Zinberg’s theory (1984) proposes that “social controls apply to the use of all drugs”. He describes these social controls as sanctions and rituals that regulate where, why and how drugs are taken. They are devised with the intention of minimising both harm and addiction. Sanctions define whether and how a particular drug should be used. They may be informal and shared by a group, as in the common maxim’s associated with alcohol use, “If you drink and drive, you’re a bloody idiot” for example, or they may be formal, as in various laws and policies aimed at regulating drug use and minimising harm. Rituals are stylized, prescribed patterns of behaviour surrounding the use of drugs. They have to do with procuring the drug, administration of the drug, selecting the physical and social settings for use, activities undertaken The frequently used maxim for psychedelics, “use in a good place at a good time with good people,” is an example of this. Two rituals that are in harmony with the maxim are the selection of a pleasant rural setting for psychedelic use and the timing of use to avoid driving while ‘tripping.’ Informal sanctions, which are followed by both small and large groups of users, indicate the appropriate time, place and way in which a drug is taken and can also provide the users with a safe environment. Some users refuse to learn how to do things such inject on their own and only let a trusted person or group of people inject them in an effort to restrict drug use. Jean-Paul Grund uses an interview based experiment in “Rituals of Regulation” (Grund, 1993) to demonstrate the symbolic dimension of frontloading; meaning through sharing drugs, the bonds between the users are strengthened, increasing the caution taken to make sure themselves and their friends are all free of harm due to
A largely debated topic in today's society is whether or not psychedelic drugs should be legalized for medicinal purposes and if they should, how this legalization would affect the communities in which they’re being prominently medicinally used. Although many scientists have argued that psychedelics pose a mental health risk, closer examination shows that communities would have a significantly lower depression rate if certain psychedelics were legalized. Now to fully understand how psychedelics could be beneficial or the opposite thereof, you’ll need to understand how they work and what they are. What a psychedelic drug is, the immediate effects, both mentally and physically, and how communities might benefit and function with the sudden use of these drugs.
Psychedelic drugs were an icon of the 1960s, its role embedded within the rising counterculture in response to the economic, social, and political turmoil throughout the United States. As a means to impose a central power and control social order, federal authorities were quick to ban the recreational and medical use of psychedelic drugs without consideration of its potential benefits. The recent state laws on the legalization of marijuana in Oregon and Colorado with others soon to follow, is a sure sign of an eventual collective shift in the perceptions of psychedelic drugs. Not only does Daniel Pinchbeck document his reflections on the personal consumption of psychedelic drugs in his unconventional novel Breaking Open the Head, he also advances several assertions on modern Western society in his exploration of polarized attitudes on this controversial topic.
We live in a “recreational drug culture”, with the current criminalization of illicit drugs being driven by the common but not entirely universally accepted assumption that negative externalities will instead be placed in on society. Addressing the seemingly ever-infinite "war on drugs", in "Why We Should Decriminalize Drug Use", Douglas Husak argues in favour of the decriminalization of drugs in terms of not criminalizing the use of such recreational drugs. In this paper, I will dispute that Kusak 's argument succeeds because of the lack of justification for prohibition, and the counterproductiveness and how numerically evident the ineffectiveness of these contemporary punitive policies are.
Drug dependence or addiction reliance is an expanding scourge around the world. Drug legalization or at least decriminalization has been discussed for quite a long time as an answer for the drug issue. Indeed, at times authorization appears to be legitimate however in a few circumstances it is most certainly not. The relationship between of crime and drugs, the distinctions and similarities between alcohol and drugs and the advantages of an organized commerce approach in drug legalization. (Bonevac, 2015)
Implications of implementing this approach may be “to reduce the dangers of drug use for the community and the individual, and to shift the focus of illegal drugs as primarily a criminal justice of medical issue to a social and/or public health iss...
Many factors contribute to the reasons why drug use still exists in America today. It provides needed job titles, it is an on going process for medical research, and acts as a contribution to help certain people in their own personal ways. Drugs have been around for nearly two decades and as the years progress, the war on drugs seems as if it has no intensions of slowing down. This problem will only continue to intensify in an inferior situation. In using both the functionalist and interactionist perspectives, several imperfections such as addiction and the fact that people use drugs in illegal ways are identified. Ultimately, it is only us as a society as a whole who can take the responsibility and can change this issue … for better or for worse.
