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

吸毒者理解毒品和吸毒的方式通常与在占主导地位的法医话语中构建吸毒知识的方式不同。他们的经历往往在主流话语中以消极方式表达，这种脱节可能对吸毒者造成不利后果，通过产生污名和羞耻，导致健康和社会状况不佳。吸毒者如何理解毒品的一个主要区别在于，吸毒者能够认识到吸毒的积极方面，并为自己创造更多关于吸毒的主观主观性。通过对 Bluelight.org 主办的在线论坛澳大利亚毒品讨论的主题分析，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，对吸毒的积极理解，以及承认他们的表达方式有助于为在主导话语范围内或反对使用毒品的人产生代理权，可能提供机会进一步限制来自污名化和消极情绪的危害。