‘You can tell by the way they talk’: Analysing the language young people in Russia use to talk about drugs

Abstract

The widespread use of drugs-related vocabulary and language is a key factor in the ‘normalization’ of drug use, and one of the main obstacles to effective drug prevention policies is a significant gap in communication between young people's cultural discourses and narratives and official or state discourses concerning drugs. This is as true of post-Soviet Russia as it is of the United Kingdom. Moreover, in the Russian case, there is considerable diversity in the ‘drugs talk’ of different groups of young persons. The gap between official and the various youth discourses impedes interaction and the development of effective social policy with respect to drugs and drug use.