Author Archives: Taz.Karim

New ADTSG Chair

Dear members,

After four years of service to our group as ADTSG chair, it is finally time to hand off the torch. I am so proud of the things we have accomplished during this time including the launch of our new website and twitter, four student paper prizes, and over a dozen conference panels. All of this could not have been possible without the help of our incredible members. I would like to also give special thanks to my vice-chair, Roland Moore, as well as  Juliet Lee, Kristen Ogilvie, and Gil Quintero for their service and mentorship.

Moving forward, we are excited to welcome Shana Harris who will be taking over as ADTSG chair this year. Shana has been an active and contributing member of ADTSG for many years and I have no doubt she will do a stand-up job in this position. Here are a few words from her:

I think I speak for the group when I say that I am sad to see Taz step down as the Chair of the Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco Study Group after four years of excellent work.  Although Taz will no longer be leading the group, I am excited and honored to be taking over the Chair position in the coming year.  I look forward to working with all of you to continue making ADTSG a productive, supportive community of scholars. 

All the best,
Shana”

I encourage each of you to reach out to Shana at adtstudgroup@gmail.com with any questions or words of support as she takes on this exciting role. Thanks again and have a wonderful spring semester!

Signing off,
Taz Daniels

Call for Papers – Journal of Ethnicity and Substance Abuse

Call for Papers –a special issue on anthropological contributions

To be published in the Journal of Ethnicity and Substance Abuse

As a member of the editorial board of this Journal, I am recruiting anthropological researchers to submit original articles for a special issue for the above mentioned peer reviewed Journal of Ethnicity and Substance Abuse, around since 1986.  Clearly the subject matter should address ethnicity and substance abuse.  While quantitative analysis is wholly acceptable, it is expected that the weight of the evidence will be communicated through ethnography.

While I cannot affirm the peer reviewers, by name, the following members of the editorial board may be approached for review of some of the articles:    Phillippe Bourgois, Dwight Heath, Mac Marshall, Merrill Singer and Joe Westermeyer.

If you are contemplating submission or have any questions, please be in touch by February 1, 2016.   Deadline and details regarding style and form to follow.  Approximately 5000 words.

Sincerely,

Andrew J. Gordon, Associate Professor

Anthropology Program

University of Houston

agordon3@uh.edu

AAA 2015 meetings in Denver

Hello everyone,

We are coming up on that time of year again. The AAA meetings! The ADTSG business meeting will be on Friday November 20, 2015: 7:45 PM-9:00 PM in 110 Colorado Convention Center. It will be a relatively short meeting, followed by dinner and drinks (location TBD). We will be discussing plans for next years AAA meetings, as well as reviewing the proposal for a policy statement on Cannabis. If you have not yet reviewed the proposal, please take a look here. If you are unable to attend the meetings, you can send comments on the proposal to  adtstudygroup@gmail.com.

Here is a list of some more events that might strike your fancy.

3-0225 HIGH STAKES: MARIJUANA, ETHNOGRAPHY, AND AMERICAN GEOGRAPHIES OF RISK Thursday, November 19, 2015: 8:00 AM-9:45 AM

3-1340 AT “HOME” IN THE FIELD: PROXIMITY AND PERSPECTIVES IN ETHNOGRAPHIES OF DRUG USE (Roundtable) Thursday, November 19, 2015: 4:00 PM-5:45 PM

3-0515 FAMILIAR WEED, STRANGE NEW STATUS:  MEDICAL & RECREATIONAL MARIJUANA CONSUMPTION IN ETHNOGRAPHIC PERSPECTIVE Thursday, November 19, 2015: 10:15 AM-12:00 PM

4-0240 FAMILIAR OR STRANGE? CONVERGENCES AND DIVERGENCES IN NEWLY EMERGING REGULATED PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS  Friday, November 20, 2015: 8:00 AM-9:45 AM

4-1510 ADTSG OPEN BUSINESS MEETING & SOCIAL OUTING Friday, November 20, 2015: 7:45 PM-9:00 PM

5-1230 ADDICTIONS Saturday, November 21, 2015: 4:00 PM-5:45 PM

5-0930 MAKING SENSE OF MENTAL HEALTH AMIDST RISING RURAL SOCIAL INEQUALITY IN NORTH AMERICA: CLASS, RACE, AND IDENTITY IN TREATMENT-SEEKING Saturday, November 21, 2015: 1:45 PM-3:30 PM

See you in Denver!

