Drugs and doublethink in a marginalised community

On the basis of observations and qualitative interview material, the article presents an account of the patterns of illicit drug use among Russian-speaking adolescents in Narva, a problem-ridden industrial town on the north-eastern border of Estonia. Both legal and illegal drugs are easily available and frequently used by secondary school students and school dropouts. Neither the schools nor the parents are able to act effectively as enforcers of official norms; instead, the informal peer group, the kampanya, guides the activities of the problematic youth. The local adult community seems to tacitly accept many other forms of illegal behaviour, and illicit drug use can be regarded merely as another instance of a greater discrepancy between official norms and informal practices. We consider this discrepancy characteristic of post-socialist Central and Eastern European societies and refer to it as doublethink. This mode of thought may form an additional link between social deprivation and problematic drug use. Measures for preventing drug addiction and marginalisation in the former socialist countries need to be accompanied by the establishment of mutual trust and an active re-creation of a shared moral universe between communities and public authorities. © Springer 2005.