SOC 347: Studies In Addictions
Letter: (I have attached some of the guest lecture PowerPoints we had to add into the letter).
The question you select is to be addressed in a ‘letter’ format – either to a friend, newspaper editor, or policy maker. This means that you will addresses the question/situation in a conversational style and should assume the reader has never taken this class. (Yes, you can use ‘I’ statements!)
– 1. Letter to The Editor: Public Advocacy
You are concerned about the public perception of substance use in Saskatchewan and feel public advocacy could make a difference. In this letter to a newspaper editor in Saskatchewan, please advocate for the integration of multiple perspectives to revise substance use policy. These perspectives should come from different stakeholders including; persons with lived or living experience of substance use, the broader society/culture, service providers, and decision or policy makers. What do these different perspectives have to offer and why is it important to hear from each? Consider the relationships between these different stakeholders in your letter.
– 2. Letter to Anyone: Personal Advocacy
As senior-level undergraduates, you hold unique views of ‘what matters’ for the study of addictions and problematic substance use in Canada. Focusing on any topic related to problematic substance use, please provide a personal letter addressing a key topic area that you think is relevant for this course and for substance use advocacy. In the first paragraph of your letter, make clear the topic area you are addressing and your position on this topic.
– 3. Letter to Sue: Policy Advocacy (on a personal level)
You are having a casual conversation at a party. It turns out that the person you are speaking with, Sue, is a provincial policy advisor in Saskatchewan. Policy advisors work to identify and develop key policy areas. They do this by assembling, interpreting and analyzing information to be shared with elected representatives and other stakeholders or decision makers. During your conversation Sue says: “Well as you know, only certain people really get addicted, and our top priority is ensuring each health care dollar provides the most impact possible for the broadest number of people in Saskatchewan. So addiction really isn’t a priority area for my work.” You’re a bit stunned by this comment and following the party it just keeps nagging at you. Write a letter to Sue on Facebook responding to her statement.
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The letter should include mention of at least three sources used during the term, but there is no need for formal citation. These mentions can be from peer-review/scholarly articles, videos, and guest presentations.
Students should aim for no less than one page (single space, 12pt Times New Roman font, one-inch page margins) and no more than two pages for the letter. (Going a little bit over is okay, but please adhere to the length guideline as closely as possible. This assignment should take no more than one-day to complete, possibly less if you’re current in the course materials!)
Letter Format Example:
Dear Mike,
Hey little brother, it has been way too long and I’m trying to complete my final exam during this pandemic – It’s kind of terrible but also revealing our social structures, I guess. I think this is why I study sociology; I’m fascinated by how people relate to each other and the way we make decisions collectively. My prof told me that we should always ask ‘how’ about something we’re investigating (even if our grammar is terrible as result) because this will impact the 5W’s (who, what, where, when, why) and potentially shift our thinking. I’m still trying to understand this idea in relation to research methods and study design. But mostly I’ve been thinking about how James Dixon, a guest speaker in the class, said so much about how the social determinants of health are basically the outcomes of the policy choices we make at a national and provincial level, so this gives me hope for change in our approach to substance use. Did you know that many people speak about the problematic use of substances as a response, or a way to cope, with trauma? That’s what Gabor Mate emphasizes in his book anyway. While it’s obviously more complex than one single cause, it was an interesting read that brought together personal stories and medical research, so the book showed the whole picture in a more detailed way. I really appreciated his distinction between genetic predisposition and predetermination because it means we can build up protective factors to help prevent the harms of substance use and people can take action to prevent problematic use in the future. It was always hard to hear that all of life was predetermined due to my childhood experiences, so this distinction really gave me hope. The medical literature can be so impersonal sometimes. But we also read a paper about the anthropology of the system of biomedicine at the start of the class so I better understand how information is shared from that perspective. And that’s a really good word – perspective – because we’ve been looking at problematic substance use from the perspective of service providers, policy makers and other decision makers, community members, and of course people with lived and living experience of substance use. It’s weird how in this field of health care the voices of those who are most affected by policy decisions are so often excluded from decision making. I think this is why the Canadian Association of People who Use Drugs (CAPUD) put forward the slogan ‘nothing about us without us’. I also worry that people in Saskatchewan still have the wrong ideas about who might experience problematic substance use because it’s definitely not limited to the city of Vancouver!… etc etc etc.

Section 2: Meme
– I’d like the meme to be from the November 18 2020 Treatment, Recovery & Support PowerPoint
– The meme can based on all the overall presentations provided to get a better sense.
Throughout the term our class discussion and readings focused on the development of sociological interventions and the need for culture change regarding problematic substance use and addictions. We engaged this formally through the intervention assignment and also by reading Gabor Mate’s book In the realm of hungry ghosts: Close encounters with addiction. We further engaged with tweets/question weekly to summarize themes and to question how stereotypes or social norms could be challenged or changed more broadly.
Create a meme that speaks to the most important aspect of this course for you. This meme can reflect any topic, theme, idea, or approach that you feel reflects an important take- away message from this course and topic. If you want to provide a written paragraph explaining your meme this is welcome with the submission, but is not required. Your meme can also just stand alone without further explanation. (Please note: If you cannot access a meme making website, please just include an image with a caption).