RT Article
T1 Becoming a prescription pill smoker: revisiting Becker
JF Criminology & criminal justice
VO 17
IS 3
SP 340
OP 355
A1 Pawson, Mark 1964-
A2 Kelly, Brian C.
A2 Parsons, Jeffrey T.
A2 Wells, Brooke E.
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1741013089
AB The academic literature detailing escalations in pre-existing substance use practices is primarily understood through a biomedical lens, which situates drug escalation as a result of increases in biological markers like drug tolerance and dependence. This article seeks to frame the escalation of prescription drug misuse within a paradigm that situates drug use as a dynamic and interactional learning process shaped by set and setting. The data drawn upon for this article are derived from 41 qualitative interviews of young adults (aged 18-29 years) socially active in nightlife scenes who reported engaging in smoking prescription painkillers, sedatives, or stimulants. Results highlight how theories of drug use as a deviant behavior that is socially learned can be stretched beyond explaining patterns of initiation to also address the escalation of pre-existing drug use behaviors as users’ transition from one route of administration to another.
K1 Deviance
K1 Drug escalation
K1 Prescription drug
K1 Social learning
DO 10.1177/1748895816677570