Narkotik retorikos kaita Lietuvos Respublikos Seime: atvejo tyrimas

The article identifies the main types of the rhetoric of drugs in Lithuanian Parliament in 2007–2008. It also reviews a scholarly literature and official documents on drugs policies. The review demonstrates that social scientists and the United Nations Office On Drugs distinguish three main trends in drug policy: control policy, prevention policy and policy mix (control and prevention policy).To analyze the rhetoric of drugs, B. D. Holian’s classification of crime rhetoric is used. After conducting a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the transcripts of the Lithuanian Parliament, two types of the rhetoric of drugs were identified: control and punishment rhetoric and prevention and treatment rhetoric. The main topics of the control and punishment rhetoric were related to drug control, punishment for drug possession and war on drugs. The main topics of the prevention and treatment rhetoric included drug education and prevention programs, and treatment for the dependency on illicit drugs. The analyzed data demonstrated that the control and punishment rhetoric was dominant. The word “drugs” was found in 227 context units (the length of a context unit was 120 words). The control and punishment rhetoric was found in 218 context units, prevention and treatment rhetoric, in 166 context units.