oxford, MI: Oxford University Press.
Parascandola, J. (1996). The drug habit: The association of the word ‘drug’ with abuse in American history. In R. Potter & M. Teich (Eds.), Drugs and narcotics in history (pp. 156–167). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Sedgwick, E. K. (1992). Epidemics of the Will. In J. Crary & S. Kwinter (Eds.), Incorporations (pp. 582–595). New York, NY: Zone.
South, N. (1999). Drugs – Cultures, controls and everyday life. London, England: Sage.
Szasz, T. (1975). Ceremonial chemistry – The ritual persecution of drugs, addicts, and pushers. London, England: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (2010). Report on the fifty-third session New York: Economic and Social Council. Accessed in www.unodc.org/documents/commissions/CND-Uploads/CND-53-RelatedFiles/E2010_28eV1052082.pdf
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2003). Terminology and information on drugs. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Author. ISBN: 92-1-148163-5. Retrieved 2012, from www.unodc.org/unodc/en/scientists/terminology-and-information-on-drugs.html
Vargas, E. V. (2008). Fármacos e outros objetos sócio-técnicos: notas para uma genealogia das drogas. In B. C. Labate, S. Goulart, M. Fiore, E. MacRae, & H. Carneiro (Eds.), Drogas e cultura: novas perspectivas. Salvador (pp. 41–65). Salvador, Brazil: EDUFBA.
White, W. L. (2004). Lessons of language: Historical perspectives on the rethoric of addiction. In S. W. Tracy & C. J. Acker (Eds.), Altering American consciousness – The history of alcohol and drug abuse in the United States, 1800-2000 (pp. 33–60). Amherst, MA: University of Massachusetts Press.
Xiberras, M. (1989). A Sociedade Intoxicada. Lisbon, Portugal: Instituto Piaget.
Young, J. (1971). The drugtakers – The social meaning of drug users. London, England: Granada Publishing.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this entry
Cite this entry
Mountian, I. (2014). Drugs, Overview. In: Teo, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_636
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5583-7_636
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5582-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5583-7
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Sciences