Pill Heads : governance, normalization & risk in prescription drug use

![CDATA[In August 2008, American investigative journalist and prescription painkiller addict Joshua Lyon distributed an initial proposal for his autobiographical book, Pill Head, to six publishing houses. Two days later, as a matter of sheer coincidence, the cover feature of New York Times Magazine was about the abuse of – and addiction to – prescription painkillers. The article initiated a bidding war for Lyon’s book. On the 25th of June, 2009, twelve days before the release of Lyon’s book, pop star Michael Jackson overdosed on the pharmaceutical drug Propofol. The controversy surrounding Jackson’s death sparked huge interest in the impending release of Pill Head, which went on to sell with relative success. Lyon was invited to be part of the media coverage of Jackson’s death by several media outlets, introduced as an ‘expert’ on pharmaceutical addiction, and his book promoted as yet another cautionary tale about prescription medication abuse. What follows in this article is a close reading of the anecdotal accounts presented in Lyon’s book, with a specific focus on the stories of Lyon’s acquaintances Heather and Caleb, as they relate to the growing public concern, medical cautioning and government regulation of prescription drugs. Importantly, this paper does not directly engage specific individuals who (ab)use prescription drugs, rather it provides a discursive analysis of the complex network of discourses that both inform and construct current debates about problematic use of pharmaceuticals. This however should not discount the applicability of the concepts presented to the material realities of the prescription drug user. While this paper will certainly engage the assumptions made by medical and psychological research, it does not seek to undermine work on drug science or mental illness. Indeed, part of the purpose of this article is to demonstrate the relevance and impact of the ways in which our culture approaches drug use, legality, medicine, psychology, and their interconnectedness.]]