Category Archives: Announcements

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

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!

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.

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

Call for Abstracts for CDAR

From member: Bia Labate

 

Dear researcher, 

We are delighted to offer you the opportunity to submit a review about your psychedelic interests for publication in “Current Drug Abuse Reviews (CDAR)”. The OPEN Foundation have found Ruud Kortekaas, PhD willing to be guest editor for a special issue entitled “Potential merits of the psychedelic experience – with a special focus on addiction”. We strongly welcome authors to write a review that fits in this thematic issue. 

This journal is indexed in: Chemical Abstracts, Google, Google Scholar, Genamics JournalSeek, MediaFinder, Standard Periodical Directory, Scopus, EMCare, EMBASE, MEDLINE, but does not have an impact factor according to ISI. In 2010, the articles were cited 2.9 times on average. See: http://benthamscience.com/journal/index.php?journalID=cdar , where you can also find publication guidelines. 

Regular publishing is free of charge, but open access publishing will cost you or your institution a publication fee, to be announced later.

If you are interested in contributing, please send us a preliminary title and an estimated number of words (minimum 3000, maximum 40.000), before July 15th. As we are aiming to publish this special issue this year, we hope that you can deliver the full text before August 31st, so there will be some time for peer-review and revision. If you have any questions and/or doubts, please feel free to contact us.

Kind regards,

Pieter Stokkink
OPEN Foundation
info@stichtingopen.nl

2014 Graduate Student Paper Prize

prize-medal

Deadline: September 26, 2014 @ 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 Karim, chair of ADTSG at karimtaz@msu.edu
  • Submissions must be received by 5:00PM EST, September 26, 2014 for full consideration

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

ADTSG at 2014 SFAA meetings in Albuquerque

2014logoSfAA is happening soon in New Mexico, and ADTSG will be there! The theme of the 2014 meeting is “Destinations.” The following are some highlights of presentations on alcohol, tobacco, and drugs. For full listings, check out the final program.

ADTSG Business Meeting
Thursday March 20 @ 7:00-8:00pm in Alvarado B
We will be talking about ongoing projects as well as finalizing plans for AAA 2014 in D.C. Please invite your students and colleagues to attend. We will also plan on going out afterward for food/drinks – information about the location will be posted on the site and on twitter under  #ADTSG.

ADTSG PANEL: Silk Roads: Place and Space in Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Use (SMA)
Wednesday March 19 @ 3:30-5:20pm in Alvarado F (W-126)

  1. Shared Walls, Shared Air: Smoke-Free Multi-Unit Housing Policy Implementation” –Roland Moore, Valerie Yerger, Robynn Battle, Julie Jackson, LaTrena Robinson
  2. Sin Cities of the North: Alcohol in the Regional Hubs of Alaska” – Kristen Oglivie
  3. #Adderall: Constructions of Prescription Drug Use in Digital Spaces” – Tazin Karim
  4. Negotiating Risk, Supplementing Safety: Online Discussions about Pre-and Post-loading on bluelight.ru” – Stephan Risi
  5. Spice: A Thrice-told Tale” – Juliet Lee
  6. Disussant – Jean Schensul

PANEL: Ethnographic Approaches to Addictions and Substance Abuse
Wednesday March 19 @ 5:30-7:20pm in Turquoise (W-162)

  1.  “Assessing Consequences of Hidden Addictions: Ethnography as Core Method” – Joseph Westermeyer
  2. Pathways to Addiction: Drug Use among Adolescents in Popayan, Colombia” – Sarah Fishleder and Daniel Lende
  3. Implementing T4 Translational Science in a Tobacco Control Project in Ladakh, India” – Lukas Slipski, Anisha Gundewar, and Lily Martyn
  4. Changing Gender Roles for Young Adult Women in Ladakh and Heightened Risk for Tobacco Addiction” – Yitong Gao, Emma Caldwell, Karishma Dara, Anupa Gewali and Cindi Lewis
  5. State Policies and Street Drug Choices: Patterns of Opioid Use in the Aftermath of Changes in OxyContin Availability” – J. Bryan Page and David Forrest
  6. “Under the Influence and Under Arrest: How Alcohol, Drugs, and Violence Impact Arrests on a College Campus” – Richard Colon and Alexandra Itri
  7. Smoking, Chewing, and Dipping: Tobacco Use at a Rural Serving U.S.-Mexico Border University” – Chris Spurny, Melinda J. Wilson, Candyce Luna, Susan Wilson and Cynthia kratze

