School of Sociology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia.
Int J Drug Policy. 2013 May;24(3):189-95. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2013.01.011. Epub 2013 Mar 5.
This article applies the insights of Actor Network Theory to analyse some of the actions performed by Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), a technology which separates nicotine physically and conceptually from the harms of tobacco and enhances its capacities to act against rather than for smoking. The article argues that NRT puts into action a medicalised logic of substitution in which dependence on nicotine becomes a route to health as well as a disorder to be treated. NRT thereby enables different performances of the substance nicotine, the identity smoker and the practice of quitting. The article draws on a range of smoking cessation and tobacco control literature, including medical and public health research, government-sponsored stop smoking websites and clinical guidelines to trace the changes produced by the shifting status of most forms of NRT from prescription medication to consumer health product. It also examines less conventional uses of NRT which produce varied practices of quitting and thus support the possibility of tobacco harm reduction based on the circulation of 'good nicotine'.
本文运用行动者网络理论（Actor Network Theory）的观点，分析了尼古丁替代疗法（Nicotine Replacement Therapy，简称 NRT）所采取的一些行动。NRT 是一种将尼古丁从烟草的危害中物理性和概念性地分离出来，并增强其对抗而不是促进吸烟能力的技术。本文认为，NRT 实施了一种医学化的替代逻辑，其中对尼古丁的依赖既是健康的途径，也是需要治疗的障碍。因此，NRT 使尼古丁物质、吸烟者身份和戒烟行为的不同表现成为可能。本文借鉴了一系列戒烟和烟草控制文献，包括医学和公共卫生研究、政府赞助的戒烟网站和临床指南，以追踪大多数形式的 NRT 从处方药转变为消费者保健品的地位变化所产生的影响。它还考察了 NRT 的一些非传统用途，这些用途产生了不同的戒烟实践，从而支持了基于“良性尼古丁”流通的减少烟草危害的可能性。
