Paper short abstract:

This paper attends to the multiple bodies involved in injecting drug use, which challenges a singular account of ‘the body’ in both the addiction and public health models of understanding/responding to the practice. A wider appreciation of injecting bodies aids more responsive/responsible intervention.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the role of bodies in practices of injecting drug use (IDU). IDU in this context refers to the injection of illegal drugs, predominantly heroin and crack cocaine. I focus here on 6 months fieldwork at a London drug service and interviews with 32 people who inject drugs and 10 service providers.

This paper 'injects' bodies into an otherwise disembodied UK context of understanding and responding to IDU based on two dominant couplings: addiction and recovery; public health and harm reduction. In the former, there is a focus on the 'brain', whilst the latter focuses on the rational decision-making 'mind', and where the body is considered it is in terms of classical biology. My research sought a greater recognition of 'bodies' in their widest sense. In particular, a body mapping (drawing) task was used to help participants articulate visceral experiences and depict the many actants involved.

As such, 'injecting bodies' also refer to the multiple bodies involved and produced in practices of, and responses to IDU. Participants detail several ways of 'keeping themselves together' (Mol and Law, 2004): carefully timing their drug consumption; cleaning the injection area to avoid 'dirty hits'; ensuring they have enough equipment like sterile needles, citric acid etc.; responding to opiate-related issues such as constipation and libido (e.g. eating certain foods and withdrawing slightly). There were also intra-actions (Barad, 2007) with socio-political bodies and stratifications. This paper disrupts a singular account of a destructive drug-using body, thereby enabling more caring and responsive interventions.