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March 2009

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Subject:
From:
David Trippel <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Alcohol and Drugs History Society <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 10 Mar 2009 22:34:13 -0500
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On the Scottish issue -
Here's the Scottish government's new ‘Framework for Action on Alcohol'
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/02/27151352/0
Here's about the doctors support of it
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/140765.php
and retailers protesting it
http://www.talkingretail.com/news/industry-news/12260-retailer-slam- 
scottish-alcohol-plan.html

On the addiction studies issue -
Of the 270 or so "Categories" in the right-hand column of the ADHS  
website (albeit most are countries and substances), there are (I  
think, correctly) only 3 that nominally have to do with addiction  
(those 3 all start with the letter "a"), if you count Temperance that  
would make 4 topics.  While this may just be a nominal feature, it  
seems the Social History of Alcohol and Drugs does not substantively  
incline towards "addiction" or "problems" or "control".  A survey of  
the saved entries could prove this wrong, but that may be evidence of  
media bias, not ADHS blog editing biases.

 From within, the SHAD (and ADHS) discipline (research and teaching)  
seems influenced in the direction of an "addiction", "problems", or  
"control" overview by ideological preferences, accepting  
historiographical biases, addiction treatment beliefs, and getting  
WOD funding.

 From without, It seems growth of the SHAD discipline is influenced  
by material from various related disciplines including those  
mentioned before such as medicine, biology, psychology, political  
science, government, economics, religion, literature, as well as  
sociology and history.

But there are also fields that don't come to mind as quickly that  
produce SHAD related material as research and teaching "intrude on"  
them, too, to use Robin's phrase, such as philosophy, marketing,  
business, retailing, wholesaling, international studies, various art  
disciplines, music, food sciences, agriculture, and chemistry.  I  
wonder how many academics or professionals are members of this list  
who properly "intrude" into these areas?

Here are three topics I find interesting:
1 - How SHAD weathers the various forces influencing it as it grows.
2 - Discovering and understanding the historiographical biases of the  
past and present SHAD.
3 - Deconstructing socially prevalent ideologies around alcohol and  
drugs, both past and present.

Dave

On Mar 9, 2009, at 4:37 AM, Robin G W Room wrote:

