Marie Jauffret-Roustide is a sociologist at the National Institute of Health and Medical Research and director of the “Social sciences, medicine, and society” program at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences. He primarily edited journal issues Spirit“Drug Policy”, published in 2017.
“Buying cocaine (or) marijuana is actually complicating and providing funding to organized crime networks,” Emmanuel Macron said on November 18, five days after the murder of Mehdi Kessaci in Marseille. Are these accusations valid?
The problem is that this discourse about “complicit consumers” does not question the state’s responsibility in these tragedies and in particular the abandonment of working class neighborhoods to networks of human traffickers. In addition, if consumers have the same responsibility in their purchases, then there must be differences when it comes to medicines. About 10% of illicit substance users experience dependence: they find it difficult to stop. Making them feel guilty risks being counterproductive: the more stigmatized they feel, the less likely they are to seek treatment, out of shame or fear.
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