Presentations on Alcohol, Drug and Tobacco Issues

  • Destination Local: Collaborating with Ukrainian NGOs to Develop Effective, Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Programs for Drug Users” – Sarah Phillips, Jill Owczarak, and Olga Filippova (W-67)
  • Urban Ethnic Segregation and the US Heroin Market: A Quantitative Model of Anthropological Hypotheses ” – Dan Ciccarone, Philippe Bourgois, Fernando Montero Castrillo, George Karandinos, Daniel Rosenblum, and Sarah Mars (W-71)
  • A Summer Participatory Research Project for Asian American and Pacific Islander Students: Experience of Stress and Drug Use” – JiangHong Li, Irene Shaver, Jennifer Zhu, Darius Mostaghimi, Angel Wu and Victoria Xie (W-160)
  • Algorithms and Ethnography: Locating the Content of Agent-based Models in Fieldwork” – Lee Hoffer (TH-03)
  • “Drug and Alcohol Treatment Programs for American Indian Youth: Prioritizing Culture & Community Values” – Kehli Henry (poster)
  • Mothers, Lovers, and Addicts: The Role of Interpersonal Violence in Incarcerated Women’s Paths To Recovery” – Catherine Fuentes (Th-131)
  • Can You Help Us Stop Using Drugs?: Collaborating with an NGO in Health Education and Research with People Who Inject Drugs in Kenya” – Jennifer Syversten (F-71)
  • Constructing Harm Reduction as Global “Strategy”: Impacts on Intervention” – Shana Harris (S-126)

Presentations by ADTSG members and colleagues

  • Catie Willging (T-01) Developing a Peer-Based Mental Health Intervention for Sexual and Gender Minorities in Rural New Mexico and T-153 Behavioral Healthcare in New Mexico: Where Are We Now? Where Are We Going?
  • Kitty Corbett (W-02) Technology as a Conduit: Engaging Place and Environment in Experiences of Health [SMA])
  • Peter Kunstadter (T-91) From Community to Academia and Return: Pipelines Run in Both Directions to Reduce Ethnic and Socioeconomic Disparities in the Health Professions)
  • Michael Agar (T-95) Water Sharing and Water Shortage in New Mexico)
  • Suzanne Heurtin-Roberts (F-11) and Applying Anthropology in Implementation Science to Improve Healthcare and Health)
  • Victor Garcia (F-31) Applied Anthropology, Praxis, and Student Research)
  • Linda Bennett (S-04) Evaluating the Effectiveness of COPAA and CoPAPIA Tenure and Promotion Initiatives on Applied, Practicing, Engaged, and Public Anthropology).

Did we miss your panel? Think someone should be added to the list? Send us an email at adtstudygroup@gmail.com and we’ll update the list. Until then… see you in the land of enchantment!

Juliet Lee and Taz Karim

Historic 2nd Intl Congress: Sacred Plants, Culture & Human Rights

“Sacred Plants, Culture, and Human Rights”

TOLUCA, MEXICO  APRIL 3-5 2014

A historic event will take place on April 3rd – 5th, 2014 at the Autonomous University of Toluca, Mexico that will unite prominent scientists, academics, and leaders from dozens of indigenous nations to present recent breakthrough research and public policy briefings concerning the use of “Sacred Plants” for therapeutic purposes. What is the future for indigenous healing traditions in Mexico and the American continent? How can they contribute to public health? Could we ever hope to see the application of these empirical healing approaches applied within a legitimized framework that provides both safety and accessibility for people seeking the sacred plants for their therapeutic and psycho-spiritual effects?

The Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Mexico (UAEM) and the Department of Anthropology, in collaboration with the Multidisciplinary Association for the Preservation of Indigenous Traditions of Sacred Plants, Nierika A.C, are bringing this dialogue to the forefront of public opinion in Mexico. The intended outcomes of the congress are as follows:

  1. To present comprehensive scientific research on the therapeutic use of sacred plants that can serve as a foundation for policy review and as a basis for proposing the regulated medical and cultural use of these medicines in Mexico;
  2. To increase multidisciplinary dialogue between scientists and traditional indigenous doctors and promote the integration of Western science and traditional indigenous medicine;

For more info on the 2nd International Congress for Traditional Medicine & Public Health, including information on our CALL FOR CONFERENCE PAPERS,  please visit the website: www.nierika.info/english  or email: cimedicinatradicionalsp@gmail.com.

via: Bia Labate

Book Announcement: The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca

ADTSG is happy to announce the release of “The Therapeutic Use of Ayahuasca” – Beatriz Caiuby Labate and Clancy Cavnar (Eds.)