2015 ADTSG Graduate Student Paper Prize

** please circulate widely**

Deadline: October 31, 2015 @ 5pm

The Alcohol, Drug, and Tobacco Study Group (ADTSG) of the Society for Medical Anthropology requests submissions for the best graduate student paper in the anthropology of alcohol, drugs, tobacco or similar substances. Qualifying submissions will be judged by a committee of ADTSG members.  The author of the winning paper will receive a cash award of $100 and her or his name will be announced in Anthropology News and at the Society for Medical Anthropology awards ceremony at the American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting in November. Submissions from all anthropological sub-disciplines are encouraged.

QUALIFYING CRITERIA

  • No more than 9,000 words
  • Must be based on original fieldwork and data
  • Must have been written in the past 12 months
  • Primary or first author must be a graduate student
  • Must be unpublished at the time of submission

JUDGEMENT CRITERIA

  • Originality of fieldwork and data
  • Richness of substantive or evidentiary materials
  • Clarity of anthropological methods
  • Linkage of work to anthropological literature
  • Effective use of theory and data
  • Organization, quality of writing, and coherence of argument
  • Contributions to anthropology of alcohol, drugs, tobacco or similar substances

SUBMISSION PROCESS

  • Please do not include your name or any identifying information in the paper itself
  • Papers must be double spaced and in PDF format (please include page numbers)
  • References should be formatted in the American Anthropologist style
  • Please submit an electronic copy to Tazin Daniels, chair of ADTSG at karimtaz@msu.edu
  • Submissions must be received by 5:00PM EST, October 31, 2015 for full consideration.

Questions may be directed to Tazin Daniels at the above email address. We look forward to your submissions!

ADTSG: Canibus Policy Statement Proposal – we need your input!

The following proposal has been posted as a google doc here. We invite you and the rest of the SMA community to contribute their input to the topics covered in this proposal by using the comment feature on the google doc. You may also add longer comments to the bottom of the document. Alternatively, you can send your thoughts via email to adtstudygroup@gmail.com. For more information about the SMA policy initiative, please visit: http://www.medanthro.net/policy/

Canibus Policy Statement Proposal

Amid rapid transformations in public opinion and governmental regulations concerning the medical and recreational consumption of Cannabis (i.e. Marijuana), there is a growing need for informed input from the scholarly community.  With expertise in comprehending tensions between different social groups, anthropologists interested in the health effects of marijuana can help to clarify the global discourse.  Thus, in preparing to draft a “Policy Statement on Cannabis” on behalf of the Society for Medical Anthropology, we are interested in soliciting ideas from SMA members regarding the crucial issues that are at stake in current debates about marijuana.  At this preliminary stage, the coordinators of this policy statement have drafted a list of topics that such a document should encompass:

History

(1) The history of Cannabis cultivation;

(2) consumption; and

(3) prohibition (i.e. in the U.S. this is linked to the stigmatization and marginalization of Latino and African-American groups among whom marijuana was a drug of choice in the 19th and 20th centuries);

Socio-Cultural Contexts

(4) Comparison of consumption patterns and legal regulations in different countries/societies;

(5) The importance of mind-set and social/environmental setting for perceived effects and/or significance of Cannabis (e.g. recreational vs. non-recreational contexts);

Health Science

(6) Cannabis, like other mind-altering substances, is not for everyone…i.e. for what types of people is Cannabis contraindicated?;

(7) Health hazards to adults include some lung risk, and risk of subtle, sub-clinical changes in cognitive function after extended use;

(8) Cannabis preparations are far more potent (in terms of delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol [THC] content – between 10 and 25% by weight presently) than that smoked by hippies in the 1960s (about 1%). On the other hand, most users seek the same kind of high – giggles, munchies and such – so dosage reflects that tendency;

(9) Psychomotor effects during acute intoxication make it unadvisable to operate any machinery under those effects;

