Wouters, M., Fountain, J. & Korf, D. J. (Hrsg.) (2012). The meaning of high. Variations according to drug, set, setting and time. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers.

Editorial board: Prof. Dr. Tom Decorte, Prof. Jane Fountain, PD Dr. Ludwig Kraus, Prof. Dr. Dirk J. Korf and Assistant Professor Marije Wouters.

		One of the major theoretical and empirical challenges in social drug research is to capture and understand the variety of meanings attached to taking drugs and to being intoxicated. The purpose of this book is to further those research efforts. The central theme is the meaning of high and the authors address this from different professional perspectives, using different methods and different samples. The result is a kaleidoscopic picture. No single generic meaning of high emerges, but a whole range of meanings come under scrutiny. All the authors of this volume help to build a better understanding of the meaning of high, but whereas some are mainly interested in fundamental biomedical questions or in contributing to theory development in the social sciences, others want to give a voice to particular groups of drug users. These varying perspectives also echo, some more explicitly than others, differing viewpoints on the relationship between research and policy.
D. J. Korf: A kaleidoscope of meanings: An introduction A. Springer: High strategies Fruszina Iszaj, Bea Ehmann & Zsolt Demetrovics: The effects of psychedelic substances on artistic creation Antonis Katsouros & Maria Eirini Papadouka: Variations in the discursive contruction of drug use Cameron Adams: Medicine, healing, and psychedelics Robert Teltzrow & Oliver G Bosch: Ecstatic anaesthesia: ketamine and GHB between medical use and self-experimentation  Tom Decorte: Functional meaning and negative effects of drug use and alcohol use among female sex workers in Belgium Philip Bean: Street prostitution and drug taking Paula Mayock & Mary-Louise Corr: Themeaning of drug use among homeless young people: a longitudinal pathways analysis Charlotte N E Tompkins & Nat M J Wright: ´I wanted a head change´- motivations and influences on men´s illicit drug using practices in prison Gary R Potter & Aleksandra Osiniagova: Getting ´high´from crime: Psychological aspects to the drug-crime connection ESSD_2012_Flyer

Fountain, J., Asmussen Frank, V. & Korf, D. J. (Eds.) (2011). Markets, methods and messages. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers.

Editorial board: Prof. Dr. Tom Decorte, Prof. Dr. Jane Fountain, Prof. Dr. Dirk J. Korf and PD Dr. Ludwig Kraus

		Messages in the mass media shed light on how people are thinking about drugs, and they also both reflect and influence policies on drugs. However, that is by no means saying that media messages are a true representation of drug users´ and suppliers´ own experiences and perceptions. Here lies one of the critical problems of drug policy: the issue of which methods and messages will be most effective in managing the drug market. Markets, methods and messages are the three central themes of this book, with a focus on Europe. Authors include social scientists from a range of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology and criminology. In reporting on their systematic research on drug use, drug users and drug suppliers, some authors address one of the themes, others a combination. Together, their contributions illustrate the dynamic nature of drug markets, messages about drugs, and methods of investigation the world of drug users and suppliers.
D. J. Korf: Psychedelic musicians, Muslim dealers and domestic marijuana growers: an introduction A. Springer: Taking drugs to make music to take drugs to? A. Roy: Race, place, religion and drug supply T. Surmont, F. Vander Laenen & B. De Ruyver: Finding respondents in local marihuana markets G. R. Potter & C. Chatwin: Researching cannabis markets online: some lessons from the virtual field R. Coomber: Using the internet for qualitative research on drug users and drug markets: the pros, the cons and the progress U. Solber, R. Sedefov & P. Griffiths: Developing a sound methodology to monitor the online availability of „new drugs/legal highs“ M. Hellman: Finnish press narratives on drug addiction at different times during 1968-2006: role divisions and their inherent responsibility allocation J. Demant, S. Ravn & A. M. Lyager Kaae: The glamour makes the difference. Discourses on cocaine, amphetamine, and ecstasy in Danish media

Decorte, T. & Fountain, J.(Eds.) (2010). Pleasure, pain and profit. European perspectives on drugs. Lengerich: Pabst Science Publishers.

Editorial board: Prof. Dr. Tom Decorte, Prof. Dr. Jane Fountain, Prof. Dr. Dirk J. Korf and PD Dr. Ludwig Kraus

Dedicated to Patrick McCrystal

Dirk J. Korf: Pains, pleasures and profits in the lives of drug users and drug dealers: an introduction

Patrick Karlsson: Alternatives to the deficit model of adolescent drug use

Tom Decorte & Marjolein Muys: Tipping the balance. A longitudinal study of perceived ‘pleasures’ and ‘pains’ of cocaine use (1997-2009)

Zsolt Demetrovics: Opiate addiction: balancing pain and pleasure

Jason Farrell: Risk behaviours: illicit pleasures by any means

Esben Houborg: Regulating intoxication and disciplining pleasure

Cas Barendregt, Barbara van Straaten & Elske Wits: Meaning of life among former homeless substance users

Ton Nabben: Cops and dogs against party drugs

Gary R. Potter: You reap what you sow. Profit, pleasure and pain in domestic cannabis cultivation

To better understand the frequent failures to achieve the drug policy goals of supply and demand reduction, we need more clarity about the motives and mechanisms of drug use and drug dealing. Much of the emphasis in social and political discourse, and in research publications, is on the pains that drug users may experience in the form of physical and mental health problems, social exclusion and marginalisation.

This book, which concentrates on Europe, does not overlook these issues, but the contributors also try to understand the pleasures that drug users are seeking from drugs, such as the positive psychoactive effects they feel, the positive meanings they attach to drugs and the interventions made to improve their quality of life. The profits that accrue from the drugs trade (dealing and production) are also examined – not only the economic profits, but also the more intangible or social rewards obtained from these activities.
Download order form: click here