%0 Journal Article
%T Aaron Goodfellow, 'Pharmaceutical Intimacy: Sex, Death, and Methaphetamine'
%A Sophie Bennet
%J Opticon1826
%D 2009
%I Ubiquity Press
%R 10.5334/opt.070911
%X In 2008, Aaron Goodfellow challenged boundaries in sociology, anthropology and material culture studies with his article on sex, death and methamphetamine ¨C an article which refuses to view drug (ab)use from a moral perspective. The result is a fascinating analysis of Mathew¡¯s life. Mathew is a 24-year-old, white, HIV-positive crystal methamphetamine user, in a Baltimore rehabilitation institute on state parole, and receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). In Mathew¡¯s own words, he is ¡®a public health threat number one, huh? (I¡¯m) a gay crystal using, HIV positive convict¡¯ (quoted in Goodfellow 2008, 280). Through his interactions with Mathew, Goodfellow explores the anthropological issue of the contingency of specific substances and of personhood within a modern, urban context, on the edge of ¡®normative society¡¯. The article supports the validity of Tilley¡¯s work on objectification (2006); people and things (in this case, substances) are indivisible. The author encourages us to view Mathew¡¯s situation not as an addiction, but as a partnership between Mathew and substances: Mathew often responds creatively to the substance¡¯s agency with his own agency. In this review, I will briefly discuss the thought-provoking aspects of Goodfellow¡¯s account, which will hopefully encourage you to read the article in full.
%U http://www.opticon1826.com/article/view/59