Chemical Highs

Abstract

Abstract Chemical Highs looks at how young people themselves develop and share with their peers a multitude of ways to maximize the pleasures and minimize the risks involved in getting high, an empowering practice that we refer to as “harm reduction from below.” Ethnographies from the Amsterdam festival and afterparty scene illuminate two patterns: young people’s efforts to creatively self-regulate to achieve “hassle-free highs,” and the potentially positive role of government policy. This context is contrasted with that of youth in Indonesia, who also seek out hassle-free highs with their peers, but live under a government that is waging a deadly war against drugs, where they have little access to harm reduction information and tools. Our team discovered that Indonesian youth are turning to psychoactive prescription drugs (PPDs) to get high, which they consider safer than illicit drugs that can lead to the death penalty, but which are also highly addictive.