The Culture of Recreational Psychedelic Drug Use in College-Age Adults: A Narrative Analysis
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Authors
Bliss, Brita Elizabeth
Issue Date
2012
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
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Abstract
Research on psychedelic drug use is reemerging after it stopped abruptly when the drugs
were made illegal in the 1960s and 1970s. Many recent researchers have focused explicitly
on the drug use of college-age adults and implicitly on the illegality of the drugs by
emphasizing the importance of harm prevention. The purpose of the present study is to
give recreational psychedelic drug users a chance to describe their experiences in their
own words. Interviews were conducted with 13 college-age adults (M = 20.3 years) in
order to analyze the nature of present day recreational drug use and how the drug users
integrate their drug experiences into their life-narratives and identities. By interpreting a
cultural model of recreational drug use and the personal myths of the participants, the
results of the present study demonstrate that recreational drug users have effectively
normalized their drug use by establishing criteria for "good" and "bad" drugs, emphasizing
the responsible nature of their drug use, and reiterating the enjoyable experiences and
enhanced social bonds elicited by their drug use.
Description
vi, 131 p.
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License
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