Image © Corey Ogilivie
I read with surprise the story of controversial film, "Streets of Plenty," being made by a man posing as a homeless person, and engaging in street life in Vancouver's notorious downtown east side, including smoking crack cocaine, and shooting up heroin in North America's only safe injection site.
What surprised me was not the unusual take on the situation -- that support is easy to access, and addiction is a choice -- but that the poser was criticized for taking drugs "just for a documentary."
The last time I checked, crack and heroin were against the law. So stating that taking drugs in order to do "undercover" work and to convey a deeper understanding of people's drug use experience is "irresponsible" seems to imply a kind of hierarchy of the acceptability of reasons to take drugs. Although the hierarchy of the social acceptability of addictive behaviors is well established, it is clear that it even penetrates the world of illicit drug use.
You might expect a kind of "anything goes" attitude among supporters of legalized drug use, yet it seems that there is an argument that taking drugs to cope with pain is forgivable, but taking drugs to explore an experience or to prove a point is not.
This seems consistent with the "self medication" hypothesis -- the idea that some addicts are attempting to treat an underlying condition with their drug use, while other drug users are simply being irresponsible.
In reality, journalists and researchers have often worked undercover, or have employed those with "privileged access" to discover the secrets of illicit groups. And the process of addiction often starts with curiosity, experimentation, or pleasure-seeking, although it can quickly become a cycle of pain-avoidance.
What do you think? Are some forms of illicit drug use more acceptable than others?
As the director of this film, of course I do believe this. For example, sometimes actors need to behave in ways dangerous and irresponsible in order to get as close as possible to the characters ethos. This was our mission: to understand a subculture from within its boundaries, and within its behaviors.