Campus News
The Emeriti Association presents the 2026 Fall Emeriti Faculty Lecture
Intoxications and Their Meanings: featuring UCSC Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Legal Studies Craig Reinarman
UCSC Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Legal Studies Craig Reinarman.
Key takeaways
- In his lecture, Reinarman will unpack how societies construct “drug scares” and moral panics around illicit substances, drawing a line from 19th-century temperance crusades to the modern fentanyl crisis.
- The talk will explore the paradoxes of the current legal landscape, where cannabis legalization and the rise of psychedelic medicine coexist alongside punitive drug policies.
- When: Tuesday, November 10, 7–8:30 p.m.
- Where: UCSC Music Center Recital Hall and virtual
For over a century, a wave of restrictive policies and intense public anxiety has shaped the legal and social landscape of the United States, as the nation repeatedly found itself caught in the grips of political and cultural “drug scares.” From the criminalization of cannabis to the devastating “War on Drugs” policies of the late 20th century, these campaigns have fueled aggressive legislation, mass incarceration, and enduring social divisions.
Craig Reinarman, Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Legal Studies at UCSC, will delve into the cultural and political forces that sustain these cycles, exploring what they reveal about American society and its complicated relationship with altered states. A world-renowned sociologist, Reinarman has spent his career examining drug policy, law, political sociology, and the mechanics of moral crusades. His foundational research continues to shed light on how drug laws are often shaped less by pharmacological realities and more by systemic anxieties, corporate interests, and social inequalities.
In his upcoming lecture, Reinarman will draw a direct connection between historical anti-drug crusades and the current public health crises facing the country today, pointing out that our analytical focus has historically been misplaced.
“We pay so much attention to the iniquity of addiction that we scarcely notice the ubiquity of intoxication,” Reinarman said. “Altered states of consciousness have been a part of human culture across thousands of years, and nearly every civilization, yet our institutions remain ill-equipped to understand the meanings behind human substance use.”
According to Reinarman, while historical drug panics like the crack-cocaine scare of the 1980s were deeply racialized and used to justify punitive legal crackdowns, today’s landscape presents a fascinating and contradictory divergence. On one hand, the devastation of the fentanyl and opioid crisis continues to animate traditional, punitive rhetoric. On the other hand, the widespread legalization of cannabis and the mainstreaming of psychedelics for medical and therapeutic treatment are actively forcing a cultural reassessment of previously demonized substances.
Reinarman hopes his lecture will spark a deeper, more rational reflection on the boundaries of drug policy and the sociological underpinnings of substance use. By looking beyond the sensationalism of moral panics, he invites attendees to consider a more humane, health-centered approach to regulation and harm reduction.
“I hope to open a conversation about how we construct the meanings of these substances, the failures of prohibition, and what a rational drug policy might actually look like in the modern world,” he says.
Join Reinarman for a critical, illuminating discussion about the intersection of law, culture, and society.
Register for the 2026 Fall Emeriti Faculty Lecture
When: Tuesday, November 10, 7–8:30 p.m.
Where: UCSC Music Center Recital Hall