Drugs, Leisure, Consumption and Harm

• In Event: Deviant Leisure: Consuming Harm

Abstract

Whether drug use is normalised or remains a deviant activity remains heavily contested, but what is known is the array of pharmacological substances has increased exponentially to include a diverse range of pharmacological products (e.g. traditional illicit drugs, NPS, PIEDS, fake meds, alcohol, tobacco, vaping, prescription and over the counter medications). People's psychoactive repertoires in pursuit of leisure and pleasure have diversified to include increasingly harmful substances that are used in increasingly harmful combinations not only across diverse leisure spaces, but increasingly, as part of people's everyday lives. Drugs have become an integral part of surviving, and excelling, in contemporary society. A society characterised by hyper-consumption, competitive narcissistic individualism, inequality, cynicism, objectless anxiety and insecurity. This presentation examines the use of substances in the current system of Capitalist neo-liberalism and the accompanying contradictory messages surrounding drugs that although prohibited, are used to promote and market desirable products that support Capital Consumption and ultimately the commodification of harm.

Author

• Tammy Ayres, University of Leicester