Controlling Drug Use

This article suggests that society can reduce drug-related harms by encouraging responsible, healthy drug use. To this end, drug users themselves should be included in conversations about drugs. Though drug users have historically developed and disseminated norms and traditions that have helped people control their drug use, their voices have generally been excluded from the dominant discourse on drugs. Often, they are relegated to the status of objects to be studied, cured, or punished. This results from the war making approach to drugs, characterized by attempts to eliminate certain drugs identified by authorities as dangerous. Instead, peacemaking theory suggests that responsible drug use can be encouraged through open conversations that include everyone willing to share.