Framing of Drug Addiction Problem in the Municipality of Banja Luka

This book deals with the social problem of drug addiction in the Municipality of Banja Luka in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It treats drug addiction as an example of marginal, low-profile public issue, addressing the ways in which policy for such an issue is designed, developed and implemented. The choice of drug addiction in Bosnia and Herzegovina gives an opportunity to investigate how in a specific context, marked with uninterested and uninformed public, perceptions of a problem are developed at a local level, placing the focus on the local governance actors active in dealing with drug addiction. Investigation of emergence and functioning of local governance network makes the first part of the research. However, central issue of this work is framing, that is understanding how perception(s) of drug addiction as a social problem were developed, sustained, and how these perceptions influence ways in which the problem is approached and dealt with. Investigation of the interplay between objective and subjective in perceptions of this public issue and formation of more or less coherent ‘mental pictures’ of drug addiction created in the mind of different local actors make an engaging book.