Research Papers

This multi-part Anthropology of Drugs project examines the cultural, political, and historical forces shaping drug use and drug narratives in the United States, moving from Albuquerque’s newly legalized cannabis culture to the structural violence of the War on Drugs and the propaganda roots of anti-drug ideology. The centerpiece of the project is an ethnographic study of how recreational cannabis has been woven into Albuquerque’s social landscape following New Mexico’s 2021 legalization. Conducted at Bloom Social Lounge in Nob Hill and Lazy Daze Coffee Shop and Cannabis Lounge, the study draws on approximately ten hours of participant observation, multiple interviews, and a targeted media analysis of local marketing and branding. These findings show how legalization has transformed cannabis from a private or taboo behavior into a normalized part of community life, generating new rituals, consumer identities, and shared social spaces. Interviews reveal how seniors, creatives, first-time users, and long-time consumers now navigate cannabis in ways that blend wellness, recreation, and social belonging, while policy shifts such as home delivery and zoning laws actively reshape how cannabis is incorporated into daily routines.

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To contextualize these contemporary practices, the project incorporates a critical analysis of Eugene Jarecki’s The House I Live In, which exposes the human cost of mandatory minimum sentencing, criminalization, and systemic inequity. Your essay connects Jarecki’s portraits of Camden residents to Philippe Bourgois’s writing on structural violence, showing how poverty, job loss, and racialized policing created the conditions in which drug markets—and their subsequent punishment—flourished. Your reflection emphasizes how criminalizing addiction harms communities more than the drugs themselves, advocating instead for public-health approaches grounded in care and harm reduction.

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To trace the historical roots of drug stigma, the project includes a media content analysis of Reefer Madness (1936), unpacking how the film used exaggerated imagery, moral panic, and sensationalist rhetoric to paint cannabis as a corrupting force. Your analysis shows how early propaganda shaped decades of fear-based drug policy, influenced the Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, and laid groundwork for later movements like “Just Say No.” Through evaluating the film’s visual metaphors, language, and production context—including its ties to church groups, enforcement lobbies, and state power—you highlight how media and politics work together to construct the moral economy of drug perception.

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Across all components, the project demonstrates that drug culture is never simply about substances—it is shaped by law, media, economics, social ritual, and community identity. By combining ethnography, media analysis, historical context, and personal reflection, this project presents a layered portrait of how drugs are understood, regulated, and lived. It showcases your ability to weave together lived experience, scholarly frameworks, and cultural critique to illuminate how narratives of drugs and drug users are constructed, challenged, and transformed over time.