Abstract: This study draws on data collected through 20 in-depth, semi-structured interviews of middle-class and upper-middle class drug users to address four central questions. First, what are their experiences and what meanings do they attach to their experiences? Second, how do they define themselves and their drug use? Third, how do these users describe or conceptualize their symbolic capital? And, fourth, what patterns emerge from the data to suggest that social structure and power relations could account for the similarities and differences in their experiences; more specifically, what patterns emerge to suggest that their experiences are racialized, gendered, and classed? The significance of this study lies in its focus on an under-studied population. Most prior research has focused on poor drug users, many of whom have been involved with the criminal justice system. This group of users has been socially constructed as the 'dangerous user.' While a small number of studies focus on the 'hidden group' of users in the middle and upper-middle classes, additional research is necessary that focuses on their experiences and how these experiences are shaped by social constructions as well as social structure and power. Given this need, I explored the experiences of these hidden users and the meanings they attached to those experiences. I found that the participants defined and understood their use, in part, through prevailing social constructions. Moreover, social constructions were important in shaping how their definitions changed throughout the course of their drug use. In addition, I concluded that the participants conceptualized their symbolic capital through the powerful messages they received growing up as well as the major ideologies to which they were exposed. The data revealed that social structure and power relations influenced the participants' definition process and shaped their experiences. Finally, I found several key ways in which their experiences were racialized, gendered, and classed.