The term addiction can be interpreted in many ways, concering both illegal and legal substances. Not only can one become addicted to a substance, but also activities like gambling, shoplifting, and sex. Prior to considering addiction, one must first understand what constitutes a substance. Levinthal (2002) describes a drug as a chemical substance that changes the functioning of the body when ingested (4). Although illegal drugs may come to mind when hearing this definition, alcohol and tobacco fit under this criteria as well. For the purpose of this essay, controlled and regulated (licit/legal) substances will be focused upon. Alcohol is a regulated substance that can be thought of as a social drug (Levinthal, 2002, p.192) and arguably tobacco
Hart, Carl L., and Charles Ksir. "Drug Use as a Social Problem." Drugs, Society And Human Behavior. 14th ed. New York City: William R. Glass, n.d. 39-40. Print.
“Key events in the history of psychedelic therapy(sidebar).” Issues and controversies. Facts on file news services, (11 July 2011). Web.19 Feb.2014.
Recreational drug use has been controversial for years. Government has deemed the use of certain drugs to be dangerous, addictive, costly, and fatal. Governmental agencies have passed laws to make drugs illegal and then have focused a great deal of attention and money trying to prohibit the use of these drugs, and many people support these sanctions because they view the illegality of drugs to be the main protection against the destruction of our society (Trebach, n.d.). Restricting behavior doesn’t generally stop people from engaging in that behavior; prohibition tends to result in people finding more creative ways to obtain and use drugs. However, just knowing that trying to control people’s behavior by criminalizing drug use does not work still leaves us looking for a solution, so what other options exist? This paper will discuss the pros and cons about one option: decriminalizing drugs.
Unlike many other psychedelics, tryptamine psychedelics, such as DMT and 5 MeO DMT have the ability to place users in alternate realm where they will experience a sense of oneness with the universe. In addition, they both are capable of producing terrifying thoughts and the fear of losing control since they ‘’produce their effects through action at serotonin receptors in the brain’’. As can be seen in some of the stories, the users could experiences some terrifying and dark thoughts, while others get to encounter the best experience in their life. In term of the settings, individuals who used these drugs were either persuaded by their friends or by peer pressure. Additionally, the social construct around these cases are very similar, as they
Drugs are used to escape the real and move into the surreal world of one’s own imaginations, where the pain is gone and one believes one can be happy. People look on their life, their world, their own reality, and feel sickened by the uncaringly blunt vision. Those too weak to stand up to this hard life seek their escape. They believe this escape may be found in chemicals that can alter the mind, placing a delusional peace in the place of their own depression: “Euphoric, narcotic, pleasantly halucinant,” (52). They do this with alcohol, acid, crack, cocaine, heroine, opium, even marijuana for the commoner economy. These people would rather hide behind the haze than deal with real problems. “...A gramme is better than a damn.” (55).
Drug in the American Society is a book written by Eric Goode. This book, as the title indicates, is about drugs in the American Society. It is especially about the misuse of most drugs, licit or illicit, such us alcohol, marijuana and more. The author wrote this book to give an explanation of the use of different drugs. He wrote a first edition and decided to write this second edition due to critic and also as he mentioned in the preface “there are several reason for these changes. First, the reality of the drug scene has changed substantially in the past dozen or so years. Second much more information has been accumulated about drug use. And third, I’m not the same person I was in 1972.”(vii). The main idea of this book is to inform readers about drugs and their reality. In the book, Goode argued that the effect of a drug is dependent on the societal context in which it is taken. Thus, in one society a particular drug may be a depressant, and in another it may be a stimulant.
Psychedelic Drugs and their use to treat mental health can be a controversial topic to many but just like every topic there can be several ways to look at the issue. Before one makes a decision on which drugs they can be bad and harmful, they should first look at every aspect of the drug and understand how they might help people who are struggling with mental issues and disorders. It is important that we look at the positives as well as the negative effects of these type of drugs in order to get the full view of their effects. In a journal co-written by József Rácz, he states “Psychoactive drug use shows great diversity” however “due to a disproportionate focus” upon “problematic drug use… remains an understudied phenomenon.” The article continues
The use of drugs is a controversial topic in society today. In general, addicts show a direct link between taking drugs and suffering from their effects. People abuse drugs for a wide variety of reasons. In most cases, the use of drugs will serve a type of purpose or will give some kind of reward. These reasons for use will differ with different kinds of drugs. Various reasons for using the substance can be pain relief, depression, anxiety and weariness, acceptance into a peer group, religion, and much more. Although reasons for using may vary for each individual, it is known by all that consequences of the abuse do exist. It is only further down the line when the effects of using can be seen.