> Dear Alan --
>    I'm sympathetic with your general line, but you veer off-course  
> concerning
> the new minimum pricing initiative in Scotland. the best evidence  
> is that a
> higher price pushes down the amount of drinking by those who are  
> very heavy
> drinkers or addicted at least as much as it pushes down drinking by  
> light
> drinkers.  The idea that addiction is so strong that of course  
> price will have
> no effect is attractive but, on balance, wrong.
>    As for the place of an alcohol and drug subspecialty in standard  
> academic
> disciplines, we are indeed marginal to all -- from sociology and  
> economics to
> psychiatry and biology.  Literary studies is just one more in this  
> crowd.
> Kettil Bruun, an alcohol/drug sociologist, once remarked that this  
> opened great
> opportunities for us as researchers -- we could intrude on other  
> disciplines'
> territories without them feeling affronted.  I myself have taken the
> opportunity along the way, for instance, to revisit literary  
> studies (a field I
> was in through an MA) to write about the famous generation of
> American "literary drunks", and so on, without encountering complaint.
>     But I recognise this is easier to do if you embark on a career  
> in the "soft
> money" grant-writing mode, or can get a "hard-money" research job  
> in the field,
> than if you are seeking a teaching job defined around a  
> department's teaching
> needs.
>     Besides the shared stigma with the clients, the problem is that
> alcohol/drug problems fall between the cracks of the major  
> professions and
> social institutions in western societies.
>      Robin
>
>
> On 2009-03-08, at 13:35, Alan Joyce wrote:
>>
>> Dear Michael &  John,
>> This marginalisation of  'addiction studies' also impacts on the  
>> medical and
>> related 'caring professions'  with GP's in the UK who work with  
>> drug and
>> alcohol users frequently incurring  the unwarranted disciplinary  
>> attentions
> of the
>> General Medical Council, the  odium of their peer's and fellow  
>> professionals.
>> Sadly the  marginalisation of drug and alcohol users is reflected  
>> in the
>> marginalisation of  those who work with them and- script- them.
>> In the early 2000's for  an all too fleeting, brief and heady  
>> period that saw
>> the creation of the  National Treatment Agency, the recognition of  
>> 'service
>> user', drug user advocacy  and other user/carer groups, it  
>> appeared that
> health
>> and harm reduction would  finally be brought in from the cold and  
>> form the
>> axis around which UK Gov drug  and alcohol policy (albeit the  
>> alcohol policy
> was
>> very much an after thought-  tacked on late in the day) - would turn.
>> Groups such as the  'Substance Misuse Management in General  
>> Practice' working
>> party started to  train, support and create an ethos where drug  
>> and alcohol
>> treatment formed part  of general practice and 'normal' health  
>> care. One
> could-
>> ideally- get ones  methadone script from your family GP at the  
>> same time as
>> getting treatment for  other health problems. It looked like  
>> users, carer's,
> &
>> drug and alcohol  treatment would finally be released from the  
>> ghetto's to
>> which they (post Brain  2) had been consigned.
>> Sadly & in my view  tragically this proved to be a false dawn as  
>> drug and
>> alcohol policy became  increasingly subordinated to the criminal
> justice/social
>> 'engineering' agenda's  of the day as compassion fatigue set in and
> politicians
>> and rather un-civil  servants found- to their surprise- that  
>> methadone was no
>> panacea for grinding  poverty, economic and educational  
>> marginalisation,
>> teenage pregnancy, rising  levels of poly drug(notably crack,  
>> cocaine ) and
>> alcohol use, homelessness  & the blight of post Friedmanite  
>> economic theology
> that
>> persists to  this day.
>> The multitude were  becoming increasingly intoxicated and the  
>> spectre of the
>> horde becoming truly  revolting- as well as increasingly  
>> 'repugnant'- stalked
>> the ruling caste &  all who suckled at the manifold teats of the  
>> global
>> leviathan.
>> Anxiety's about the  'emergent' under class, the benefit prole's,  
>> became
>> increasingly evident and  political, media, social and other  
>> commentary from
> the
>> ruling caste betrayed not  only anxieties but a deep loathing-  
>> disgust-
> hatred-
>> for this 'newly discovered'  urban poor.(The rural poor were  
>> 'discovered' a
>> little later).
>> The media simulacrum  created a land where crime and criminality was
>> everywhere- no street-no home- no  car- no property- no person-  
