Department of Applied Social Science, Bowland College North, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YT, UK.
Int J Drug Policy. 2011 Nov;22(6):420-7. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2011.06.001. Epub 2011 Jul 22.
Through a consideration of quantitative and qualitative data obtained from young women aged 18-28 in the later years of the North West England Longitudinal Study, this paper explores how women's drug careers develop, progressing the authors' normalisation thesis of 'recreational' drug use from adolescence into adulthood. Longitudinal studies are here compared with repeated cross-sectional surveys more usually favoured and funded by governments. The authors argue that firstly, in relation to methodology, longitudinal studies provide a unique opportunity to elucidate how drug careers develop across the life course and to chart the various impacts of life events and transitions on these careers and vice versa. Secondly, through this exploration of gender differences in drug careers and life transitions, we develop an age and gender-sensitive understanding of how recreational drug use fits into women's adult lives. The paper concludes that the challenge for policy makers is how to address adult women's 'normalised' recreational drug use, in the face of a regime focused on educational provision aimed at adolescent prevention; public health information designed for teenagers; and treatment resources focused on predominantly male and non parenting problem drug users, and the links between addiction and acquisitive crime.
通过对来自英格兰西北部纵向研究后期的 18 至 28 岁年轻女性的定量和定性数据的考虑，本文探讨了女性的毒品生涯是如何发展的，从而推进了作者关于“娱乐性”毒品使用从青春期到成年期的正常化论点。本文将纵向研究与政府通常更青睐和资助的重复横断面调查进行了比较。作者认为，首先，就方法论而言，纵向研究为阐明毒品生涯如何在整个生命周期中发展以及为描绘生活事件和过渡对这些生涯的各种影响以及反之亦然提供了独特的机会。其次，通过对毒品生涯和生活过渡中的性别差异的探讨，我们对娱乐性毒品使用如何融入女性的成年生活有了一个年龄和性别敏感的理解。本文的结论是，政策制定者面临的挑战是如何应对成年女性“正常化”的娱乐性毒品使用，因为现有的政策重点是针对青少年预防的教育提供；针对青少年设计的公共卫生信息；以及针对主要是男性和非父母问题吸毒者的治疗资源，以及成瘾和 acquisitive 犯罪之间的联系。
