2134/22908 Emma Wincup Emma Wincup Mark Monaghan Mark Monaghan Scrounger narratives and dependent drug users: welfare, workfare and warfare Loughborough University 2016 Drug use Drug policy Welfare Social security Stigma Workfare Language, Communication and Culture not elsewhere classified Studies in Human Society not elsewhere classified 2016-10-19 09:41:13 Journal contribution https://repository.lboro.ac.uk/articles/journal_contribution/Scrounger_narratives_and_dependent_drug_users_welfare_workfare_and_warfare/9474590 Since 2008 political and media attention has focused on the allegedly problematic behaviour of drug users who ‘choose’ to pursue their ‘habit’ at the expense of the hardworking taxpayer. This forms part of the ‘new welfare commonsense’, which censures welfare dependency and stigmatises drug users as ‘undeserving’ claimants, entrenching the ‘war on drug user’ discourse. This article makes a significant contribution to recognising that stigma is a substantial barrier to recovery. It identifies ways of challenging the ‘scrounger’ narrative as applied to drug users through more informed media reporting and less coercive approaches to address drug and welfare dependency.