Becoming a Psychedelic User: Reflections on Howard Becker and the (Future) Sociology of Psychedelics
Sociology Compass August 1, 2025 DOI: 10.1111/soc4.70096 via OpenAlex
Summary
AI-generated from the abstractHoward Becker's early sociological work on drug use—studying how people learn to become marijuana users and how social context shapes LSD experiences—remains relevant for today's psychedelic research. While clinical trials show therapeutic promise, sociological perspectives on naturalistic psychedelic use are underdeveloped. This paper revisits Becker's concept of a "drug-using subculture" to analyze contemporary psychedelic retreats, where participants collectively "learn to get high." The author argues that studying these retreats as social spaces can inspire a renewed sociology of psychedelics for the 21st century, bridging gaps between clinical research and real-world, non-clinical use.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Theoretical or philosophical paper Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Keywords | Sociology Anthropology Psychoanalysis Epistemology Psychology |
| Citations | 1 |
| Key finding | Becker's sociological framework of drug-using subcultures can be applied to contemporary psychedelic retreats to advance a sociology of psychedelics. |
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.