ABSTRACT
While the pharmaceuticalization of Cambodian society was taking hold in Indochina, Cambodia underwent a reverse process of “depharmaceuticalization,” sparked by a succession of wars and authoritarian regimes and exacerbated by the Khmer Rouge revolution (1975–1979). The entire pharmaceutical system was rebuilt. This chapter looks at the current system through the lens of many sources of regulation. It offers an innovative theoretical framework to understand the diversity of social practices involved in regulating the circulation of medicines, whether such practices are driven by the State, healthcare professionals, distributors, or consumers. Through an historical perspective, the chapter presents how the contemporary Cambodian pharmaceutical system is structured as well as the rules, practices, and adjustments—both formal and informal—that have been harnessed over time, in response to the exponential rise in the drug circulation in this context.
