ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS

Chapter 4

Drugs

A drug is any chemical substance other than food or water that affects the mind or body. a substance that people take to produce a change in their

thinking, consciousness, emotions, bodily functions or behavior.

Drug Abuse—using drugs in such a way that they harm one’s health, impair one’s physical or mental functioning, or interfere with one’s social life.

No drug is good or bad in and of itself.No drug is good or bad in and of itself.

Drugs and Culture

Drugs can be defined as good or as harmful.

Definitions of drugs vary from society to society

Alcohol part of western culture Peyote use as a religious ritual among Native Americans Coca and South America

Definitions vary over time It is not the objective conditions of drugs—such as

whether or not they are harmful—that makes their use a social problem.

Rather, it is the surrounding subjective concerns that establish them as problems.

Subjective concerns are not fixed, but change over time.

The Scope of the ProblemA drugdrug is a substance that people take to

produce a change in their thinking, consciousness, emotions, or bodily functions or behavior.

People take many substances to cause such changes.

Essential difference among these substances is not which ones they use, but whether a substance is socially acceptable or disapproved of.

Far from being an antidrug society, we are actually a pro-drug society.

Drugs and Social Diversity

Definitions of drugs have varied over time in the United States

Attitudes toward cocaine Cocaine early on was seen as a medical panacea Racism and cocaine usage

Founding Fathers and hempImmigrants and drug use

Drug Abuse as a Personal or Social Problem

When drug use interferes with someone’s health or how that person gets along in life, we consider this a personal problem.personal problem.

If large numbers of people become upset about a drug, and want something done, then that drug becomes part of a social problem.social problem.

Nicotine and Alcohol as social problems. Smoking is the single most preventable cause of

premature death in the U.S. Alcohol is more dangerous than its broad social

acceptability would imply.

Changing views of AlcoholChanging views of Alcohol

Changing Views of Alcohol

Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs

Alcohol was important in colonial America Alcohol became associated with undesirable

immigrants

The Temperance MovementThe 18th Amendment and ProhibitionProhibition

Organized crime

In 1933 Prohibition ended with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment

The Extent of Drug Use

Most everyone uses some type of drug legal or illegal

In 2007 government survey 80% of the population over the age of twelve

used some illicit drug Declined after 1980 and rose slightly after 2000

Why do People Use Drugs?

5 reasons behind use:1. Therapeutic use2. Recreational use3. Escapism4. Spiritual or psychological use5. Social Conformity

Use and Abuse

The distinction between using a drug from abusing a drug Use that goes against accepted medical

practices Effect of the drug

• Mental harm• Physical harm• Social harm

Addiction and Dependency

Addiction – a physical or psychological craving for a drug

Withdrawal symptoms Complex

Dependency – a state in which a person’s body has adjusted to regular use of a drug

Need for the drug to feel normal

Types of Drugs

Stimulants – drugs that elevate alertness, changing a person’s mood by increasing energy

CaffeineNicotineRitalinCocaine and CrackAmphetamines

NicotineNicotine is the second most popular

recreational drug in the United States.The tobacco industry strives to recruit

new smokers each year. Spends $13 billion a year promoting

cigarettes and chewing tobaccoTeens think smoking is more common

and acceptable than it actually is.A new study confirms that fewer

American kids are smoking.

National MapCigarette Smoking across the United States

College Students Binge drinking—refers to

the heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time

Binge drinkers in high school are three times more likely to binge in college.

Alcohol poisoning is the most life-threatening consequence of binge drinking.

CocaineCocaine has not always been viewed

the way it is now. Late 1800s, physicians praised cocaine for

medicinal purposes By 1910, transformed from medicine into a

dangerous drugHarrison Act paved the way for

cocaine to be sold on the black market.Has a distinctive medical useThe most common use of cocaine,

however, is to obtain a high.

Dysfunctions of cocaine “High” is intense and users give up many of

the things they value Creates health dysfunctions “Crack Babies”: fetuses born addicted to

cocaine because of mother’s drug addictionCrack Cocaine

Violence surrounds crack Social history includes racial injustice Now, sentences imposed for the use of crack

can be no heavier than those imposed for the use of powder cocaine.

The Amphetamines

Amphetamines Became popular in the 1920s Heavy amphetamine use sometimes accompanied

by behavioral fixations “Meth” addiction growing epidemic across the

country White House Office of National Drug Control

Policy runs television advertisements to discourage meth use, and a provision of the Patriot Act forces states to now restrict purchases of pseudoephedrine.

