fandomnumbergenerator | In response to the Three Patch Podcast Open Call for Suggestions for the Sherlock & Drugs Roundtable

http://threepatchpodcast.tumblr.com/post/110038716255/three-patch-podcast-is-looking-for-participants

Taking this as an opportunity to try to organize my thoughts on this:

Sherlock Holmes in ACD canon:

Cocaine was legal (or at least unregulated) when the early stories were written, but it was normally drunk in Vin Mariani or patent tonics, so injection was, even then, weird and medically suspect. Drinking cocaine means that most of it is destroyed in the liver before getting to the brain, so it is a much milder stimulant.
Holmes’s explanation for his use - that his brain starts to tear itself apart when he’s bored - suggest a self-medication model
Popular opinion on cocaine changed after the early stories were written (from an eccentricity to a vice) particularly in America, where Doyle wanted to get his stories republished
Morphine is mentioned initially, but dropped from later stories, maybe because morphine became associated with addiction and vice earlier than cocaine
In the later stories, Watson says that cocaine use was risking to derail his career, but this is never really demonstrated in the text

Things in Sherlock BBC that fanfic tries to explain or deal with

Mycroft’s treats Sherlock (who by outward appearances is a brilliant and successful detective) like a child, and Sherlock is resentful
What happened in all the years between college and meeting John?
Did Sherlock meet the members of his homeless network when he was homeless?
Sherlock is impulsive and thrill-seeking, unable to self-regulate, and cannot stand to be bored
His celibacy suggests that he may have “given-up” sex along with drugs at some point in the past

Things I wish fanfic did differently

A lot of the descriptions of both the subjective experience and the physical details of getting high, of cravings, of cocaine withdrawal seem poorly researched and don’t ring true. (This may seem petty, but I feel like a lot more good faith research goes into describing specific sex positions, firearms, shibari, etc. while pop culture tropes about drugs are taken at face value.)
It seems weird to me that Sherlock is basically never shown smoking crack or heroin (even though UK heroin is brown, the smokable form).
I am really uncomfortable with Sherlock being forcibly detoxed (e.g. by John or Lestrade) in ways that are essentially kidnapping, especially if Sherlock is later grateful. Sherlock being put in rehab against his will by Mycroft is still problematic, but is not actually unlawful restraint.
I hate to hear John (a doctor) use the word junky. Unfortunately, this showed up in S3, so it’s now canon.
Sherlock not being allowed to take pain medication when he’s seriously injured. This is unfortunately a serious issue in the real world.
I personally find it hard to imagine Sherlock (with his mysterious disregard for where money comes from) having been homeless or doing sex work by necessity (as opposed to for research) but I have seen this scenario written well, usually involving Mycroft blocking Sherlock’s access to a trust fund.
Only tangentially related, but a lot of the writing about sex work is pretty disturbing, particularly the Pretty Woman, Sherlock being rescued by John the john scenario

Fic recs:

Falling, Flying. (All My Love on Paper Planes) by Queertrees

Can’t Rewind Now We’ve Gone Too Far by Basser

I Hear Those Voices That Will Not Be Drowned by Eldritchhorrors

One Day at a Time and Ava Watson verse by KeelieThompson1