(10) Other pharmacologically active components of Cannabis (e.g. cannabidiol) appear to have beneficial effects on certain conditions;

(11) The developmental processes in the human brain during adolescence, in which there is a natural winnowing of less useful circuitry, may be impaired by Cannabis use during adolescence.  It is advisable to prohibit use of Cannabis before drinking age;

(12) Many varieties of chronically painful conditions (e.g. rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, dwarfism, pain from war wounds or auto accidents) are mitigated effectively by use of Cannabis, and it has fewer side effects and carries less risk than the opioid analgesics (see Sanjay Gupta’s CNN “Weed” trilogy);

(13) We should drop all discussion of Cannabis as treatment for high intraocular pressure (causative factor in glaucoma). It is not nearly as effective or as convenient as the eye drops now available (e.g. Xalatan, Lumigan);

Political & Economic

(14) Emergent commercial and taxation opportunities of the “Green Rush” in new contexts of legalization (e.g. Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Alaska)

(15) The need for more academic research to counteract widespread propaganda and paranoia.

 We would appreciate any further comments or suggestions that fellow SMA members can provide either by editing the google document or emailing us at email adtstudygroup@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

  • J. Bryan Page (Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Miami);
  • Marc G. Blainey (Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto)
  • Tazin Daniels (Chair of ADTSG, Department of Anthropology, Michigan State University)

Please circulate: Last call for presenters on domestic drug ethnographies

**CALL FOR PRESENTERS**
American Anthropological Association Meetings
Denver, CO, December 18-22, 2015

At “Home” in the Field:
Proximity and Perspectives in Ethnographies of Drug Use

Positionality is an important concern for ethnographers of drug use, and takes on particular complexities when this research takes place ‘at home.’ They must navigate particular forms of proximity and distance – social, spatial, political economic, historical, affective, etcetera – which are continually transformed over the course of long-term ethnographic engagement. As the familiar is made strange, and the strange familiar, the ethical, political and personal stakes of our ethnographic encounters are often remade in revelatory – and at times heartbreaking – ways. In this round table, we invite presenters to offer a reflexive account of how ambiguous borders between ‘the field’ and ‘home’ can shape ethnographies of drug use, in order to better understand how anthropologists position themselves – and are positioned – in these complex exchanges. Topics might include:

  1. Participant observation/the consumption of drugs/proximity to crime
  2. Proximity to our interlocutors ‘outside of’ our study or ‘the field’
  3. The anthropologist as ‘insider,’ ‘outsider,’ or insider and outsider
  4. The role played by time (long term ethnographic engagement) in blurring the boundaries between ‘home’ and ‘the field,’ and/or ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’
  5. Moments of sea change or crisis in which the boundaries between ‘home’ and ‘the field,’ and/or ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ shift
  6. The personal stakes of our research

Please send 250-word abstracts to Tazin Daniels (karimtaz@msu.edu) and Danya Fast (dfast@cfenet.ubc.ca) by April 14, 2015. We will notify you of acceptance ASAP so you will have time to submit individually if necessary. We look forward to your contributions!

AAA 2015 Call for Presenters: Black Bodies Matter

blacklivesmatter

Dear ADTSG members,

During the special interest group (SIG) chairs meeting at the AAA meetings last year, a number groups that they wanted to put together a roundtable investigating a particular issue through the various lens of our SIGS. The topic they have selected is “Black Bodies Matter”. Below is a drafted abstract for the roundtable. If anyone in our membership is interested in representing our SIG in this event, please send me an email ASAP and I will get you in touch with the roundtable organizer. Also, if you know of anyone else who’s work and/or perspective would fit well into this session, please let me know.

-Taz
karimtaz@msu.edu

_________

2015 AAA Call for Presenters

In 2014 the reality of the differential treatment of persons of color by the police department became visible because of recent technologies that can videotape events as they occur. The response of the police may not be indicative of overt racism, (except in some specific locations especially since the election of the first African American President) but rather a deep seeded racism that is long standing in the United States. This visual reality led to demonstrations across the country. Unfortunately the assassination of two New York City police officers by a mentally disturbed individual has complicated the issues involved in the demonstrations that highlight the theme “Black Bodies Matter.” All bodies matter, but the outpouring of sympathy for the two innocent police officers underscores the differential responses that are given to the timely deaths of individuals of color.