Types of Drugs

Depressants – drugs that slow the operation of the central nervous systemAnalgesics

• Over the counter pain relieversSedatives and hypnotics, and alcoholAntipsychotics

• Lithium and Haldol

AlcoholAlcoholics—people who have severe alcohol-

related problems10 million Americans are considered alcoholics.Each year 700,000 Americans are treated in

substance abuse centers.Billions of dollars per year in reduced

productivity and alcohol-related accidents

Types of Drugs

Hallucinogens - stimulants that cause some hallucinations

LSD• Most famous of the hallucinogens• Reached height of media attention in mid-1960s with hippie

culture Peyote

• Widely practiced among Native Americans• Can be used legally—but only by members of the Native

American Church for religious purposes Psilocybin (PCP)

• Phencyclidine Hydrochloride also called Angel Dust• Affects the central nervous system, making it difficult to speak

Ecstasy• Popular party drug• Side effects for some are mental confusion and anxiety

Types of Drugs

Cannabis Marijuana Hashish

Third most popular recreational drug in the United States

Health consequences of marijuana use Studies have not confirmed findings

Smoking marijuana impairs motor coordination and reduces awareness of external stimuli

Associated with Amotivational Syndrome Lethargy, loss of concentration, and drifting from long-

range goals

Use of Selected Drugs by the U.S. Population, 1979–2007

Drugs and Other Social ProblemsProblems of Family Life

Drug use and child neglect•Effect inhibitions•Effect judgment

Impacts family relationships and roles•Codependency among family members

Financial problemsEducational (school) problemsLegal problems

Drugs and Other Social Problems

Homelessness60% of homeless men and women have

a drinking problemDrugs and homelessness

Drugs cause homelessnessHomelessness leads to drug use

Drugs and Other Social ProblemsHealth ProblemsMany people die from the use of illegal and legal

drugsEffects physical and psychological well beingPrenatal exposure

Premature delivery Low birth weight Birth defects

Sharing needles and HIVU.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention

Needle exchange program and the reduction in the spread of HIV

Educational information on the sterilization of needles

Drugs and Other Social Problems

CrimeDrug use and crime

3/4 of federal prison inmates have a history of substance abuse

Drug enforcement policies cause crime

Drug related violence in Mexico

Drugs and Other Social Problems

Global PovertyIllegal drugs in the U.S. are a part of the

global economyPoverty in poor nations and the production

of drugs Opiates in Afghanistan & Asia Hashish from Middle East and West Africa Marijuana from Mexico, Cuba, and Central

America Cocaine from South America

Source of income and capital for poor nations

Demand for drugs from rich nations

Social Policy: Responding to the Drug Problem

Strategies to Control DrugsInterdiction – stopping drugs from entering

our country DEA U.S Customs Service Border Patrol U.S. military

Education Dare (Drug Abuse Resistance Education)

Treatment In and out patient treatment Counseling and group support such as AA

Federal Minimum Sentencing Guidelines

The War on Drugs

The Nixon Era: Drugs as “ Public Enemy Number One”

Created the DEA – Overseas our government antidrug operations

Nixon administration and treatment programs

Main thrust was enforcement over treatment

The War on Drugs

The Reagan EraDefining the drug problem as moral

challenge“Just say No”Increased the federal budget to fight the

drug problem Mandatory jail timeSeizure of property

The War on Drugs

The Bush Years (1989-1992): The War Goes On

Office of National Drug Control Policy Tough laws

The War on Drugs

The Clinton Era: More of the SameTreatment over incarcerationLater years tougher enforcement

War on Drugs

George W Bush Terrorism took public attention away from drugs Looked at prosecution as primary strategy

War on Drugs

Obama Aims to eliminate racial disparity in sentencing Aims to reduce both supply and demand

Social Policy: Responding to the Drug Problem

Counterpoint: DecriminalizationRemoving the current criminal penalties

that punish drug usersZurich, Switzerland: Legalization that

FailedNetherlands: Legalization that Works

Structural-Functional Analysis: Regulating Drug Use

The functions of a drug for the operation of society

Social and cultural functionsEconomic functions

Drugs as dysfunctional for the operation of society

The more disruptive a drug’s effects, the stronger measures society takes

Symbolic-Interaction Analysis: The Meaning of Drug Use

The social meanings and definitions that people attach to a drug, its use and users

Sacred Religious rituals Harmful

How individuals make sense out of drugs

Social-Conflict Analysis: Power and Drug Use

Focus is on how power and wealth shapes social life and society

Power and drug lawsPower and the regulation and enforcement

of lawsPower and punishment

Conservatives: Just Say No

Moral values in the analysis of the drug problem

Lack of family and religion at the heart of the problem

Drug use as a function of self-centered pleasure seeking

Drugs cause crime and the erosion of morality

Get tough on drug dealers and users

Liberals: Reform Society

Personal choice and freedom Treatment and education approachTolerant view of “soft drugs”Legalization of marijuanaSupport law enforcement for “hard drugs”

Radical Views: Right-Wing Libertarians and the Far Left

Libertarians – people who favor the greatest individual freedom possible

Oppose government efforts to regulate drugs Favor individual choice and freedomDrug use should be left up to the individualRadical left drug laws reflect the interest of

the dominant group