The Power of Place
Michelle Newhart, William Ford Dolphin
September 3, 2018 DOI: 10.4324/9780429450464-8 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper |
|---|---|
| Key points | Argues that the setting component of drug, set, and setting theory is more complex than a social-versus-solo binary: patients medicalize cannabis use through their own practices and lifeworld logic rather than medical advice, physical settings mark medicalization, and life course itself acts as a setting that shapes how midlife use differs from teen recreational use. |
Abstract
Chapter 7: The Power of Place: Changes to Setting continues the discussion of the drug, set, and setting theory, from chapters 4 and 5, examining how “setting” changes between recreational and medical uses of cannabis. The chapter begins with the simple difference in settings when use is social versus solo, a differentiation often used as a proxy for recreational or medical use. However, factors complicate this binary. We review how patients define medical use differently, which is partly connected to their own use practices. Patients typically learn about cannabis and “medicalize” their use independent of specific medical advice. Examples show how patients use lifeworld logic of therapeutic effectiveness, which may not match the logic of medical systems. Changes to the physical setting for cannabis use are also important for marking its medicalization. This chapter closes with a consideration of how ‘life course’ itself is a setting that transforms cannabis use. Midlife entails different roles and settings that teen life. Using cannabis at midlife is embedded differently into one&s;s relationships and activities and leads to different perceptions than teen recreational use.