Cristiana Vale Pires graduated in psychology with an MSc and PhD in Anthropology and has worked in the drug field since 2009. She has experience as a psychologist, harm reduction practitioner, and manager in projects working with people who use drugs, sex workers, people who have experienced gender-based violence (GBV), and chemsex practitioners. She has also developed research studies regarding the experiences of people who use drugs in nightlife environments, GBV, gender stereotypes, drug stigma, and gender double standards in the drug field, city-level drug policies, and harm reduction responsiveness in crisis contexts. She is a founding member of the NGO Kosmicare, a lecturer at the Faculty of Education and Psychology of the Catholic University of Portugal, and a researcher at the Research Center for Human Development. She is also a member of the European Group on Gender and Drugs.

ABSTRACT

Title: Nightclubs, modern drugs and transgressive gender performativity: a socio-historical analysis of the emergence of drug prohibitions in Portugal

During the period between the post-First World War and the establishment of the Estado Novo dictatorship in Portugal in 1926, drug use (beyond alcohol), bohemian nightlife, and more fluid and transgressive gender performativity shaped the urban lifestyle of privileged young adults. The conservative voices associated the use of cocaine and morphine with moral and sexual degradation, particularly among women. This backlash ultimately led to the closing of nightclubs and the criminalization of “modern drugs” for non-medical purposes on 9 December 1924, aligning the national drug policies with the international drug control treaty signed in the International Opium Convention in 1912. Paradoxically, most drug-related problems described in Portugal were cases of iatrogenic addiction.

This presentation draws on media, literature, and scientific sources focused on Les Années Folles to build a critical and comprehensive perspective regarding the dynamic interplay between nightlife, drug use, societal changes, and their historical (dis)continuities. In the twenties of 2000s, what can we learn from the twenties of 1900s?