Constructing Drug Using Victims

Race and Class in Policy Debates on Ecstasy Use in the U.S

Bibliographic Data

ID11057451
AuthorsSofia Laguna (0000-0001-7343-9493, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume45
Issue1
Pages67-81
Publication date2018-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueContemporary Drug Problems (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-4509 • E-ISSN: 2163-1808
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0091450917748981
OpenAlexW2782180766
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited19

Sociologists and political scientists examining the social construction of public anxiety surrounding drug use in the United States have argued that racial minorities are the targets of the harshest drug laws while middle-class whites are shielded. In this article, I provide further evidence that middle-class, white drug users are shielded from harsh punishment by analyzing the process through which U.S. legislators and policy makers decide which drug users need punishment and which deserve protection and treatment. Analyzing transcripts from federal Congressional hearings, I examine the rhetoric of legislators and stakeholder witnesses concerning the use of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) by middle-class whites. Building on the social construction literature, I use social identity theory to demonstrate how legislators within Congressional hearings create in- and out-groups in order to categorize different drug users and dealers. My analysis of Congressional hearing language concerning white MDMA use demonstrates that Congressional speakers use rhetoric to convince committee members and the wider public that middle-class, white drug users are different from drug users of color and that the appropriate policy response is education and treatment rather than punishment. My findings highlight how middle-class, white drug users are characterized differently from drug users of color, providing further evidence that U.S. drug policy has historically favored middle-class, white drug users

Criminology · Drug education · Middle class · Political science · Politics · Psychiatry · Public relations · Punishment (psychology) · Rhetoric · Sociology · Substance abuse · White (mutation) · Crime, Deviance, and Social Control · Law · Psychedelics and Drug Studies · Psychology · Social Psychology · Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes

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