Neoliberal governance and the homogenization of substance use and risk in night-time leisure scenes

Trends in substance use and risks of harm are partially contingent on the twin regulatory apparatuses of government and economy. In this paper, we integrate prior research on the restructuring of the night-time cultural economy, the state's War on Drugs and the macro-level production of risk using Philadelphia's night-time leisure scene as a case example. In doing so, we consider how the reorganization of night-time leisure has affected substance use among young adults such that use patterns and risks of harm are homogenized across nightlife attendees, independent of their genrescene affiliations. Theoretically, we aim to advance the risk environment paradigm of drug-related harm by considering direct-contact, predatory forms of victimization that result from macro-level shifts reflecting the contradictions of neoliberal governance.