I greatly appreciated this rather short article. It was purely anthropological and did not criminalize coca and by association the people who harvest it, as I find most Western media does.
In her abstract, Alison Spedding does note the stigma associated with the plants that narcotics derive from in the U.S., especially in context to the war on drugs. However, these plants, and in this case the coca plant in the Yungas region of La Paz, has a greater significance for the social fabric across the different cultures in Latin America. One of my favourite examples from the text is that the life cycle of the coca plants is equated to a woman by the Yungas people. There is the direct correlation of plants literally representing life, and thus the life cycle of a Yungas household, but also being fertile and bearing ‘fruits’ like women are traditionally associated with.
And just like the people, plants also hold a socio-historical significance. The excerpt
“After the coca has been picked, the process of drying converts it into a beneficial ancestor, parallel to the dried corpses of the ancestors whose cult was so important in the Andes until the [Spanish] extirpation campaigns of the seventeenth century.”
as well as the dated Cajatambo idolatry trials of 1656 demonstrate how coca has been used and adapted over time but has also been seen as a cultural threat to colonial sovereignty. The plant was so tied to the Indigenous identity in Bolivia that the Spanish sought to extirpate it in the 17th century. Parallels can be drawn to the same demonization of drugs in the US because of their association with self-medication and a foreign presence. Drugs in and of themselves hold no meaning until we give it a narrative, and so it is interesting how we can go from one extreme where we can value the medicinal properties of coca, to where we weaponize the idea of it as a political tool.
Moreover, South America is not listed as one of the continents associated with drug addiction but North America (excluding Mexico) is (UNODC 2019). So the stigma itself is hurting people where it is most prevalent, making it difficult for people to seek support or access unbiased education around illicit drug use. Popular culture, however grand in scale, is so important when disseminating information because of the numerous forms it can take and how abstract it is. A famous study conducted by SFU professor Bruce K. Alexander also notes the implications of social vs. individual use in his famous experiment ‘rat park’, with his findings suggesting that the mere exposure to drugs will not prompt individuals to get addicted as popular western narratives have suggested.
The concept of drugs is a multi-faceted discussion that can go on for hours but perspective is definitely critical for when we choose to project our own cultural values onto objects or practices.
What are some projections of drug use culture that you have seen in the media? Who was producing that narrative?
The study you mentioned seems really interesting and I think it helped clear some misconceptions for me as well. For your question, the example that comes to mind for me was that of the Hollywood portrayals of Pablo Escobar, which are often shown to be quite glorifying and not really focusing on the impacts that the drug trade has had on the farmers and civilians.
“Drugs in and of themselves hold no meaning until we give it a narrative.”
This is an interesting point. It is certainly worth thinking about the ways in which we ascribe meaning to drugs (and drug use). There is no doubt that the media (often backed by the state) construct often lurid narratives about drug use and abuse; but drug users also have their own narratives.
On the other hand, when thoroughly embedded in a culture, stimulants and sedatives often become simply a matter of habit (think of coffee and tea, for instance), unremarkable or not to be remarked upon.
Hi Ayla!
Thanks for mentioning that study! It really caught my eye – I definitely want to look into that more. As for your question, the first thing that comes to mind is the romanticisation of smoking. Sure, smoking cigarettes might not seem ‘as bad’ as cocaine, but it has so many awful side effects. Even though we’re taught not to smoke from a very early age, the media paints such an aesthetic picture of it that it’s almost difficult to resist. I would add some pictures to illustrate my point if I could, but a quick search of “smoking” on Pinterest will do the trick.