This book presents a series of perspectives on the therapeutic potential of the ritual and clinical use of the Amazonian hallucinogenic brew ayahuasca in the treatment and management of various diseases and ailments, especially its role in psychological well-being and substance dependence. Biomedical and anthropological data on the use of ayahuasca for treating depression, PTSD, and substance dependence in different settings, such as indigenous contexts, neo-shamanic rituals, contemporary therapeutic circles, and in ayahuasca religions, in both South and North America, are presented and critiqued. Though multiple anecdotal reports on the therapeutic use of ayahuasca exist, there has been no systematic and dense reflection on the topic thus far. The book brings the therapeutic use of ayahuasca to a new level of public examination and academic debate. The texts in this volume stimulate discussion on methodological, ethical, and political aspects of research and will enhance the development of this emergent field of studies.
For a preview of the book please click here.

For more information on the book, please visit the Springer website.

via: Bia Labate

2013 ADTSG Recap

Dear ADTSG members,goodbye 2013

It is the end of January and I think it is finally safe to say that 2013 was a successful year for ADTSG. The website has been on a bit of a hiatus over the last few months since the AAA meetings due to final exams and the holidays, but we hope to be able to start updating more often. In this post, I want to recap on a few points from the AAA meetings and solicit some suggestions/help from our membership moving forward in in the new year.

AAA Roundtable: In 2012, ADTSG put out what must have been a record number of panels for the AAA meetings with excellent attendance. This year, we decided to try something different and organized a roundtable on public engagement with some of our very own experts in the field of drug studies: Helena Hansen, Mimi Nichter, Bryan Page, Will Garriott, Daniel Lende. Despite the Wednesday evening time slot, it was well attended and we generated some great questions for our participants both before the session and during the Q&A period. Thanks so much to everyone who made it out, and a special thanks to our participants, our moderator Roland Moore, as well as Shana Harris (and myself) for organizing this event. We are in the process of writing a round table review so look for that in the near future.

Communications: Once again, ADTSG made a strong impression during the SIG chairs meeting with new SMA president, Linda Garro. We continue to be at the forefront of leveraging digital technology, increasing visibility and growing our membership – but there is always room for improvement. In particular, we are interested in increasing our social media presence and determining the best way to facilitate discussions/collaboration among group members. Although this blog has been a great way for us to reach our membership, we are ready to explore new mechanisms to stimulate conversation between conferences. Part of addressing this might include developing a communications subcommittee who can brainstorm and implement such a plan of action. If you have any ideas or would like to spearhead something like this, please email me at adtstudygroup@gmail.com.

SMA Takes a Stand: As we discussed last year, the SMA is requesting all SIGs to create a public policy statement as part of the SMA Takes a Stand Program. We have tentatively selected the issue of the decriminalization/legalization of Marijuana. Bryan Page has agreed to take lead on this project but we would like to recruit at least 3-4 more members to help draft this statement. If you are interested in being involved in the process, please send me an email and I will put you all in touch.

AAA 2014 events: During the ADTSG business meeting, we began brainstorming ideas for AAA 2014. Some potential events included:

  • Organizing a poster session on the Anthropology of Drugs and public engagement (with contributions from graduate and undergraduate students)
  • A panel focusing on the role of professionals in the treatment of drug use
  • A panel or roundtable looking on how other fields are examining ADT issues and inviting experts already located in the D.C. area
  • A panel or posters examining ADT issues from across the four subfields of Anthropology
  • Teaming up with some of the other AAA sections/groups like the Society for Psychological Anthropology, the Association for Politial and Legal Anthropology to co-sponsor an event

If you are interested in any or all of these proposals, or would like to help organize an event for the 2014 AAA, please contact me ASAP. It would be great to see a number of these come to fruition but we need your help to make it happen!

Graduate Student Paper Prize: Finally, we had a wonderful response to our annual graduate student paper prize this year. Our winner was Nayantara Sheoran for her paper, “Stratified Contraception: Imagined Cosmopolitanism versus Lived Tangibility of Emergency Contraceptive Pills in Contemporary India”. Our honorable mention was Marc Blainey for his paper, “Forbidden Therapy: Santo Daime & the Disputed Status of Entheogens in Western Society”. Thanks to Roland Moore, Shana Harris and Lee Hoffer for their hard work reading and offering feedback on these fantastic papers. We plan to offer this prize again this year so if you are interested in serving as a judge, please contact me for details.

As I close this post, I realize that there is a lot to be proud of – but there is even more we can do to make the most out of the networks and resources provided by this study group. In the coming weeks, I will be sending out some  systematic requests to the group for help on these and other projects. Also, if you have any announcements you would like us to post, please send them to the gmail account. Thanks again for your continued engagement with ADTSG – I look forward to hearing from you and exploring new ways to improve your member experience.

Taz Karim
ADTSG Chair