Introduction: Cultures of Intoxication

How psychoactive drugs shape human culture: A multi-disciplinary perspective

“…The majority of contemporary humans regularly use drugs (Anderson, 2006;Kennedy, 2014), and drug use figures prominently in all known cultures going back to antiquity (Sherrat, 1995a;Withington, 2014). Quantum increases in variety and usage occurred with the adoption of farming (Crocq, 2007;Wadley and Hayden, 2015), the colonization of the New World and industrialization (Goodman, 1995;Courtwright, 2001), and with the development of drug synthesis techniques (Courtwright, 2001;Levy et al, 2014).…”

“…Psychoactive drug use occurs in essentially all human societies (Withington, 2014;Thakker, 2013). The use of mind-altering substances has been central to a range of human phenomena from shamanic rituals to village pubs to youth counter-cultures (Shortall, 2014).…”

“…A range of research disciplines contribute to our understanding of the influence of drugs upon the human world. A major focus has been on why people take drugs and what happens to them when they do (Withington, 2014). While effects upon individuals are a focus of biomedical research (Schultes, 1969), disciplines such as anthropology, evolutionary biology and ethics contribute to an understanding of the broader impact of drugs (Guerra-Doce, 2015).…”

Gender and intoxication: from masculinity to intersectionality

“…Many of these issues including the gendered meaning of intoxication and the extent to which these meanings alter in different social contexts are left largely unanswered by the existing epidemiological literature investigating gender and intoxication. Consequently, we must seek answers outside survey and epidemiological research and examine the anthropological, sociological, cultural, and historical approaches to intoxication (see for example Herring et al 2012; Withington and McShane 2014) as well as more recent feminist scholarship to ascertain whether existing theories may help to explain changes in young people's intoxication as well as identify new directions for scholarship.…”

Inconvenient friendship: How successful cocaine dealers manage social obligations

“…2828I do not consider this claim to be at odds with the importance of historically and culturally specific “cultures of intoxication” (Withington 2014). …”