Legitimacy through scaremongering: The discursive role of alcohol in online discussions of cannabis use and policy

Månsson, Josefin; Ekendahl, Mats

doi:10.3109/16066359.2012.731115

Cited by 19 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…These digital markets are in this way further jeopardising the Swedish government's dream of a drug-free society (Tham, 1995), which has manifested in a national drug control project and their attempts to establish a cultural norm of drugs as 'alien to society' (Bjerge et al, 2016). While Sweden still prohibits illicit drugs, including cannabis, there are now calls for policy change in online and printed media (Månsson and Ekendahl, 2015;Månsson and Ekendahl, 2013). When combined with the easier availability of prescription drugs, the tendency to push back against national policy could provide a further expansion of the already active prescription drug market in Sweden.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media markets for prescription drugs: platforms as virtual mortars for drug types and dealers

Demant

Bakken

Hall

2020

DAT

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Purpose Internet use has changed the mechanics of drug dealing. Although this has spurred some initial academic interest in how markets and their users have been changing, the issue is still under-researched. The purpose of this paper is to understand how the organisation of the distribution of prescription drugs and other illegal drugs overlap in these online markets by analysing data gathered from observation of the Swedish Facebook drug market and its participants. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered during three months of digital ethnography conducted among Swedish Facebook posters supplemented by 25 interviews with sellers (20) and buyers (5). Screenshots and interview data were coded by carrying out an NVivo-based content analysis. The analysis is based on descriptive statistics of drug types, co-occurrence with other drugs, group size and the demographic characteristics of sellers. Additionally, the interviewees’ descriptions of the marketplace and their drug dealing or buying activities were included in the analysis. Findings In total, 57 Swedish Facebook groups that sold illegal substances were located. The groups rarely specialised in specific drug types, but were convened around demographic factors, such as specific cities and locales. The sales of prescription drugs were part of the overall activity of groups selling other illegal drugs, but they were more often sold in separate Facebook posts, possibly by specialist sellers. Swedish Facebook sales primarily concerned alprazolam, tramadol, pregabalin and clonazepam, and were sold by both professional and amateur sellers. Originality/value This study reports findings from a Nordic comparative study on social media drug dealing, representing the first in-depth study of digitally mediated prescription drug dealing outside of cryptomarkets.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social media markets for prescription drugs: platforms as virtual mortars for drug types and dealers

Demant

Bakken

Hall

2020

DAT

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“…A wide range of voices and media outlets compete to set boundaries for drug discourses, making it necessary to question the social impact of traditional print media (Giulianotti, 1997;McRobbie & Thornton, 1995). Previous research does nevertheless indicate that cannabis discussions in "new" media outlets are presented in relation to images from traditional print media (Månsson & Ekendahl, 2013). For example, oppositional and drug-liberal voices can be heard in online forums, but their arguments are shaped by the prohibitionist images that have dominated print media.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The same old story? Continuity and change in Swedish print media constructions of cannabis

Månsson

2016

Nordic Studies on Alcohol and Drugs

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“…The centrality of this one-way communication invites analysis that looks beyond the classic distinctions that are made between the so-called abstinence-oriented and harm reduction-oriented approaches to the common features of treatment and to empirically scrutinize different alcohol and other drug policy contexts within the conceptual framework of one study. Research from the national settings represented in this study (Australia, Canada, and Sweden) shows important shared tendencies-for example, that policy makers within the field construct problems in specific ways and thereby legitimize certain ambitions and goals (Boyd, Boyd, & Kerr, 2015;Månsson & Ekendahl, 2013;Moore & Fraser, 2013;Nordgren, 2017;Roumeliotis, 2015) and that peer advocates point to the lack of input drug users have in service provision (Bryant, Saxon, Madden, Bath, & Robinson, 2008;Ekendahl & Karlsson, 2016;Palm, 2006;Ti, Tzemis, & Buxton, 2012).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 98%

“Getting Better”

Fraser¹,

Ekendahl

2018

Contemporary Drug Problems

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The alcohol and other drug field is characterized by great diversity in kinds of treatment and treatment philosophies. Even the kinds of problems treatment is expected to address vary significantly, although agreement seems to exist that the general purpose is to help people "get better." This article considers this diversity, drawing on a qualitative project conducted in three countries: Australia, Canada, and Sweden. Inspired by the project's multisite approach and the questions it raises about comparative research, the article critically engages with the notion of "comparison" to think through what is at stake in making comparisons. Analyzing 80 interviews conducted with policy makers, service providers, and peer advocates, the article maps key ways treatment is conceptualized, identifying in them a central role for comparison. Participants in all sites invoked the need to consider addiction a multifaceted problem requiring a mix of responses tailored to individual differences. Related notions of "holism" were also commonly invoked, as was the need to concentrate on overall improvements in well-being rather than narrow changes in consumption patterns. In conducting this analysis, this article poses a series of critical questions. What kinds of comparisons about quality of life, the self, and wellbeing do treatments for addiction put into play? What categories and criteria of comparison are naturalized in these processes? What kinds of insights might these categories and criteria authorize, and what might they rule out? In short, what does it mean to understand alcohol and other drug use and our responses to it as intimately intertwined with the need to "get better," and what happens when we scrutinize the politics of comparison at work in getting better through addiction treatment? We conclude by arguing for the need to find new, fairer, ways of constituting the problems we presently ascribe to drugs and addiction.

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Legitimacy through scaremongering: The discursive role of alcohol in online discussions of cannabis use and policy

Cited by 19 publications

References 34 publications

Social media markets for prescription drugs: platforms as virtual mortars for drug types and dealers

Social media markets for prescription drugs: platforms as virtual mortars for drug types and dealers

The same old story? Continuity and change in Swedish print media constructions of cannabis

“Getting Better”

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