The Use of Drugs on Society

In a culture with such diverse commonalities, the differentials that set precedent come from social norms. These norms set the template for what acceptable behavior is. Being known as having a melting pot of a population we can expect that the norms are influenced through religion, values, ideas, and self views. Deviant behaviors occur when these social norms are disrupted and acts are seen to go against what we have always thought as wrong or weird. Deviance is a broad term that encompasses the idea that we know what is right from what our neighbor does. For example, trends of fashion change quite rapidly. If you don’t believe me watch shows on television that reminisce about the 70’s 80’s and so on. Today we look at what was worn in the previous decades and find it hard to imagine people dressing like this now. However, in the days that style was popular it was seen as the way to dress. Norms change to fit what the popular trend is now. Deviance likewise counters with what is unpopular. There are far more serious deviant acts than dressing from the wrong decade; they are also heavily tied to the law. Laws are more inflexible than behaviors of changing times. They are intact from the idea that if caught participating in such acts you could face serious punishment and rightfully so. Let’s take a look at one form of deviance that persisted in our culture for many years.
A type of deviance that has had a swaying of opinion over the years is drug use. According to Webmd.com “Drugs are chemicals that tap into the brain's communication system and disrupt the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. There are at least two ways that drugs are able to do this: by imitating the brain's natural chemical messenger...

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...than just seeing users as bas people, we can work on not only lessening the amount of drug use, but solving the factors that surround it.

Alex Rogers
Soc 222, Spach
11/18/13

References
Goldberg, J. (2012, October 10). Drug abuse, addiction, and the brain. In Mental Health Center. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/drug-abuse-addiction?page=3
Rodriguez, C. Y. (n.d.). Hispanic teens more likely to use drugs, study says. In CNN Health. Retrieved September 3, 2013, from http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/31/health/hispanic-teen-drug-use
The truth about drugs (2006). In Why do people take drugs?. Retrieved November 13, 2013, from http://www.drugfreeworld.org/drugfacts/drugs/why-do-people-take-drugs.html
Thio, ., Taylor, ., & Schwartz, . (2013). Deviant Behavior (11th ed., pp. 5-7). New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc.