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Chargement... Drugs, Intoxication and Society (original 2009; édition 2009)par Angus Bancroft
Information sur l'oeuvreDrugs, Intoxication and Society par Angus Bancroft (2009)
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Why do people use drugs? What happens when people are intoxicated? Are we being medicated into normality? Drugs and intoxication have been facts of human life for millennia. Across the world, many people use illicit drugs, smoke, and drink alcohol. Yet very little has been written about their experiences. Academics, politicians and media reporting on the topic tend only to consider intoxication when it manifests as a social problem. This book takes a more nuanced view, and examines drug and alcohol use from a wider number of perspectives. It discusses issues such as the history of drug and alcohol use, the attractions of intoxication to individuals, and the control and regulation of drugs and their users. It also examines evidence for the rise of the so-called pharmaceutical society, and asks whether society is on the cusp of a revolution in psychoactive substance use. This engagingly written text will make fascinating reading for upper-level students taking a range of courses, including social work, social policy, the sociology of drugs, deviance and social control, and drugs and crime. It will also appeal to researchers and anyone working with drug and alcohol users looking for a level-headed analysis of the pleasures and pains, highs and lows, of substance use. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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Google Books — Chargement... GenresClassification décimale de Melvil (CDD)362.29Social sciences Social problems and services; associations Social problems of & services to groups of people Mentally ill Substance abuseClassification de la Bibliothèque du CongrèsÉvaluationMoyenne:
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Bancroft tackles the issue from multiple angles: he points out the arbitrariness of the legal/illegal divide between different drugs (why is marijuana illegal while tobacco remains legal?), and consistently criticises society's many hypocrisies on the subject throughout the book. He also counters many false claims and general misinformation, such as the idea that to experiment with drugs immediately sentences the would-be user to a lifetime of addiction – I had never heard of any evidence contrary to this claim before reading this book. He explains how drugs are often used as a scapegoat for society's failings, such as blaming sexual violence on 'date rape' drugs, thereby shifting blame away from the actual culprit – the rapist.
The author is not, however, some all-in advocate of drug use; he spends a great many pages commenting on what he calls the 'pharmaceuticalization of the human condition' – the unnecessary pathologising of normal human variation. He makes the essential point that pharmaceutical drugs are commercial products, with the manufacturers having a vested interest in convincing you that you need them (the classic case of ADHD and Ritalin is of course mentioned).
Along with these complex issues, basic (yet often overlooked) details are also dealt with, such as 'what exactly is a drug?' and 'when does drug use become a drug problem?', making this book a great all-round introduction to the topic. It is well-written and structurally sound, making what could so easily have been a laborious and taxing read an easy and pleasantly rewarding experience. And for those of us who have been intellectually stirred by the subject matter, a comprehensive bibliography (eighteen pages in my edition) awaits invitingly at the back of the book.
If I didn't despise star rating systems so vehemently, I would certainly award this book top marks.