This paper draws upon qualitative research with 100 smokers (50 male and 50 female) in two Scottish areas of disadvantage to investigate their perceptions and experiences of quitting. The fieldwork took place between 1999 and 2000, with data collected through in-depth individual interviews and the completion of a smoking day grid. While many interviewees wanted to quit, they drew on their understandings of habit and addiction to illustrate the difficulties which quitting posed. Addiction was referenced through accounts of actual and anticipated unpleasant withdrawal symptoms, while accounts of the difficulties associated with quitting drew primarily upon habitual usage and routine aspects of their lives. Interviewees reported interacting frequently with other smokers. They also highlighted how stressful aspects of their lives perpetuated habitual smoking and prompted relapse following periods of cessation. Although the contexts inhabited by the interviewees were crucial in inhibiting successful quitting attempts, these factors acted in conjunction with and exacerbated feelings of physiological dependence on tobacco. Interviewees were sceptical about the effectiveness of nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) other than in the immediate or short term. For the most part, interviewees felt that NRT could not address aspects of their lives that appeared to support and sustain smoking in the long term. The paper concludes that in order to facilitate and sustain smoking cessation, tobacco control interventions need to tackle both nicotine addiction and the material circumstances experienced by disadvantaged smokers.

Research into potentially sensitive issues with young people presents numerous methodological and ethical challenges. While recent studies have highlighted the advantages of task-based activities in research with young people, the literature on life history research provides few suggestions as to effective and appropriate research tools for encouraging young people to tell their stories. This paper explores the contribution that may be made to such research by the life grid, a visual tool for mapping important life events against the passage of time and prompting wideranging discussion. Critical advantages of the life grid in qualitative research include: its visual element which can help to engage interviewer and interviewee in a process of constructing and reflecting on a concrete life history record; its role in creating a more relaxed research encounter supportive of the respondent's 'voice'; and facilitating the discussion of sensitive issues. In addition, the way in which use of the grid anchors such narratives in accounts of everyday life, often revealing interesting tensions, is explored. These points are discussed with reference to an exploratory study of young people's experience of parental substance use.

Objectives To examine the behaviour and attitudes related to smoking and contraband tobacco products among smokers in two socially deprived areas.

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Background Users of darknet markets refer to product quality as one of the motivations for buying drugs there, and vendors present quality as a selling point. However what users understand by quality and how they evaluate it is not clear. This paper investigates how users established and compared drug quality. MethodsWe used a two-stage method for investigating users' assessments. The user forum of a darknet market that we called 'Merkat' was analysed to develop emergent themes. Qualitative interviews with darknet users were conducted, then forum data was analysed again. To enhance the applicability of the findings, the forum was sampled for users who presented as dependent as well as recreational.ResultsQuality could mean reliability, purity, potency, and predictability of effect. We focused on the different kinds of knowledge users drew on to assess quality. These were: embodied; craft; and chemical. Conclusion.Users’ evaluations of quality depended on their experience, the purpose of use, and its context. Market forums are a case of indigenous harm reduction where users share advise and experiences and can be usefully engaged with on these terms.