Blurred boundaries between recreational and medicinal cannabis use
„The concepts ´medicinal´ and ´recreational´ cannabis use are commonly used in public discourse and in research. However, multiple studies show that the lines between recreational and medicinal cannabis use are not clear-cut,“ Dr. Frederique Bawin reports (in: Why? Explanations for drug use and drug dealing in social drug research).
His study „aims to unravel the meaning of the concept of medicinal cannabis use by contrasting it to the concept of recreational cannabis use: We draw upon findings from a mixed methods study that explores the blurred boundaries between recreational and medicinal cannabis users living in Belgium. The analyses are based on data derived from qualitative in-depth interviews…
While the relief of disease symptoms was their main self-reported reason for using cannabis, self-claimed medicinal cannabis users reported motives for using cannabis moving beyond strictly medicinal purposes. This group included those who claimed they had never used cannabis recreationally, or had done so only in the past…
Our results show that patterns, experienced effects and purposes of medicinal and recreational use differ on certain aspects but, more often they show a significant overlap. Participants´ narratives demonstrate the complexity in which they interpret and contrast the two categories of use. Interestingly, the study provides new insights into the existing knowledge on medizinal cannabis use and valuable insights for future policy-making in cannabis regulations.“
Why? Explanations for drug use and drug dealing in social drug research
Kaló, Zsuzsa; Tieberghien, Julie, Korf, Dirk J. (Eds.)
Pabst, 192 pages