11.6 Chapter Summary
Kelly Szott
Drug use is often mistakenly identified as a social problem in and of itself. This chapter has shown that it is the consequences of some forms of drug use (and often by certain groups of people) that can be constructed as problems. The problems that arise from drug use must be solved collectively because they have structural roots.
Structural racism and class inequality drive different outcomes for people who use drugs. White rich people are more likely to be perceived as having a medical condition that needs treatment. They are also more likely to access effective treatment. People of Color and poor people are more likely to be seen as criminals and receive punishment. They are much less likely to have access to effective treatment. It’s not the use of drugs that’s the social problem—it’s the deep injustice in the consequences of the behavior that is the social problem.
What is considered a harmful drug, and thus, must be outlawed, is constantly changing. This is demonstrated by the recent decriminalization of the possession of small amounts of drugs in Oregon. We must wrestle with defining drug use as legal or illegal, moral or immoral, individual or social.
Structural inequality combined with drug policy that creates avoidable harm from drug use. Social justice for people who have substance use disorder includes changing the laws, policies and practices related to harmful drug use. It includes increasing funding for effective community and inpatient treatment and services, particularly in rural communities. And it includes addressing the generational problems of racism and poverty reflected in the disproportionality of both the assignment of criminality and access to treatment.
Essential Ideas
Learning Objective 1: How can we describe drug use and misuse as a social problem?
Harmful drug use is a social problem because it affects different groups of people in different ways. People differ on whether they consider drug use a moral, psychological or structural problem. They disagree on what to do, reflecting a conflict in values. Our ideas about legal and illegal drug use, and the consequences of that harmful drug use are socially constructed. Finally, taking action to expand justice requires individuals to take action to pursue recovery and collective action by people in our society to change drug laws, support harm reduction programs, fund drug treatment, and fight racism. These interdependent actions increase social justice for people who use drugs in harmful ways.
Learning Objective 2: How does social location impact the experience of harmful drug use?
We see disproportionality and disparity when we examine the outcomes of harmful drug use based on race and ethnicity. Whites are disproportionately less represented in prison and jail populations. Black, Brown, and Indigenous people are disproportionately more represented in prison and jail populations. The reasons for this disparity include racist policing and