>> was safe from
> the
>> avarice of the non working  poor.
>> Further- the children of this new 'caste' of 'ZEK's were a demon   
>> brood-
>> muggers, violent, illiterate, druggies, hoodies, knife wielding,
>> 'shameless',(currently one of the best UK TV drama's- and one that  
>> re-
> humanises  those who
>> have been de-humanised)- they epitomised everything that caused   
>> the middle
>> classes and all 'decent' people fear, anxiety, loathing &   
>> distress. Sadly it
> seems
>> that Marcuse's maxim - that crime was a form of  resistance to  
>> colonisation
>> by Capital- albeit one without 'class consciousness'-  was forgotten.
>> What's more in a society where conspicuous consumption  (Thorstien  
>> Veblan?)
>> reigned supreme & celebrity 'culture' was the great  levelleras  
>> well as the
>> lifestyle to which we all should aspire, the  'new' poor wanted it  
>> all and
> wanted
>> it now! Deferred gratification- simply not  possible on a minimum
>> income-could be dispensed with- 'take what you want-take  what you  
>> need- &
> wait for no
>> one' . Need a flash car- why not take one- no  need for keys-just  
>> a sprung
>> centre punch and that BMW is yours for the  taking.
>> In response to these anxieties a whole raft of  legislation was  
>> enacted
>> against the new 'enemy within'. The Prime Ministers son  found drunk,
> disheveled &
>> disorderly in Trafalgar Square makes headline news  but gets a  
>> police car
>> 'taxi ride' home. A child born of lower parentage could  expect no  
>> such
> tender
>> mercy- instead the evil spawn of the new poor could expect  a drug  
>> test,
> an 'Anti
>> Social Behaviour Order', Drug Treatment & Testing  orders, and the  
>> full
>> majesty of the law to be applied to every minutiae of their  waking,
> sleeping,
>> lives.
>> The children of the Elite- the likes of David Cameron,  Oliver  
>> Letwin, et-al-
>> could run amok in Oxbridge restaurants- buying the  acquiescence and
>> complicity of the restaurant owners, abused minimum waged  staff-  
>> etc- with -
>> literally- showers of cash as they quaffed champagne, took   
>> cocaine, and
> prepared for
>> a life in politics and power.(Allegedly of  course).
>> Such behaviour on the part of the ruling elite, of the  celebrity  
>> culture,
>> was hi-jinks and jolly japes- good for a media story or three  but  
>> no cause
> for
>> hand wringing, existential angst, or legislative  might.
>> But as for the children of those living in 'social  housing',  
>> those whose
>> parents, parents were the unemployed of Thatchers brave  new  
>> Britain, whose
>> parents were the children of that generation of the  dispossessed,  
>> this was a
> cause
>> for crimminalisation and concern. So we have seen  over the past  
>> decade the
>> 'crimminalisation' of childhood, childhood is a problem  to be  
>> controlled,
>> cajoled, managed, teenagers a threat to be monitored,  contained and
> constrained,
>> clinically and socially pathologised.
>> Surplus to the requirements of Globalisation and  transnational  
>> Capital these
>> children of the poor are unwanted- of no value and  therefore  
>> deemed to be
>> valueless- to have no values- amoral- these kids were  'feral' and  
>> merited
>> treating as such. This much the media pundits, the  academic's and  
>> their
> political
>> masters could agree upon- what small comforts the  new lumpen  
>> prole's could
>> enjoy- cheap booze- fags-heroin-cheap cocaine-cannabis-  was  
>> something 'they'
> (
>> do I mean the ruling caste or the prole poor?) could not  afford  
>> nor allow.
>> So we have seen the revival of the same old litany &  demonology  
>> of old- the
>> 'Crack Epidemic', the 'Junky Scum', 'The Brew Crew', all  are  
>> redolent of the
>> 'whorey' old mythology of past times- when demon Gin was  'Mothers  
>> Ruin' and
>> opium just a habit- but one that the ruling caste with their   
>> ether kits,
>> silver syringes and morphine, afternoon teas for the 'lady's who   
>> lunch',
> could be
>> indulged in but one that spelt peril & ruination for the   
>> Victorian poor.
>> Berridge and Edwards study of opium use in 19th century England  is
> illuminating-
>> the intrepid investigative reporters who ventured into the   
>> 'fenlands' of
> East
>> Anglia, the public houses of the East End of London where the   
>> cheapest beer
>> was one potentiated with opium, have an uncanny resemblance to  
>> the  reportage
>> of the 'dirty' habits and 'vices' of the modern day poor.
>> Well- that's gone somewhat off topic and I've - in the  words of  
>> Nietzsche :
>> "Forgotten my umbrella"- that is the thrust of what I  intended to  
