Stephen J. Sifaneck

The Ethnographic Accessing, Sampling and Screening of Hidden Populations: Heroin Sniffers in New York City

This article discusses various ways in which ethnographic methods were employed in a cohort study of HIV risk and transitions to injecting among non-injecting heroin users (NIUs), or ‘sniffers’, in New York City. In preparation for and in conjunction with an epidemiologic questionnaire survey and biological specimen collection, ethnographic methods were used to explore the meaning of non-injecting and injecting routes of heroin administration for NIUs, how non-injecting heroin use was imbedded in the everyday life of the user, and the relationship of users to the retail markets for heroin. The study utilised different ethnographic techniques to access, sample, and screen heroin ‘sniffers’ for the epidemiologic survey. These techniques included ethnographic accessing, targeted canvassing, and interactive screening. The article concludes that ethnographic methods can be fruitfully integrated with epidemiologic survey research and are necessary for conducting research among non-institutionalised, ‘hidden’ populations of drug users.

Cigars-for-blunts: choice of tobacco products by blunt smokers.

Abstract An important part of blunt (marijuana in a cigar shell) smoking is the ritual of the preparation process and the selection of tobacco product for the blunt. This article explores reasons for selection from the different tobacco products available in the legal commercial market. Based upon three years of ethnographic research with 92 focal subjects, the analysis focuses upon the practical, subcultural, and symbolic reasons that blunt smokers give for choosing tobacco products (cigars for blunts-CFBs) employed in the blunt preparation process. The blunt ritual also functions within the marijuana subculture to differentiate blunt smokers from joints/pipes smokers. This analysis explores the reasons users give for selecting among the most popular inexpensive cigar brands (Dutch Masters, Phillies Blunts, and Backwoods) all owned and marketed by a single cigar conglomerate. “Blunt chasing”-the smoking of a cigarillo or cigar following a bluntis an emergent phenomenon that further expands the market for tobacco products among blunt smokers. Recently, many different flavors have been added to these tobacco products in order to attract young and minority blunt consumers.

Projecting and Monitoring the Life Course of the Marijuana/Blunts Generation:

Since the 1990s, marijuana has been the drug of choice among American youths, especially those that tend to sustain arrests. Previous birth cohorts had greater use of crack, powder cocaine, or heroin. This paper summarizes prior research that strongly suggests drug eras tend to follow a regular course. These insights then serve as the basis for projecting trends in marijuana use both for the general population nationwide and for Manhattan arrestees. To the extent that current trends persist, the prospects for the “Marijuana/Blunts Generation” (born 1970 and later) may be relatively good. These young persons may successfully avoid “hard drugs” as well as the attendant health, social, and legal problems for their entire life, but they may experience higher levels of smoking-related ailments. The conclusion presents issues for continued drug surveillance and ethnographic research to more accurately understand the Marijuana/Blunts Era and to provide an indicator of future changes as they occur.

IS THE U.S. EXPERIENCING AN INCIPIENT EPIDEMIC OF HALLUCINOGEN USE

NHSDA and MTF survey data indicate “epidemic”-like growth in hallucinogen use from 1992–1996 and associated increases in cocaine, crack, heroin and amphetamine use. These trends might have resulted from a proliferation of raves and dance clubs in the U.S. as occurred in Europe and elsewhere, although in contrast to evidence regarding European experiences the American epidemic involves primarily teens as opposed to persons in their twenties and involves primarily use of LSD as opposed to MDMA. This analysis highlights the need for further research into the context, significance, and consequences of these recently popular American drug use practices.

Pills, Thrills and Bellyaches: Case Studies of Prescription Pill Use and Misuse among Marijuana/Blunt Smoking Middle Class Young Women

Recent survey research has documented important increases during the 2000s in the misuse and abuse of several prescription drugs (Vicodin, Percocet, Codeine, Dilaudid, Xanax, Klonopin, Valium, Ativan, Adderall, Ritalin, among others). This article focuses upon the patterns of pill use and misuse among young women who are middle-class white and college-educated, and they are also experienced marijuana users who report recreational consumption of other illegal drugs. The ethnographic data provides insights about various ways and reasons that such prescription pill misuse occurs among 12 college-educated, (upper) middle-class, white/Asian women in their 20s who were involved in a major ethnographic study of marijuana and blunts. Three patterns of pill use were observed: recreational; quasi-medical; and legal medical; shifts among these patterns of pill use was common. Few reported that their pill use interfered with their conventional jobs and lifestyles; they concealed such use from their employers and coworkers, and from non-using friends and family members. None reported contacts with police nor seeking treatment specifically for their pill misuse. Many reported using prescription pills in conjunction with illegal drugs (marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy) and alcohol. Pills were used as a way to enhance the euphoric effects of other drugs, as well as a way to avoid the negative side effects of illegal drugs. Some reported pill use as a means for reducing expenditures (and use of) alcohol and cocaine. The implications suggest a hidden subpopulation of prescription pill users among regular users of marijuana and other illegal drugs. Future research should include users and misusers of various pills to better understand how prescriptions pills interact with illegal drug use patterns.

Civic Norms and Etiquettes Regarding Marijuana Use in Public Settings in New York City

This paper shows that active police enforcement of civic norms against marijuana smoking in public settings has influenced the locations where marijuana is smoked. It has subtly influenced the various marijuana etiquettes observed in both public and private settings. The ethnographic data reveal the importance of informal sanctions; most marijuana consumers report compliance with etiquettes mainly to avoid stigma from nonusing family, friends, and associates—they express limited concern about police and arrest.

Qualitative Methodological Issues in Drug User Research

This special issue will address the use of qualitative methods currently being used by drug researchers working with diverse populations in varied social and geographic contexts. Moreover, the volume deals with the way the qualitative researcher’s personal attributes interact with the decisions made during the research process. The personal characteristics of drug researchers in our disciplines are now much more diverse than they were thirty years ago. Also, the focus of contemporary qualitative drug studies and the individuals, groups, and social settings they study are broader and more assortive now than in earlier periods. Conventional quantitative methods such as large epidemiological surveys or smaller cross sectional studies on targeted populations are often unable to capture the full scope of the emerging drug use phenomenon. What is presented in this issue is how more advanced and sophisticated qualitative methods, with support by new technologies, are being used by contemporary U.S. drug researchers. This special issue builds upon earlier qualitative research. The “Chicago School” of sociology is recognized as being the first group to systemically apply qualitative methods in the study of drug use. Methods such as ethnography and in-depth interviews were employed to explore new drug use practices and rituals. These studies discovered subcultural contexts and norms of often marginalized drug using populations (i.e. immigrants, prostitutes, etc). Using participant observation, investigators immersed themselves in the social reality of the drug user and collected first hand accounts of processes associated with addictive behavior (Becker, 1953; Dai, 1937; Lindesmith, 1968). Howard Becker’s classic article “Becoming a Marijuana User” exemplified this approach. The life history method, a core tool of the Chicago School qualitative research approach, was also used to analyze drug users biographies (Rettig, Torres, and Garrett, 1977). Ethnomethodology required researchers to venture “within” the world of the drug user and to “become (in some specific sense) the phenomena” through obtaining practical understanding of what users do to get high and to get by (Zimmerman and Wieder, 1978). The Chicago School influenced others beyond this institution such as anthropologist Michael Agar who developed the “frame elicitation” method that generated qualitative data in order to reconstruct the subculture of street addiction (Agar, 1973). Claire Sterk’s ethnographic research in New York City and Atlanta delineates the role of drugs use and prostitution. Patricia Adler’s qualitative study of drug dealers and smugglers provides new insights into these deviant careers and how the researcher must often immerse them-