Abstract

People who use drugs understand drugs and drug use in ways that are often different to the way knowledge of drug use is constructed within the dominant medico-legal discourse. Their experiences are, more often than not, represented in negative ways within dominant discourse, a disconnect that can create adverse consequences for people who use drugs, through the production of stigma and shame leading to poor health and social outcomes. A key difference in how drugs are understood by people who use drugs is the capacity of the former to recognize positive aspects of drug use and create more agentic subjectivities for themselves concerning the use of drugs. Using a thematic analysis of the online forum Australian Drug Discussion, hosted by Bluelight.org, we identify positive drug stories and the contexts of their emergence, as subversions or modifications of dominant understandings. We argue that positive understandings of drug use, as well as recognition of the way their expression serves to generate agency for people who use drugs within or against the confines of dominant discourse, may provide opportunities to limit further the harms flowing from stigmatization and negativity.

摘要

吸毒者对毒品和毒品的理解通常与占主导地位的法医学话语中的毒品使用知识的建构方式不同。他们的经历通常以占主导地位的话语中的消极方式表示，这种脱节可能通过产生污名和羞耻感而导致对吸毒者不利的后果，造成耻辱和羞耻感，从而导致不良的健康状况和社会后果。吸毒者对毒品的理解的一个主要区别是前者认识毒品使用的积极方面并在毒品使用方面为自己创造更多的主体性的能力。通过对由Bluelight.org主持的在线论坛澳大利亚毒品讨论会进行专题分析，我们确定了积极的毒品故事及其出现的背景，作为对主流理解的颠覆或修改。我们认为，对毒品使用的积极理解，以及对毒品使用的表达方式的认可，可以为在主流话语范围之内或之外使用毒品的人们提供代理，这可能会提供机会，进一步限制因污名化和消极化而产生的危害。