Main description:

What images come to mind when you read the word 'intoxication'? What behaviour do you associate with the word 'drunk'? When you hear the word 'drug', what images do you recall?
This textbook provides an essential and thorough grounding in debates about the role of intoxication in contemporary society, from social and cultural perspectives. It examines intoxication in the broadest sense as including both legal and illegal substances and both culturally accepted and socially stigmatised practices. Given the pace of recent changes in policy and practice - from the increasingly common legalisation of cannabis, to the recent trend of sobriety amongst adolescents and young adults - this book stands out by offering both a through historical and theoretical overview and a topical and forward looking exploration of current debates. It adopts a multi-scale approach to examine wider patterns of change so it considers the subjective experiences of the role intoxication plays in the lives of individuals and groups, in the construction of diverse identities and how this differs by age, gender and ethnicity. The authors play particular attention to the way in which the state justifies interventions based on moral, health and criminal justice discourses and also consider the role played by other individuals and institutions, not least the mass media and the alcohol industry, in propagating and challenging common sense explanations of intoxication. It speaks to undergraduates, master's students and above, with a range of pedagogic features, and offers insights into policy and practice.

Contents:

Acknowledgments. 3

About the Authors. 4

Table of Contents. 5

1. Introduction to Intoxication: Self, State and Society. 9

Introduction. 9

Why Study Intoxication?. 10

What Are Drugs?. 14

Measuring Intoxication. 17

How to Use This Book. 19

The Structure of This Book. 20

Points for Discussion. 21

References. 21

2. Historical Origins and Emergence of Intoxication. 24

Introduction. 24

Intoxication in the Pre-Modern Age. 26

Modernity and Intoxication. 28

Intoxication in the 20th Century. 35

Summary. 39

Points for Discussion. 40

References. 40

3. The Regulation and Control of Alcohol 43

Introduction. 43

Alcohol Legislation: Historical Context. 44

The 'Noble Experiment': American and the Prohibition of Alcohol 46

Prohibition in Muslim Majority Countries. 50

The Price of Drink: Regulating the Alcohol Availability and Demand. 51

Alcohol and Crime. 54

'Please Drink Responsibly'?: The problem of moderation. 57

Summary. 58

Points for Discussion. 59

References. 59

4. The Regulation and Control of Drugs. 63

Introduction. 63

The Origins of Drug Prohibition. 63

UN Conventions. 68

The Misuse of Drugs Act. 69

Prohibition as the 'War on Drugs' 72

Prohibition 2.0. 76

Decriminalisation and Legalization Debates. 78

Summary. 79

Points for Discussion. 80

References. 80

5. Theorising Intoxication. 85

Introduction. 85

Physiological Explanations of Intoxication. 86

Social and Cultural Explanations of Intoxication. 87

From Deviance to Subcultures. 89

The Normalisation Debate. 93

Intoxication for Pleasure, Profit and Identity. 101

Summary. 103

Points for Discussion. 104

References. 104

6. Addiction, Treatment and Recovery. 108

Introduction. 108

The Invention of Addiction. 110

The Criminalisation of Addiction. 114

Types of Treatment. 115

Abstinence Approaches (12 Step, Self Help). 115

Therapeutic Communities. 118

Opiate Substitution Therapy. 119

Public Health and Harm Reduction Approaches. 120

Behaviour Change Approaches. 125

Summary. 125

Points for Discussion. 126

References. 126

7. Representing Intoxication. 130

Introduction. 130

Why Representations of Intoxication Matter?. 130

Historical Representations. 132

Representing Drugs in the 20th Century. 133

Celebrities and Addiction. 138

Advertising, Alcohol and Drugs. 139

'Binge Drinking' and UK Media Representations of Intoxication. 141

Media and Morality: Shock and Disgust. 143

Summary. 145

Points for Discussion. 146

References. 146

8. Intoxication across the Life Course. 149

Introduction. 149

Coming of Age through Intoxication. 149

Intoxication in Adulthood. 153

Intoxication in Later Life. 155

Alcohol and Drug-Related Deaths. 156

Summary. 157

Points for Discussion. 158

References. 158

9. Intoxication, Gender and Sexuality. 161

Introduction. 161

Gendering Intoxication. 162

The Feminisation of Intoxication. 167

Alcohol, Drugs and Sex. 170

Queering Intoxication. 173

Summary. 174

Points for Discussion. 175

References. 175

10. Intoxication, Ethnicity, Faith and Nation. 179

Introduction. 179

Drinking Nations and National Drinking Cultures. 179

The Racist Origins of Drugs Prohibition. 182

Contemporary Racism and the War on Drugs. 184

Intoxication, Identity and Inequality. 185

Summary. 188

Points for Discussion. 189

References. 189

11. Intoxication by Design. 191

Introduction. 191

New Psychoactive Substances (NPS) 192

Image and Performance Enhancing Drugs. 194

The Pharmaceutical Society. 198

Summary. 201

Points for Discussion. 201

References. 201

12. Conclusion: Intoxication and its Futures. 204

Introduction. 204

Self, State and Society: Revisiting the 'Scales' of Intoxication. 205

The Futures of Intoxication. 206

Points for Discussion. 207

References. 207