Important research paper from our sociologists

A new research paper by Marcin Deutschmann, Magdalena Piejko-Płonka and Michał Wanke, Social worlds and symbolic boundaries of cannabis users in Poland, was published in the journal Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy and is part of the upcoming special issue Cannabis Cultures and Cannabis Markets in Global Perspective.  The article is available on the Taylor & Francis website - HERE

The text is the outcome of sociological research on the social and cultural determinants and consequences of psychoactive substance use.  The authors explain the discrepancy between the experience of Polish cannabis users at the micro level and the macro context in which they live. The paper explores the process of creating symbolic boundaries that users engage in to dissociate themselves from repressive legislation and conservative social reactions.  The authors draw on the concept of social worlds to better understand the alternative situation in which cannabis users operate.  The boundaries between users' social worlds are analysed taking into account the conservative legal and social contexts related to the regressive - as perceived by the respondents - nature of the Polish society and in opposition to the idealized situation in the "West".  The analysis is based on the results of three qualitative studies of users and their environments carried out in cooperation with the National Bureau for Drug Prevention and the Marshal's Office of the Voivodeship of Opole between 2014 and 2021.

The special issue Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy is being produced as a result of the Erasmus+ Strategic Partnerships project entitled Drug Abuse Prevention for Youth.  Dr Michal Wanke, Dr Sveinung Sandberg (University of Oslo, Norway), Dr Ruken Macit and Dr Hakan Gulerce (Harran University, Turkey) as guest editors have brought together contributions from Australia, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Mexico, New Zealand, Latvia, Norway and Poland.  The publication by Opole sociologists contributes to the crucial discussion on drug user cultures in times of dramatic paradigm and legislation shifts in the field of psychoactive substances.

Michał Wanke (Chair of Cultural and Religious Studies) and Magdalena Piejko-Płonka (Chair of Sociological Sciences and Social Work) are experts in the advisory group of the Opole Voivodeship Board Proxy for Prevention and Solving of Addiction Problems and among the few Polish researchers of psychoactive substance user cultures. Further publications from a series of studies in Poland as well as in Turkey are under review and in preparation.

Magdalena Piejko-Płonka