Subsequently more killing of black bodies has occurred around the United States. Many of these killings have had limited press coverage. Demonstrations that have followed these killings also have received minimum coverage.

Medical anthropology has long been associated with research in various types of medical issues. However, researchers also has been concerned about ways in which their research can make visible the concerns and realities that hinder and impede life changes for individuals who are different rather in relation to health, ethnicity, race, gender, and habits. The Special Interests Groups of the Society of Medical Anthropology present ways in which the thought that “Black Bodies Matter” or perhaps non white bodies has not been brought to the forefront of change and reconciliation thus limiting the opportunities available to members of various  groups and an awareness of damage that has been reality in their lives.

Black bodies matter even when they are ill, disabled, young, old, pregnant, dying, have HIV, are infectious, have psychiatric impairments, are students, believe in alternative medicine, have substance abuse issues and live in various parts of the world. In this round table discussion a member of each of the special groups of the society for medical anthropology will open the discussion around specific issues that black bodies pose in relation to the to the focus of their special interest group.

2015 AAA CFP: Familiar or Strange? Considering Parallels and Divergences between Alcohol and Marijuana

Call For Papers – American Anthropological Association Meeting, November 18-22, 2015, Denver, CO

Familiar or Strange? Considering Parallels and Divergences between Alcohol and Marijuana

Please Respond by Sunday, April 12

Sponsored by the Alcohol, Drug, and Tobacco Study Group (ADTSG) of the Society for Medical Anthropology, we are organizing a session on the ways that the newly experienced legality of cannabis resembles and differs from alcohol. Our session abstract reads:

This panel explores the ways in which the strange new realm of marijuana regulation and industry draws on and differs from the familiar realm of alcohol control and production. Building on the shared history of ‘controlled’ to ‘regulated’, we consider the history and context of social and legal control as well as the expressions and realities of commodification of alcohol and cannabis. Anthropology has long demonstrated that systems of social control and regulation of drugs as well as other commodities are fluid, shifting temporally and embedded in particular historical, economic, and cultural contexts. The criminalization of marijuana in the United States has been documented, for instance, to represent a confluence in the early 1900s of the medicalization of health care, a racialized and xenophobic national discourse, and the temperance and prohibition movements. Alcohol, too, experienced a similar fate in the early 1900s, but was redeemed and reclassified due to the widespread dissent against and the unintended consequences of prohibition. Classified as a Schedule 1 drug under the U.S. Controlled Substances Act, cannabis use remains illegal under federal law. However, widespread acceptance of use, questions about its negative health consequences, and persistent criticism on the disparate implications of criminalization in the U.S. has led to growing popular dissent and state-level efforts for legalization. The cultural and legal shift of marijuana from an illicit to a regulated drug in some U.S. states then parallels the historical oscillations of the legality of alcohol with some important differences. As of 2015, 27 U.S. states have decriminalized or legalized cannabis possession and/or medical or recreational use. Four states have legalized the sale for recreational use and initiated regulation. As these states grapple with marijuana regulation in the face of legalization, the familiar domain of alcohol is helping shape the strange new legal commodity of cannabis. State governments, the emerging cannabis industry, and citizens alike in jurisdictions with legalization are drawing from alcohol regulation and industry as a model for this new legal commodity. State alcohol control boards are taking on the task of establishing commercial licensing practices, cannabis store fronts and advertising draw on alcohol marketing strategies, and consumers are adopting the language of a legalized but controlled substance. As we meet in Denver where recreational marijuana sales have been sanctioned legally, we shall reflect on these parallels and differences with ethnographic and anthropological lenses.

