Regulating the Methamphetamine Epidemic as a Sociology of Crime and Deviance

Abstract

Methamphetamine hydrochloride is a highly addictive psycho-stimulant drug which has emerged onto the Australian drug scene in a potent crystallized form, more commonly known as ice. The consequences of methamphetamine use are well documented and drastic: immediate feelings of euphoria but with longer term consequences of psychosis, including hallucinations, personality changes and delusional beliefs. This article suggests that the emergence of the widespread use of methamphetamine responds to particular sociological conditions, best explained through Durkheim's notion of anomie. Durkheim's theory allows for the assessment of the normative context of the individual that provides some understanding of the etiological factors supporting the widespread rise of methamphetamine use, across individuals and groups, within modern Australian society. This sociological context must see the focus shift from mere prohibition to treatment regimes that emphasize options to rebuild the normative lives of individual users in terms of substantive relationships of institutional worth.