Ep. 61 Student Spotlight: Better Not Drink, Better Not Smoke, We’re Telling You Why: Probation and Strong Arm Sobriety with Victoria Piehowski (and special guest co-host Annabel Fay)

NOTE: Jenn was on the academic job market during the recording of this episode. We knew there was a small but realistic chance she would not be available for a recording. So we recruited fellow CU Buff and Sociology PhD student Annabel Fay https://www.colorado.edu/sociology/annabel-fay

This week we spoke with Victoria Piehowski (pie-house-key), a doctoral candidate in the Sociology department at the University of Minnesota. Victoria talks to her about her work surrounding probation and the impact it can have on those put on probation. She gives us some background information on alcohol and drug laws in the United States and especially policies like the war on drugs and the recent federal pardons for marijuana offenses. Then we discuss how probation is used as a coercion tactic to force people into sobriety. 

Victoria's work has been published in Punishment & Society, Social & Legal Studies, and Law & Social Inquiry. You can find Victoria on Twitter @VPiehowski and https://www.victoriapiehowski.com/