Please send an abstract (no longer than 250 words) to Kristen Ogilvie atogilvie@uaa.alaska.edu by the end of the day Sunday, April 12, 2015. Invitations to participate will be sent out on Monday, April 13, to allow for registration and abstract uploading on the AAA website by the deadline of 5PM EDT on Wednesday, April 15

2015 AAA Call for Presenters

**CALL FOR PRESENTERS**
American Anthropological Association Meetings
Denver, CO, December 18-22, 2015

At “Home” in the Field:
Proximity and Perspectives in Ethnographies of Drug Use

Positionality is an important concern for ethnographers of drug use, and takes on particular complexities when this research takes place ‘at home.’ They must navigate particular forms of proximity and distance – social, spatial, political economic, historical, affective, etcetera – which are continually transformed over the course of long-term ethnographic engagement. As the familiar is made strange, and the strange familiar, the ethical, political and personal stakes of our ethnographic encounters are often remade in revelatory – and at times heartbreaking – ways. In this round table, we invite presenters to offer a reflexive account of how ambiguous borders between ‘the field’ and ‘home’ can shape ethnographies of drug use, in order to better understand how anthropologists position themselves – and are positioned – in these complex exchanges. Topics might include:

  1. Participant observation/the consumption of drugs/proximity to crime
  2. Proximity to our interlocutors ‘outside of’ our study or ‘the field’
  3. The anthropologist as ‘insider,’ ‘outsider,’ or insider and outsider
  4. The role played by time (long term ethnographic engagement) in blurring the boundaries between ‘home’ and ‘the field,’ and/or ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’
  5. Moments of sea change or crisis in which the boundaries between ‘home’ and ‘the field,’ and/or ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ shift
  6. The personal stakes of our research

Please send 250-word abstracts to Tazin Daniels (karimtaz@msu.edu) and Danya Fast (dfast@cfenet.ubc.ca) by April 12, 2015. We will notify you of acceptance by April 13 so you will have time to submit individually if necessary. We look forward to your contributions!

 

ADTSG at 2015 SFAA Meetings in Pittsburgh, PA

pittsburghDear ADTSG members,

ADTSG will be participating in the 2015 Society for Applied Anthropology Conference this week from March 24-28 in Pittsburg, PA. Thursday, March 26 will be especially packed with activities related to our special interest group. Here is a breakdown of what’s in store:

ADTSG Organized Panel
(TH-92) THURSDAY 1:30-3:20 (Sternwheeler) Thinking about Drinking: Anthropologists in Alcohol Research, CHAIR: LEE, Juliet P. (PIRE)

  • OGILVIE, Kristen A. (UAA) Prostrate or Indispensable?: An Anthropologist’s Role on Multidisciplinary Alcohol Research Teams
  • ABRAHAM, Traci, CHENEY, Ann, CURRAN, Geoff, BOOTH, Brenda, and FRITH, Katherine (CAVHS) Cultural Constraints to Sobriety among Returning Reservists and National Guards Service Members
  • LABORDE, Nicole D. and VAN DER STRATEN, Ariane (RTI Int’l), STADLER, Jonathan (U Witwatersrand), MONTGOMERY, Elizabeth (RTI Int’l), MATHEBULA, Florence (U Witwatersrand,), and HARTMANN, Miriam (RTI Int’l) Narratives of Alcohol Use, Risk and Trial Participation in an HIV Prevention Trial in Johannesburg, South Africa
  • MOORE, Roland S. (PIRE), ROBERTS, Jennifer A. (SCTHC), LEE, Juliet P. (PIRE), LUNA, Juan A. (SCTHC), and GILDER, David A. (Scripps Rsch Inst) Interdisciplinary Alcohol Research in a Tribal Setting: Sovereignty, Capacity Building, and Anthropological Partnerships
  • BENNETT, Linda A. (U Memphis), MARSHALL, Mac (U Iowa), and AMES, Genevieve M. (Prev Rsch Ctr) Early 21st Century Developments in Anthropological Research on Alcohol

ADTSG Business meeting
THURSDAY 5:30-7:00 (Laughlin)
On the Agenda:

  • Plans for 2015 AAA conference in Denver
  • Discussion of SMA policy statement on Canibus (more info coming soon)
  • Discussion of funding opportunities for ADTSG projects
  • Plans for officer positions for 2016

ADTSG Social Outing
THURSDAY 7:00-10:00, location to be determined. We will be meeting in the Lobby of the Omni at 7pm for those who would like to join us.

