Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Guide, 11e James M. Henslin

Chapter 4Alcohol and Other Drugs

Learning Objectives4.1 Illustrate how subjective concerns change and how they

make a drug part of a social problem. 4.2 Explain why drug use or abuse is a personal or a social

problem. 4.3 Contrast the symbolic interactionist, functionalist, and

conflict perspectives on drugs. 4.4 Explain what medicalizing human problems means. 4.5 Explain how medicalizing human problems is related to

the abuse of prescription drugs. 4.6 Give a brief overview of the drug use of college students.

Learning Objectives4.7 Summarize research findings on nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine. 4.8 Summarize research findings on LSD, peyote and mescaline, PCP, and

ecstasy. 4.9 Summarize research findings on the barbiturates and amphetamines. 4.10 Summarize research findings on the steroids. 4.11 Summarize research findings on morphine and heroin. 4.12 Explain why it is difficult to establish social policy on drug use and abuse. 4.13 Explain the likely future of the problem of drug abuse.

4.1 – The Problem in the Sociological Perspective

• A Quick Historical Background– Marijuana and Cocaine– Tobacco – Caffeine– Opium in the United States– Why This Brief History of Drugs?

A Quick Historical Background

• Marijuana and cocaine– 4,000 years ago marijuana was used– 600 years ago people chewed the coca leaves

• Tobacco– Introduced to Europe by Christopher Columbus– King James I thought it was harmful in 1604

• Caffeine– Introduced to Arab world in 1500s– “The Women’s Petition Against Coffee” - 1674

If you want to protect your throat, smoke Lucky Strikes! Ideas aboutcigarette smoking have changed just a tad since the publication of thisad in 1937.

A Quick Historical Background (cont’d)

• Opium– In the 1800s, opium was easily purchased.– It was given to babies.

• Why a history?– Attitudes towards drugs change.– Understanding the history helps us see the

changing subjective concerns.

Examining the history of drug use in the world allows us to understand the _________ of certain drugs.

A. objective nature

B. historical significance

C. subjective concerns

D. deterministic culture

In the 1800s, using tobacco or caffeine was more of a social problem than opium use.

A. True

B. False

4.2 – The Scope of the Problem

• A Personal Problem or a Social Problem?

• Addiction to Drugs

Explore: The Downward Spiral: Drug Use and Socioeconomic Status

http://www.socialexplorer.com/SpiceMap/?v=29202ad2051249b2

 

A Personal Problem or a Social Problem?

• A drug is a substance that people take to produce a change

• Drug Abuse—using drugs in such a way that they harm one’s self

Addiction to Drugs

• Drug addiction– Drug dependence– Not just addicts huddled in a corner

• Why not just quit?– Withdrawal symptoms

• cravings

• Psychological dependence can remain long after quitting drugs

4.3 - Looking at the Problem Theoretically

• Symbolic Interactionism

• Functionalism

• Conflict Theory

• Research Findings: The Use and Abuse of Drugs

Symbolic Interactionism

• The meaning of a drug depends on who is defining it.

• Our understanding of any drug use centers on the meanings that people attach to it.

• Example: U.S. Temperance Movement– Immigration– Religion– Politics

This photo from the late 1920s or early 1930s shows one response to the endless attempt

to eradicate alcohol from American life.

Bootlegged (illegal) alcohol was one response to Prohibition, leading to organized crime. Shown here is Al Capone, on vacation

in Florida. Capone controlled the alcohol that supplied the “speakeasies” of Chicago during Prohibition. Capone was

ruthless. At his orders, men were executed.

Functionalism

• What are the functions and dysfunctions of drugs?

• Even prescription drugs used as prescribed can be dysfunctional.

Drug abuse can ravage the individual’s body, employment, and social standing. As this box stresses, the individual’s family

also suffers.

Conflict Theory

• Drug Laws as Political Tools– powerful control tool

• Race, ethnicity, and social class influence drug policies.

4.4 - Medicalizing Human Problems

• Expanding the Medical Model– 1930s prescription drug revolution– Advertising prescription drugs– Targeting youth

Among the many stars who have died from drug abuse are Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. Winehouse was photographed passed out in her carafter a night of partying. A couple of years later, she died from alcohol

poisoning.

4.5 - Abusing Prescription Drugs

• The “Good-Grade” Drugs

• The “Getting High” Drugs

Although there is increasing awareness of the burden that Ritalin

places on schoolchildren, the problem continues.

The “Good-Grade” Drugs

• Adderall and Ritalin – Used by high school students to maintain

focus

• Students fake symptoms of ADHD

• The misuse of these drugs is more common among “good” students from “good” high schools who are tying to get into “good” colleges.

The “Getting High” Drugs

• Xanax, Valium, and OxyContin – Prescription drugs that produce a “high”– Used with alcohol to enhance the effects

Audio: NPR: Texas Considers 'Conscience Clause' for Pharmacists

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4578027

4.6 - Drug Use by College Students

• Alcohol, nicotine, marijuana– Some gender differences

• Binge drinking is a major concern.

Until his death in 2009, JAMES A. INCIARDI was director of the Center for Drug and Alcohol Studies at the University of Delaware. He was also

a member of the International Advisory Committee of the White

House Office of National Drug Control Policy. His research focused on substance abuse, criminal justice,

and public policy. Here is what he wrote for you.

