The High Life: Club Kids, Harm and Drug Policy

by Dina Perrone, Mercer L. Sullivan (Foreword)

A new study of New York City drug users (ages 22-33) who self-identify as (dance) club kids challenges stereotypes of the typical drug user and common assumptions about controlling drug-related harms. Ethnographic research illuminates the club kids distinctive subculture, describes their patterns of drug use, and explores the factors that protect them from harms such as arrests and illness. Richly detailed and remarkably candid interview data vividly portray how the subjects manage to maintain productive, middle-class lifestyles despite engaging in heavy drug use. Dr. Perrone situates the club kids in a historical perspective as a subculture with distinctive rituals, styles, tastes and cultural norms. The data indicate that the club kids strive to protect themselves from harms by their choices among drugs, the settings where they use drugs, and their mindsets during use. Also facilitating controlled drug use are the subjects high levels of economic and social capital, ample life and job skills (human capital), extensive social networks, and maturation through the typical life-course of educated middle class Americans. The threat of criminal justice sanctions was not a significant factor in the club kids moderation in drug use, efforts at harm avoidance, or eventual desistance. Instead, the club kids cultural norms and socio-economic statuses were the predominant influences on their drug use and experiences. Implications for national drug policy are assessed. From the foreword by series editor Dr. Mercer This fascinating and timely piece of research follows in a long tradition of field studies of deviant behavior. The innovative and illuminating aspect of this study is the wide-ranging array of theoretical perspectives brought to the material.

247 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[David McGill-Soriano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Perrone was my professor in undergrad back in 2019. I took her drugs class, and it changed my life. Of course the content was interesting and thought-provoking, but the way she delivered it was what I loved. No PowerPoint massacre. Straight OG Socratic method style. Debating, arguing, challenging. It was a masterclass. This book was nothing short of the same. Conspicuous consumption, carnivalesque environments, hedonistic escape. I never tied club culture to the conventional capitalistic over indulgence that we see trending. It helped me reevaluate the dominant yolo lifestyle of raves, bars, clubs, and festivals. It’s a matrix.