Other panels/papers of interest for ADTSG members:

  • (W-40) WEDNESDAY 10:00-11:50 Vandergrift Redefining Communities by Reengineering Health Care (CONAA): WALLACE, Debra (Kaiser Permanente, CHER) The Impact of Drugstore Clinics
  • (W-62) WEDNESDAY 12:00-1:20 Sternwheeler Translating Ethnography into Intervention: SCHENSUL, Jean (ICR), NAIR, Saritha (NIMS), BILGI, Sameena, BEGUM, Shahina, and DONTA, Balaiah (NIRRH) Developing a Multilevel Intervention for Women Smokeless Tobacco Users in Mumbai
  • (W-93) WEDNESDAY 1:30-3:20 Riverboat Engagement and Student Ethnographic Research, Part I: CRIVELLARO, Peter (IUP) Student Perspectives on Drug Use
  • (W-127) WEDNESDAY 3:30-5:20 Conference C Risk and Resilience in Mountain Communities: Himalayas of Ladakh and the Dolomite Alps of Cadore, Part II: PILLAI, Priyanka and PILLAI, Prishanya (U Rochester) The Role of Religious Leaders in Tobacco Control in Ladakh; SURESH, Aditya (U Rochester) Grassroots Resiliency: A Total Ban on Tobacco and Alcohol Sales in the Nubra Valley, Ladakh
  • (TH-127) THURSDAY 3:30-5:20 Conference: CHAFFLING, Ian (IUP) Up In Smoke: A Participant Observation of Cigarette Smoking at IUP
  • (TH-121) THURSDAY 3:30-5:20 William Penn Ballroom Posters: RICHARDSON, Samantha, TAYLOR, Moriah, and JENKINS, Katie (St Vincent Coll) This Is College: An Analysis of Student Experiences with Drug and Alcohol Policies; TAYLOR, Moriah, JENKINS, Katelyn, and RICHARDSON, Samantha (St Vincent Coll) The College Experience: Exploring Student Perceptions of Alcohol and Drug Policies; CHEN, Xinlin and HANSEN, Helena (NYU) Narratives of Opioid Dependence among Suburban and Urban Residents: A Comparison of Staten Island and Manhattan; MENDOZA, Sonia, RIVERA, Allyssa, and HANSEN, Helena (NYU) The Impact of Opioid Prescriber Surveillance on Doctor-Patient Relationships and Drug Markets
  • (TH-170) THURSDAY 5:30-7:20 Fox Chapel About Social Problems of Our Time: BUTTRAM, Mance and KURTZ, Steven (Nova Southeastern U) Law, Policy, and Substance Use in Miami’s Dance Club Culture; FAST, Danya (UBC, British Columbia Ctr for Excellence in HIVAIDS) Material and Moral Economies of Drug Dealing and Gang-Related Crime in Vancouver’s Inner City; FAST, Danya, CUNNINGHAM, David, and KERR, Thomas (UBC, British Columbia Ctr for Excellence in HIVAIDS) We Don’t Belong There: New Geographies of Homelessness, Addiction and Social Control in Vancouver’s Inner City
  • (F-50) FRIDAY 10:00-11:50 Fox Chapel Promoting Continuity AND Change for Health: Examining the Competing Roles of Anthropologists in Health Education-Public Health Applications, Part I: PREMKUMAR, Ashish (UCSF) “The Opposite of a History”: What Substance Use in Pregnancy Can Lend to a Critical Clinical Anthropology of Addiction
  • (S-18) SATURDAY 8:00-9:50 Oakmont Small Island / Big Problems: Ethnographic Training and Applied Field Research on Isla Mujeres, Mexico: SMITH, Marissa (U Chicago) Tequila Sunrise: Culture, Gender, and Alcoholism on Isla Mujeres
  • (S-11) SATURDAY 8:00-9:50 Carnegie I Applying Social Sciences to Health, Part I: CICCARONE, Dan (UCSF) Fire in the Vein: Heroin Acidity, Vein Loss and Abscesses

For up-to-date information about ADTSG activities, please check the blog as well as the new ADTSG twitter account: adtstudygroup or Taz’s twitter account: PharmaCulture.

Looking forward to seeing everyone in the City of Bridges!

Tazin Karim Daniels
ADTSG, Chair