4.7 - Research Findings: The Recreational Mood Elevators

• Nicotine

• Alcohol

• Marijuana

• Cocaine

Alcohol

• Alcohol as a Social Problem– 10 million Americans are alcoholics.– Alcohol related accidents cost billions.

• Drinking and Sex Roles– Of the 12,000 alcohol related vehicular

deaths, most are men.– Why?

• Gender Transitions – Women are taking on more masculine roles,

even in drinking.

Perhaps. But too much, and you won’t hear a thing.

Alcohol (cont’d)

• Health Consequences of Alcohol– Heart attacks, problems with body systems

• Alcohol, Pregnancy, and Childbirth– Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)– Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

• Significance of How People Learn to Drink– How you learn to drink is a factor in alcohol

problems.

Marijuana• Marijuana, a social problem?

• Health Consequences of Smoking Marijuana– Respiratory problems– Increased risk of testicular cancer– Reproductive problems– Positive effects

• Addiction and Marijuana – Research is mixed

•• Social Consequences of Smoking Marijuana

– Lower grades among high school students– Compounded by other factors

• Subjective Concerns – Marijuana used to be an ingredient in medicine, now it is a

social problem

Read: Becoming a Marijuana User

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ab/mysoclibrary/pdf/MSLib_Beck_Becoming_Marijuana_User.pdf

Based on what you know, however you know it, including the contents of this chapter, how accurate do you think this cartoon is?

The United Arab Emirates (as you probably have figured out) has a zero tolerance dug policy.

Terminal 3 at the airport at Dubai

The social movement to legalize marijuana, going back decades, has gained momentum recently. This photo is a

reminder of how closely this movement is related to the social movements surrounding alcohol of earlier generations.

Cocaine• The Social History of Cocaine

– Late 1800s, physicians praised cocaine for medicinal purposes

– By 1910, transformed from medicine into a dangerous drug

• The Black Market in Cocaine – An incorrect classification opened cocaine to the

black market.• Uses of Cocaine

– Distinct medical use– Obtain a high

• Dysfunctions of Cocaine• Principles Underlying a Drug’s Social Reputation

Can cocaine be addicting? This man in Wales was so addicted, snorting so much

cocaine, that his nose collapsed. His heart was

also damaged.

4.8 - Research Findings: The Hallucinogens

• LSD

• Peyote and Mescaline

• Psilocybin

• PCP

• Ecstasy

LSD

• Most famous of the hallucinogens• Reached height of media attention in mid-

1960s with hippie culture

• The experience of LSD is learned

Peyote and Mescaline

• Widely practiced among Native Americans

• Can be used legally—but only by members of the Native American Church for religious purposes

Psilocybin

• Associated with pagan rituals, rulers launched religious campaigns causing decline in their use• Catholic Church launched a campaign against the

use.

PCP

• Phencyclidine Hydrochloride also called Angel Dust

• Affects the central nervous system, making it difficult to speak– Loss of inhibition, disorientation, rage,

convulsions, or coma

Ecstasy

• Popular party drug

• Side effects for some are mental confusion and anxiety– may cause brain damage

4.9 - Research Findings: The Barbiturates and the Amphetamines

• Barbiturates

• Amphetamines

Barbiturates

• Used as anesthetics or for treatment of anxiety, insomnia

• The experience is similar to alcohol.• Users become physically dependent.

– Risk of going “cold turkey”

Amphetamines

• Became popular in the 1920s– Many uses

• Behavioral fixations

• Withdrawal symptoms

• The effect of the meth epidemic on Sudafed

These two photos are of the same person—before and after meth addiction. For some, it takes but a couple of years or less for this

type of transition to occur.

4.10 - Research Findings: Steroids

• Anabolic steroids have medical uses.

• Body builders use it to bulk.

• Gained attention when athletes were using.

Lance Armstrong—who won the prestigious Tour de France cycling race seven consecutive

times—now disgraced and stripped of his medals and

lucrative product endorsements for using drugs.

4.11 - Research Findings: The Narcotics - Opium, Morphine, and Heroin

• Morphine

• Heroin

• Heroin, Crime, and the Law

Heroin

• Mixed research on physical addiction

• Fetal Narcotic Syndrome

Heroin, Crime, and the Law

• Heroin causes crime, destroys people’s incentive to work, and devastates its users’ health.

• Is this statement true?– It depends on your social position.

4.12 - Social Policy

• The Dilemmas of Social Policy

• Deciding Social Policy

The Dilemmas of Social Policy

• Theory and Social Policy– Why prohibit drugs that don’t cause social

harm?– Depending on the theory, the questions vary

• The “Get Tough” Approach– War on Drugs– Fuels the black market

Deciding Social Policy

• Banning advertising

• Drug education

• Drug addiction social policy– Methadone maintenance– Forcing abstinence

• Alcoholics Anonymous

• Principles of Successful Social Policy

For the health of the public, state and federal governments

have battled cigarette advertising. This proposed

packaging for cigarettes was struck down by federal courts.

Tens of thousands of people have been killed in Mexico’s war against drugs. From this photo taken in Saltillo, Mexico, you can see that the drug police wear masks. If not, drug lords will know who they are and order their kidnapping, torture, and execution.

4.13 - The Future of the Problem

• Social reputation and acceptability of drugs influences people.

• New generations of drugs will emerge.

• If drug addiction is “bad,” “good” people will turn away from addicts.

Question for Discussion

• Explain how drug laws are based on subjective concerns and not objective reality.