The Social Re-Construction of Marijuana

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

As the US population rapidly approves medical marijuana state-by-state, and the movement to legalize marijuana for recreational use continues to expand, community members are re-constructing their concept of this once maligned drug. During a time of changing drug policy, our understanding of addiction as a disease shapes the construction of marijuana as medicine, and old constructions of “reefer madness” and other flawed theories are hard to dispel. Many politicians and law enforcement claim marijuana is a “gateway drug” and publicly oppose legalization. The marijuana user is currently changing from an illegitimate role to a legitimate role for some (medical marijuana patients; adult users) but not for others. Entertainment and social media consistently mock legitimate users as “potheads” or “stoners.” In this poster we examine how marijuana is perceived by community stakeholders during rapid policy change with the goal to better understand the social re-construction of marijuana use and users. We use ethnographic field methods and in-depth interviews to reveal how perspectives of this drug are changing. We find that marijuana, like addiction, has always had a somewhat conflicting conceptual construction that presents a dilemma for a smooth re-construction of this drug and its users.

Author

• Miriam Boeri, Bentley University