The Medicalization of Marijuana: Legitimacy, Stigma, and the Patient Experience (Instructor Resources)
The Medicalization of Marijuana: Legitimacy, Stigma, and the Patient Experience (Instructor Resources) by Michelle Newhart
English | 2018 | ISBN-13: 978-1138320888 | Instructor Resources | .XML | 81 KB
English | 2018 | ISBN-13: 978-1138320888 | Instructor Resources | .XML | 81 KB
Winner of the Donald W. Light Award for the Applied or Public Practice of Medical Sociology
Medical marijuana laws have spread across the U.S. to all but a handful of states. Yet, eighty years of social stigma and federal prohibition creates dilemmas for patients who participate in state programs.
The Medicalization of Marijuana takes the first comprehensive look at how patients negotiate incomplete medicalization and what their experiences reveal about our relationship with this controversial plant as it is incorporated into biomedicine. Is cannabis used similarly to other medicines? Drawing on interviews with midlife patients in Colorado, a state at the forefront of medical cannabis implementation, this book explores the practical decisions individuals confront about medical use, including whether cannabis will work for them; the risks of registering in a state program; and how to handle questions of supply, dosage, and routines of use.
Individual stories capture how patients redefine and reclaim cannabis use as legitimate―individually and collectively―and grapple with an inherently political identity. These experiences help illustrate how stigma, prejudice, and social change operate.