Maintaining Normative Functioning Alongside Drug Use: The Recognition of Harms and Adoption of Change Strategies

The current study examined drug users' perspectives on strategies that helped them to maintain normative functioning or resolve impaired functioning. We interviewed 29 drug users who described themselves as functioning normatively while using drugs on a regular basis until they experienced harms or raised concerns of future harms. The content analysis showed that the users maintain their normative functioning through diverse strategies that can be located on a continuum. This continuum was conceptualized as "normative functioning management" based on White et al.'s concept of "recovery management." This study found an ongoing continuum through self-management and social interaction consisting of three regions: the management of normative functioning, the recognition of the harm of drug use to functioning, and the subsequent adoption of change strategies for maintaining normative functioning. This continuum may provide a more nuanced theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of drug users with normative functioning and is therefore relevant for counselors encountering such users in their practice. This study highlights inner resources such as self-awareness and social interaction that help functioning users to maintain their normative functioning and fulfill basic obligations in their normal routines, that is, preserving their professional status, family lives, and relationships.

Heads, Seekers, Psychonauts, and One-Timers: Patterns in Stories of Psychedelic Consumption

Psychedelics are psychoactive substances that alter ordinary states of consciousness. The U.S. criminalized ingestion of these drugs approximately 60 years ago and use remains punishable by law. Prior to this time, the substances were differentially declared spiritual sacraments, medicines, and/or party drugs. (Auto)Ethnographies and other research often indicate psychedelic-induced experiences as remarkably personal, necessitating subjective interpretation. Empirical studies exploring patterns across psychedelic encounters are rare, but among the few that exist, users tend to be identified as either pursuing psycho-spiritual enlightenment or self-indulgent amusement. The present paper utilizes narratives collected through 37 in-depth interviews with adults from diverse social backgrounds who report a history of psychedelic consumption in non-clinical settings. The data suggest a potential 4-part categorization based on five factors: named forms of psychedelic substances used, reported frequency of psychedelic ingestions, stated reasons for consumption and desistance, self-imposed rules surrounding use, and descriptions of drug effects and experiences.