Dyskurs na temat legalnych substancji psychoaktywnych w perspektywie teorii systemowej Niklasa Luhmanna
Discourse on Legal Psychoactive Substances from the Perspective of the Niklas Luhmann’s System Theory

Summary/Abstract: The article analyzes a particular type of discourse produced by the political system: the discourse on the legal psychoactive substances market in Poland. The Luhmann’s system theory forms the theoretical foundation for the research. The main concepts of the system theory are presented and the attempt is made to suggest how discourse analytical methods can be applied to studyingLuhmann’s systems. The research material comprises the drug policy related statements of politicians and officialsthat appeared in press and parliamentary stenographic records as well as relevant legal documents. The material comes from the period between August 2008 and August 2009 when an amendment to the drug act was drafted and passed. The conclusion stemming from the analysis is that the concept “drug” is most crucially determining the political system’s discourse on psychoactive substances. The interpretations and uses of the concept “drug” as well as the ways, in which these uses make the concept an efficient mechanism of the complexity reduction, are studied.

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