Becoming a Psychedelic User: Reflections on Howard Becker and the (Future) Sociology of Psychedelics

Summary

The paper revisits Howard Becker's foundational work on drug use, particularly in the context of psychedelics, to highlight the lack of sociological approaches in current psychedelic research. It emphasizes the importance of understanding social contexts for transformative experiences in psychedelic retreats, which are seen as modern 'drug‐using subcultures.' The aim is to inspire contemporary sociological contributions to the study of psychedelics and their therapeutic potential.

Study at a glance

Abstract

ABSTRACT Howard Becker's early research on drug use—from examining how one becomes a marijuana user to analyzing the social contexts of LSD experiences—was innovative and radical for its time. Today, the unfolding “second wave” of psychedelia continues to generate new insights into how to best curate the social contexts of psychedelic use and hone the experience for transformative and therapeutic outcomes. Despite the promising results of myriad clinical studies of psychedelic therapeutic efficacy, sociological theories and methods of naturalistic psychedelic use are largely lacking at this stage. In this paper, I revisit the sociology of drug use and drug experiences Becker provided 70 years ago to bring attention to how scholars today can contribute social scientific research to psychedelic science, culture, and medicine. After a review of Becker's work on drug use and its impact, I analyze a contemporary form of naturalistic, collective psychedelic use in retreat settings, viewing them as what Becker described as a “drug‐using subculture,” or a space where individuals “learn to get high.” In analyzing the sociocultural phenomena that take place on psychedelic retreats, the objective of this paper is to draw on Becker's insights to inspire ideas and chart a path forward for a renewed 21st‐century sociology of psychedelics.

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