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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