ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the issue of intoxication itself, which, although central, has long been regarded as problematic for the order of societies, especially when associated with particular social groups of 'outsiders'. It also considers a key contradiction of drugs: the fact that, although problematic, they are also pleasurable, as well as highly profitable, commodities in consumer capitalism. The chapter reviews the shifting trajectories of Ecstasy, cannabis, legal highs and alcohol. It argues that the policing of sobriety is being incorporated into neoliberal ideals of individual responsibility and risk management as well as being backed up by more disciplinary measures. The chapter describes how the processes have been operationalised largely through a focus on smoking and the excessive consumption of alcohol in ways that continue to focus on the problematic pleasures of marginalised social groups. Deliberate intoxication through the consumption of drugs stands as a counter to the hegemony of sobriety as well as the ideal of rational, autonomous subjectivity.
