San Francisco, CA, November 14-18, 2012Drug (Ab)use: Border constructions and crossings in the anthropology ofpsychoactive substancesCo-organizers: Tazin Karim, Roland Moore, Gilbert Quintero, Lee Hoffer, andDaniel Lende on behalf of the Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco Study Group of theSociety for Medical AnthropologyThis panel invites papers that explore the ideological, legal, and physicalborders between sanctioned and illicit drug use through ethnography. Weargue that the examination of drug behaviors is particularly salient toanthropology because they traverse and influence many culturally constructedboundaries between work/play, ethical/unethical, mind/body, etc. Inparticular, the recent development and repurposing of certain psychoactivesubstances has acted to blur the lines between recreation, medication,addiction, and enhancement. Street drugs like marijuana and certainpsychedelics are now being reconceptualized as treatments, whileprescription stimulants and narcotics continue to become objects of misuseand abuse. Changing prescription practices and the growth of new greymarkets further obscure the space between acceptable and improper drug usebehaviors.This panel explicitly asks: what criteria do individuals, populations, andgovernments use to define appropriate use of these substances? How dosubstances move within the space between what is acceptable/useful and whatis illegal/immoral? In what ways do these values influence access andencourage behaviors necessary to navigate these new borders? How do thesebeliefs, attitudes, and behaviors construct cultural configurations ofhealth, agency, and identity?This panel also seeks to shed light on the experience of drug ethnographersas they trace the social lives of drugs through various cycles. How do we asanthropologists and researchers understand and traverse these bordersourselves? How does this influence our interactions with subjects, lawenforcement, policy makers and health professionals? In what ways does thisinfluence the overall quality and content of drug ethnography?Topics might include:§ Drug free zones and trafficking across local/global borders§ Online pharmacies/grey markets§ Changing prescription practices§ E-cigarettes, nicotine patches, etc.§ Prescription drugs v. recreational drugs§ Legalization of marijuana or psychedelics§ Prescription drugs as enhancers§ Drug ethnography and researchPlease send titles and 250 word abstracts to: Taz Karim (
karimtaz@msu.edu)DEADLINE: February 26, 2012