Il “drogato” nella sfera pubblica degli anni Ottanta: da “malato” a “minaccia”

Between the 1970s and 1980s, after the arrival of heroin on the Italian market and the increase in drug use among the younger generation, the public’s perception of the phenomenon also began to change. Despite the diversity of substances and addictions, the image of the drug user came to be mainly associated with the figure of the heroin addict, who in turn was gradually transformed from a “sick person” or “victim” to a “public menace”: a socially dangerous individual, who is often perpetrator of further deviant behavior as well. In this process of marginalization and criminalization of drug addiction the media system played a decisive role. The interaction between the media, the public and politics strengthened the consensus toward the prohibitionist approach.