Modulation of Drug Use in Southern Farming Communities: Social Origins of Poly-use

Abstract

Popular images of users who are overly fond of a of choice are belied by the experience of those who seek or become aware of varied effects from multiple forms of use. Based on fieldwork and ethnographic interviews, this article discusses poly-use by men and women who sequentially use new lifetime drugs; temporarily replace drugs over seasonal agricultural cycles that inhibit a schedule of regular use; pace use by days of the week; and/or mix drugs prior to and/or during a drug session. User narratives from farming communities of the southern United States highlight a poly-use discourse that accentuates knowledge of bodily effects that move beyond that of a mono-drug high. This individualization of self-experience is compelled by seasonal cycles of irregular and uncertain employment, residential dislocation, and strenuous physical labor, which often result in voluntary discontinuation, adjusted practices, and new routes of administration. For some, periodic incarceration results in forced cessation...