Cannabis (marijuana) has undergone a normalizing process as indicated by high use rates, social tolerance, and broader cultural acceptance of its use in many countries. Yet, consistent with its status as a banned drug, users still face the threat of legal sanctions and experiences of stigma that challenge the assumptions of the normalization thesis. In this paper we shed light on extra-legal forms of stigma based on in-depth interviews with marijuana users ( N = 92) randomly recruited in the city of Toronto. Notwithstanding indications of a normalizing process in respondents’ understanding and experience of use, mainstream conventional perspectives about cannabis as risky, even marginal or deviant, were prominent as well. The findings are interpreted with reference to Goffman’s (1963) theoretical distinction between normalization and the more apt description of normification reflected in the attitudes of marijuana users. Consistent with the latter term, these data indicate that stigma is internalized by users which results in the active reinforcement and performance of established cultural requirements emphasizing self-control.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.