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Analysis of institutional authors

Kohek MAuthorRomani OAuthor

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August 16, 2021
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Ancient psychoactive plants in a global village: The ritual use of cannabis in a self-managed community in Catalonia

Publicated to:International Journal Of Drug Policy. 98 - 2021-12-01 98(), DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2021.103390

Authors: Kohek M; Sánchez Avilés C; Romaní O; Bouso JC

Affiliations

ICEERS Foundation (International Center for Ethnobotanical Education - Author
Int Ctr Ethnobot Educ Res & Serv ICEERS, Carrer Semilveda 65,Local 2, Barcelona 08015, Spain - Author
Univ Rovira & Virgili, Dept Anthropol Philosophy & Social Work, Catalunya Campus,Av Catalunya 35, Tarragona 43002, Spain - Author
Universitat Rovira i Virgili - Author
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Abstract

Background: Cannabis is a plant with a rich history of medical, recreational, industrial and spiritual uses. This paper aims to explore drug use rituals as methods of community-controlled use that help maintain a self-regulated and healthy relation to the substance in questions. Furthermore, it explores how cannabis is used in developing spirituality and a sense of community. The ritual use of cannabis is discussed in the context of drug policy. Methods: Ethnographic research methods, such as fieldwork, participant observation, in-depth interviews, and qualitative analysis, were used to research a phenomenological community in rural Catalonia, where ancient psychoactive plants (APP), such as ayahuasca and cannabis, are regularly used in a ritual context. Results: Cannabis has a long history of ritual/spiritual uses and is still being used for such purposes in Catalonia. The rituals are effective harm reduction techniques and can even generate beneficial effects for the individual as well as the community by strengthening bonds between community members. The rituals associated with APP are seen as spiritual or religious practices, as well as forms of self-care and community-care, rather than involving drug dependence or addiction. Conclusion: The contemporary use of APP in Western societies is gaining popularity. International drug policies and the schedule of controlled drugs claim to be based on scientific evidence, but this evidence is limited. The contemporary myopic focus on the risks and harms of drugs overlooks important realities, such as the benefits of non-problematic drug use. These omissions could in part be rectified through the consideration of scientific findings from the field of ethnography regarding the spiritual and community dimensions of drug use.

Keywords

cannabiscontextculturedrugdrug policyharmshealthritualAlpha-pineneAncient psychoactive plantsCannabisDrug policyRitual

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal International Journal Of Drug Policy due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2021, it was in position 5/37, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Substance Abuse.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from the Field Citation Ratio (FCR) of the Dimensions source, it yields a value of: 3.77, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: Dimensions Oct 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-10-12, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 2
  • Scopus: 5
  • Google Scholar: 13

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-10-12:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 92.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 92 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 20.3.
  • The number of mentions on the social network Facebook: 1 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 24 (Altmetric).
  • The number of mentions on Wikipedia: 1 (Altmetric).

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Kohek /, Maja) .