The Normalization of Cannabis Use Among Bangladeshi and Pakistani Youth: A New Frontier for the Normalization Thesis?

ABSTRACT

Background: The Asian population in Britain has grown, representing the second largest ethnic group; Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and Indian nationalities are prevalent (Jivraj, 2012; Office for National Statistics, 2013). Yet, we know relatively little about the nature and extent of their substance use. Jayakody et al. (2006) argue ethnic minority groups may be influenced by the norms and values of the dominant culture. Given recreational drug use has undergone a process of normalization in Britain (Aldridge et al., 2011; Parker et al., 1998, 2002), we explore the degree to which this is occurring in a Bangladeshi and Pakistani community of Muslim faith in Northern England; a group typically assumed to reject substance use because of robust religious and cultural values. Objectives: To examine the extent, frequency, and nature of substance use, and associated attitudes. Methods: A cross-sectional study collecting qualitative data from a sample (N = 43) of adolescents accessing a drug service and a range of professionals working with them during 2014. We also present analyses of routinely collected quantitative client data. Results: Adolescent interviewees reported extensive personal experience smoking skunk cannabis, and professionals working in the community confirmed many young Asians smoked it. Its consumption appeared to be accommodated into the daily lives of young people and the supply of it also showed signs of acceptance. Conclusions: Skunk cannabis may be undergoing a process of normalization within some Asian communities in Britain. Our study has significant implications for the normalization thesis, finding evidence for normalization within a subpopulation that is typically perceived to resist this trend.

KEYWORDS:

• Asian recreational drug use
• adolescent drug use
• normalization thesis
• skunk cannabis use

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Notes

1 Drug users accessing drug treatment largely consist of heroin and crack cocaine users. Yet, this population comprises a small proportion of the drug using population. Hay, dos Santos, and Worsley (2013) estimated, for the year 2010–11, there were 298,752 opiate and crack cocaine users in England and Wales. This compares to 2.8 million adults aged 16–59 who reported taking an illicit drug in the past year in 2014/15 (Lader, 2015).

2 See Safian (2013) for a detailed historical analysis of traditional Muslim societies, and attitudes towards and evidence of the use of “hashish.”

3 Paan is a chewing mixture of areca nut and tobacco that is popular among South Asian populations including Pakistani and Bangladeshi.

4 One of the conclusions arising from the thesis was that gender, class and ethnicity were no longer strong determinants of recreational drug taking (Parker et al., 1998). Since then, it has been argued they remain important for explaining contemporary drugs consumption (see Aldridge et al., 2011; Measham & Shiner, 2009; Measham et al., 2001; Williams, 2013).

5 Shildrick's paper crossed in publication with Parker et al. (2002). The latter article re-emphasized how normalization is a qualified concept explaining specific styles of drugs consumption and attitudes towards them. It also highlighted the diversity of experience and views among the Illegal Leisure sample, including that there were some steadfast abstainers who did not accept recreational drug use.

6 Although the Illegal Leisure sample was initially representative of the areas in which data were collected, and included respondents from different ethnic backgrounds, over time, attrition resulted in it becoming less representative of Asian British participants (Aldridge et al., 2011; Parker et al., 1998, 2002).

7 Pseudonyms have been used for the area and drug service where we collected our data.

8 Drugs refers to both traditional illegal substances, such as cannabis, ecstasy and cocaine, and novel psychoactive substances aka legal highs, for instance, synthetic cannabinoids.

9 Skunk is a more potent strain of herbal cannabis.

10 Not forbidden or proscribed by Islamic law.