>> convey- so
>> I'll call it a day- and sign off by sounding my alarm at  the  
>> folly of the
> new
>> Scottish Governments policy of Alcohol related Harm  Reduction by  
>> pricing.
>> Why my alarm- the idea- as I understand it- is to link  the price  
>> of alcohol
>> directly to it's 'strength' per UK measure. SO a 500 ml can  of  
>> 'Carlsberg
>> Special Brew' (despite it's association with the poor it is   
>> rumoured to have
>> been made for Churchill & was a favoured 'tipple' of this  well  
>> known boozer)-
>
>> which contains 4.5 UK units of alcohol will attract a higher   
>> 'levy' than a
> 500
>> ml can of "Carlsberg Lager" which has about 2 UK units per  can.
>> The theory being that this will compel the urban and  rural poor  
>> who favour
>> strong alcohol and are therefore at greater risk of  alcohol  
>> related harm to
>> modify there alcohol use and induce them to drink weaker  &  
>> cheaper booze &
>> brands.
>> Sadly- I fear that such measures will see those most at  risk and  
>> those
>> already alcohol dependent re-prioritise their budgets- with their   
>> favourite
> tipple
>> coming ahead of such trivial needs such as food, heating, rent,   
>> energy
>> bills, clothing, health, etc.
>> As for the 'binge drinking masses' - if they can afford  to drink  
>> 'out on the
>> town & tiles' then they will continue to be able to do  so- de- 
>> facto- they
>> are not the lumpen prole- but those who are relatively  privelaged  
>> to be in
>> waged or even well paid- employment- either that or they are   
>> pretty good at
> crime
>> with the attendant risks 'coming with the  job's".
>> I'm not aware of any evidence base that suggests pricing  per unit  
>> will
>> reduce alcohol related harm- indeed I suspect it may serve to   
>> aggravate it
> as the
>> cost of booze prohibits expenditure on a decent diet and  other  
>> things that
> in
>> themselves serve to reduce the harm of alcohol and/or other  drug  
>> use.
>> Best wishes: Alan Joyce.
>
>
>> Michael,
>> I concur with the wisdom already expressed on this point.  What  
>> you are
>> missing is this: Alcohol and Addiction Studies does NOT share the
> respectability
>> of what might be called Diversity Studies, the political  
>> correctness of
> which
>> more or less guarantees space at professional conferences and in  
>> hiring
>> pools.  Nor does our field qualify as “Identity Scholarship,” another
> approved
>> approach.   During the heyday of DIONYSOS, the MLA  consistently  
>> rejected any
>> and all proposed panels in A&AS; perhaps it still  does.   
>> Certainly I would
> not
>> advise a new PhD in English to come out  nakedly and solely in our  
>> field.   It
>> ’s prudent to regard doing  A&AS – at least in an English  
>> department -- as a
>> post-tenure luxury.  The reasons for this situation are well worth
>> considering, but they are,  unfortunately, among those things in  
>> academe (and
> elsewhere)
>> currently filed  under “mum’s the word”: not to be spoken of out  
>> loud in
>> public, candor being  potentially hazardous to one’s professional  
>> health.
> For
>> the sake of  younger scholars and of our field, I sincerely hope  
>> I’ve gone a
>> little paranoid  in these remarks, that I’ve bleakly overstated  
>> the case.  I
>> welcome  contrary testimony.
>> John W.  Crowley
>>
>>
>> ____________________________________
>>
>> From: Alcohol  and Drugs History Society  
>> [mailto:[log in to unmask]
>> (mailto:[log in to unmask]) ] On Behalf Of Michael Carolan
>> Sent: Tuesday, March 03, 2009 9:37 AM
>>
>>
>>
>> To: [log in to unmask] (mailto:[log in to unmask])
>> Subject: Re: literary  drinking
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> As a new member of the  forum (and, believe it or not, a former  
>> student of
>> Professor Wedge’s), I  appreciate all the recommendations of  
>> creative work in
>> here. I wanted to share  what a veteran professor had to say about  
>> the field
> in
>> a professional  recommendation he wrote for me recently after I  
>> developed
>> addiction studies  courses at UMass:
>> “Addiction is an area  of study not unlike African American  
>> studies or Native
>> American studies, and  possibly all the more relevant not least  
>> because it
>> not yet an established area  of study.”
>> As I enter the severely  shrunken academic job market, I am left  
>> wondering
>> why all I see are openings for  minority, third world, gay and  
>> lesbian
> studies
>> but none for alcohol, mental  illness, and/or addiction? Am I missing
>> something?
>> With deep  respect,
>> Michael  Carolan
>>
>>



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