Is Cannabis Tourism Deviant? A Theoretical Perspective

Abstract

With the growth of cannabis tourism, destinations such as the Netherlands have begun to offer cannabis-related products and services to visitors, including tourists from countries where all drugs are strictly prohibited. Yet limited research has sought to understand cannabis-oriented tourists' efforts to neutralize deviant connotations, namely by justifying or rationalizing misbehavior, when deciding to participate in cannabis tourism. This research note proposes a framework of deviant consumption behavior (DCB) constructed of geographic shifting, self-identity shifting, and moral identity shifting from the perspective of cannabis-oriented tourists to delineate tourists' decision-making process around engaging in deviant behaviors. The proposed framework suggests that previously developed DCB frameworks in the marketing and consumer behavior literature should be adapted for use in outbound tourism research. This research note also highlights areas for debate and investigation regarding cannabis tourists' deviant behavior. Future research directions are provided based on the proposed framework as it applies to deviant tourism research.

Tourism of Polish cannabis consumers

“…Participation in cannabis tourism, previously treated as a deviant or marginal behavior, results from in-depth cultural changes in the modern world (Wen et al, 2018;Ying et al, 2019). Western societies rapidly change and they start taking positive attitude towards wide cannabis consumption for relaxation (Wen et al, 2018).…”

Cannabis tourists' perceived constraints to engaging in commercial cannabis tourism overseas: a comparison of first-time and repeat tourists

“…Most interviewees expressed guilt about consuming cannabis even if it were legal but perceived anticipatory guilt as a motivator rather than a constraint to engaging in drug tourism; individuals were driven by their curiosity and yearning for a unique life experience. Ying et al (2019) proposed a framework indicating that tourism facilitates drug tourists' neutralization of deviant behaviour (e.g. drug taking)namely recreational cannabis usethrough three mechanisms: neutralization through geographic shifting, identity shifting and moral shifting.…”

“…Citizens interested in trying cannabis have thus begun to turn to overseas travel to dabble in consumption. Several factors affect recreational drug use while on holiday, one of which is the perceived freedom of a destination unique from one's home; a sense of liberation can inspire visitors to engage in unusual behaviour (Wen et al, 2018;Ying et al, 2019).…”

Social representations of tourists' deviant behaviours: An analysis of Reddit comments

“…Consequently, deviant behaviour within a tourism context has, to date, been very narrowly defined. For instance, studies have tended to focus on more visible deviant behaviour, such as the use of drugs, crime, and nudism (e.g., Ying et al, 2019). This approach ignores the nuanced and complex reality of deviance.…”