Media and Intoxication: Media Representations of the Intoxicated

Abstract

This chapter examines media representations of intoxication in the context of neoliberal consumer capitalism. It illustrates how the media ideologically function in maintaining the capitalist status quo whilst distracting attention from the paradoxical nature and embedded systemic harms of consumerism. Looking at the media through a Žižekian lens, we identify how the intoxicated are constructed as representing a threat to our way of life through their irresponsible, flawed and uncivilised consumption practices. As such, the media partakes in objective violence through its purposeful polarisation of intoxication practices: ensuring the condemnation, alienation and criminalisation of the barbaric consumer; and the celebration and social recognition of the civilised.

Representation of adverse childhood experiences is associated with lower public stigma towards people who use drugs: an exploratory experimental study

“…This is because language choices in studies of this type may not necessarily reflect changing public and professional use, pejorative slang, or framing used in local and national debates (Atkinson & Sumnall, 2018;McGinty, Stone, et al, 2019;Radcliffe & Stevens, 2008;Wincup & Monaghan, 2016). Furthermore, unlike the single written exposure in this study, public discourse on drugs is pervasive, presented through multiple media, including the use of visual imagery and oral testimony, and draws upon particular forms of expertise (Alexandrescu, 2020;Atkinson et al, 2019;Ayres & Jewkes, 2012;Ayres & Taylor, 2020;Linnemann & Wall, 2013). It would therefore be useful to examine repeated exposures to simulated 'real-world' representations of PWUD that better reflect the agenda-setting and framing seen in popular media .…”

Enlightened hedonism? Independent drug checking amongst a group of ecstasy users.

“…However, 'as we become dedicated to pleasure, we become subjects of permanent anxiety, haunted by our potential failure to achieve the ultimate experience' (Žižek, 2000(Žižek, , cited in Hall et al, 2008, fantasies which IDC purportedly alleviated (anxiety) and accomplished ('big night out' for the best possible price), despite the reality. Drug testing kits therefore allowed this group to minimise the risks and harms arising from their drug use but also the harms arising from consumer capitalism and drug prohibition (Ayres & Taylor, 2020).…”

“…In this context, drug testing technologies, through their purported ability to identify both desirable and undesirable content, premise safer drug use, abating users' fears and anxieties, while maximising their enjoyment. IDC allowed these drug consumers to partake in 'enlightened hedonism' whereby they 'carefully cultivate their pleasure to prolong their fun and avoid getting hurt' (Žižek, 2014: 4); enacting an individualised controlled loss of control (Hayward, 2004;Measham, 2004) when engaging with intoxication (Ayres, 2019a;Ayres & Taylor, 2020) to avoid being harmed. IDC therefore represents a savvy consumption practice, while drug users who do not check their drugs take unnecessary risks and thus become irresponsible and toxic subjects (Žižek, 2009).…”

“…controlled intoxication, controlling the effects of the drug or the experience) was prominent in this group's narratives, illustrating that although they wanted a good night out, their consumption practices reflected wider neoliberal governance, which can be seen to be operating here through individual freedom and choice via the logic of sacrifice/constraint. This group of drug consumers were acting like responsible citizens in a system that has marked out acceptable and unacceptable intoxication (Ayres & Taylor, 2020).…”

Effects of media representations of drug related deaths on public stigma and support for harm reduction

“…Such reports often construct what Christie (1986) has previously described as 'ideal victims'; that is, they depict people -often young, middle class, white and female -in ways that align with established cultural scripts around innocence and victimhood ( Forsyth, 2001 ;Höijer, 2004 ;Webster, Rice, & Sud, 2020 ). Higher incidence DRD associated with more 'problematic' forms of drug use, including opioids, are disproportionately under-reported in news media, and compared to other types of DRD there is an over-reliance on narratives of blame that often omit accounts of pity and grieving for the deceased ( Ayres & Taylor, 2020 ;Fraser, Farrugia, & Dwyer, 2018 ). These deaths are presented as discrete episodes, and as being difficult to prevent due to being a predictable outcome of drug use relating to individual responsibility and circumstances, whilst relevant structural, economic, and socio-political factors (e.g.…”