Understanding drugs as leisure through the (de)differentiation lens and the dialectic of Logos- and Eros-modernity

ABSTRACT

Recreational drug consumption is often associated with taboos and legal sanctions. However, the processes of drug liberalisation and decriminalisation have shifted societal attitudes and individual consumption patterns and associated meanings. These tendencies are particularly prominent on college campuses. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the U.S. college students’ interpretations of and experiences with recreational drug use and its links to leisure. Data collection included in-depth, face-to-face interviews with 16 college students. Data analysis followed the analytical steps of transcendental phenomenology – i.e. epoché, phenomenological reduction, imaginative variation, and synthesis. The findings present students’ descriptions of drugs’ (predominantly, marijuana/cannabis) roles in their daily lives, leisure, obligations, productivity patterns, and risk and protective factors. Drugs were portrayed as a leisure activity in itself or as leisure enhancers and even enablers. For some, drugs also served as productivity boosters, focus promoters, and mood uplifters. Drug consumption was rationalised and normalised based on contextual factors and risk assessment. The roles of drugs are analysed through (de)differentiation between leisure and work and (de)differentiation between deviant vs. normalised drug views. This dynamic is conceptualised through the dialectic of Logos- and Eros-modernity, while furthering knowledge on drugs in/as leisure and offering insights for drug education.

KEYWORDS:

• Drugs in/as leisure
• college leisure culture
• Logos- and Eros-modernity
• (de)differentiation
• drug-related risks
• drug-related protective factors

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Iulia Fratila

Iulia Fratila is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois who works under the direction of Dr. Berdychevsky. Her research interests are to better understand and develop novel contributions to risk as leisure, leisure and identity and many of the societal and cultural implications of the latter. Particularly, she wants to understand the engagement and negotiations individuals face with risky leisure and how their experiences impact their overall lives and well‐being. Her interests in leisure and identity are not limited to that of only risky behaviours, but rather to understand how our leisure pursuits impact our various identities, and oppositely how our identities inform our leisure pursuits. Additionally, her work is currently representative of vulnerable populations and individuals whose leisure pursuits categorise them as part of subculture systems in society.

Liza Berdychevsky, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Recreation, Sport and Tourism at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Ph.D. in Health and Human Performance. Dr. Berdychevsky’s research revolves at the nexus of sexual health and wellbeing in tourism and leisure contexts, adopting a gender-sensitive and a life course-grounded approach. Specifically, she investigates sexual behaviour, risk taking, positive sexuality, and sexual health education needs among young and older adults in various leisure and tourism contexts. Dr. Berdychevsky’s research contributes to a deeper understanding of the issues associated with sexual health in tourism and leisure contexts and offers directions for health education programmes and prevention and intervention methods. She published in leading academic tourism, leisure, health, and sexuality journals and co-edited a special issue on innovation and impact of sex as leisure in research and practice in Leisure Sciences.