"Too often, drug research proceeds from the assumption that self-regulated drug use is unlikely or extraordinarily rare. Yet people engage with drugs on a continuum of use, from abstention to addiction. The focus on harmful drug use not only vastly overemphasizes the extent to which people struggle with their use, but also muddies the waters by conflating any or occasional use with “misuse” or “abuse.”
We know relatively little about people’s motivations for drug use, and the body of research on the conditions that allow people to control their use is limited. More closely examining self-regulating drug use will help illuminate that PWUD have agency and should be able to determine if, when, and how they use—as well as the complex decision-making in which people engage."
https://filtermag.org/drug-research-ignores-pleasure/
We know relatively little about people’s motivations for drug use, and the body of research on the conditions that allow people to control their use is limited. More closely examining self-regulating drug use will help illuminate that PWUD have agency and should be able to determine if, when, and how they use—as well as the complex decision-making in which people engage."
https://filtermag.org/drug-research-ignores-pleasure/