Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Dec;44(6):795-811.
doi: 10.1007/s10935-023-00745-z. Epub 2023 Aug 29.

Framing substance use as "recreational" is neither accurate nor helpful for prevention purposes

Zila M Sanchez  1 , Manuel Isorna Folgar  2 , João Pedro Matias  3 , Marcos Paulo Pimentel  4 , Gregor Burkhart  5
Affiliations

Framing substance use as "recreational" is neither accurate nor helpful for prevention purposes

Zila M Sanchez et al. J Prev (2022). 2023 Dec.

Abstract

This debate paper discusses six reasons why the term "recreational substance use" should be avoided. (1) Social norms and beliefs are drivers of behavior; therefore, the normalized use of the term conveys injunctive norms of a fully socially acceptable substance. Injunctive norms are the most important drivers of initiation into substance use. (2) The illusion of being in control, suggesting that if consumed for leisure and recreation it can easily be controlled; (3) Idealized social representations that fuel an idealized image of an alternative glamourous or mindful consumption culture; (4) Downplaying potential harms; (5) The implicit promise of everyday pleasure, the ever-growing potency of cannabis products does not fit the narrative of its use for recreation; (6) Industry as a trojan horse branding discourse of the concept of medical cannabis to normalize the image of non-medical use: to complement "therapeutic" with "recreational". "Recreational use" is a subjective ill-defined term. This debate paper aims to find a better terminological solution, honestly denominating with a neutral, unbiased, and objective connotation what is now called "recreational use". Thus, we propose using the term "non-therapeutic" use.

Keywords: Harms; Prevention; Recreational; Social norms; Substance use.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Adams, P. J., Rychert, M., & Wilkins, C. (2021). Policy influence and the legalized cannabis industry: Learnings from other addictive consumption industries. Addiction, 116(11), 2939–2946. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15483 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Amialchuk, A., Ajilore, O., & Egan, K. (2019). The influence of misperceptions about social norms on substance use among school-aged adolescents. Health economics, 28(6), 736–747. https://doi.org/10.1002/hec.3878 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Areesantichai, C., Perngparn, U., & Pilley, C. (2020). Current cannabis-related situation in the Asia-Pacific region. Current opinion in psychiatry, 33(4), 352–359. https://doi.org/10.1097/YCO.0000000000000616 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ayers, J. W., Caputi, T. L., & Leas, E. C. (2019). The need for federal regulation of marijuana marketing. JAMA. 2019; 321: 2163–2164. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.4432 .
    1. Clare, P. J., Dobbins, T., Bruno, R., Peacock, A., Boland, V., Yuen, W. S., Aiken, A., Degenhardt, L., Kypri, K., Slade, T., Hutchinson, D., Najman, J. M., McBride, N., Horwood, J., McCambridge, J., & Mattick, R. P. (2020). The overall effect of parental supply of alcohol across adolescence on alcohol-related harms in early adulthood-a prospective cohort study. Addiction, 115(10), 1833–1843. https://doi.org/10.1111/add.15005 . - DOI - PubMed

Substances