null Gemma Blok receives Dutch Research Council grant for research on drug stories: Tales from the Dutch Drug Closet

Gemma Blok receives Dutch Research Council grant for research on drug stories: Tales from the Dutch Drug Closet

What do stories from (former) users tell us about the role drugs have come to play in the Netherlands over the past half century? Due to the illegal status of substances such as cocaine, ecstasy, heroin and psychedelics, stories of experience are surrounded by stigma and taboo. Gemma Blok, professor of History of Mental Health and Culture at the Open University, wants to break this and calls on Dutch people to come out of the drug closet. For her research 'Tales from the Dutch Drug Closet', in which she is collaborating with Poppi, the Drugs Museum Amsterdam, she receives a grant from NWO.

'Psychoactive revolution'

What do user stories reveal about the connection between the rise of drug cultures and individualization since the 1960s? What meaning do (former) users give to intoxication? Blok: 'I find these incredibly fascinating and important questions. Playing with the mind through psychoactive substances has really exploded since the 1960s. This applies to both illegal substances that we call 'drugs' and legal substances including alcohol and tranquilizers. The background of this 'psychoactive revolution' and its impact deserves further investigation. I am extremely pleased to be able to kick-start this project.' This nationwide research serves as a starting point for internationalization of digital storytelling around intoxication.

Illegal market

Even in the Netherlands, despite the coffeeshop culture, drug use is surrounded by silence. In addition to the ban of many types of drugs, there is widespread moral disapproval of them. Users fear reputational damage and rely on an illegal market, via the 'dark web' or 'social media': drug menus are sent around via WhatsApp. What experiences are behind this vast illegal sector? We only partially know. Well-known stories show the extremes: addictions, or the positive experiences of activist users. The stories about drugs we know are often in black and white. The project wants to look for the shades of gray in between.

Just for 'fun'

'Stories from the Dutch Drug Closet' hopes to entice more people to share their experiences: 'ordinary' Dutch people who use occasionally, or have used in certain periods of their lives; or perhaps (periodically) struggle to limit their use; just as many people do with alcohol. Do people use drugs purely for 'fun', or do intoxicants also have a function in their self-development, meaning, social relationships, or performance in studies or jobs? The stories will be analyzed by Gemma Blok and her team for scientific research into the functionalities of intoxication in relation to historical change.

Future policy on narcotics

In addition, the stories will be preserved for future research in the online repository of KNAW-DANS, also a partner in the project. If narrators give permission, the stories will also be used for public products, such as podcasts or videos. Finally, the project plans to present the results to politicians and other stakeholders in a final symposium in 2025, where the central question will be: what lessons and focal points do the user stories offer for shaping future policy on narcotics?

Collect stories

Blok and her team, which will include a postdoctoral researcher and a project coordinator, are developing an app that allows Dutch people to tell their stories online anonymously or with their buttocks exposed. They will also drive a bus through the Netherlands to collect stories, and organize digital storytelling workshops. After the start of the project, expected in October 2023, Dutch people will hear more about the project's activities and also how they can participate.

About Gemma Blok

Prof. dr. Gemma Blok is affiliated with the Faculty of Cultural Studies at the Open University. Her research focuses on the history of psychiatry and addiction care (GGZ) in the Netherlands and the history of 'drink, drugs and pills'. She is particularly interested in users' stories about the role psychoactive substances played in their lives. As she argued in her oration The intoxication as metaphor (2018), this perspective is often missing, both in historiography and in the public debates we have about drug use.

Between 2019 and 2022, she worked as a principal investigator in the international research project 'Governing the Narcotic City. Discourses, imaginaries, practices and consequences of public drug use from the 1970s until the present'. that was funded by HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area).

Dutch Research Council

Blok will receive 400,000 euros from the Dutch Research Council (NOW) for her research project 'Tales from the Dutch Drug Closet'. The funds come from the Social Sciences and Humanities Open Competition - M round 2022. This funding gives researchers the opportunity to conduct research on a topic of their own choice, without thematic preconditions. NWO received a total of 180 applications within this call, 60 of which were awarded.

Portretfoto Gemma Blok
Gemma Blok