Cocaine-related Moral Panic in Hungary in the 1920s: An Analysis of Media Perceptions

Abstract

Abstract Cocaine use was a marginal phenomenon in Hungarian society until the 1920s, when it came to the forefront of media attention. This article provides an overview of the first wave of cocaine use in Hungary by analysing contemporary media perceptions, and covers the causes of rising cocaine use, the characteristics and “othering” of cocaine users and dealers, the cultural and political context of the condemnation of cocaine users and the escalation of responses from the criminal justice and the public health system. The author argues that the sudden increase of fear was a classical example of what sociological literature describes as moral panic. Keywords: cocaine, moral panic, media, criminalisation, deviance, drugs, drug policies, addiction