Lecture 6 : Drug Theories

Question 1

What are the two policy frameworks mentioned in the context of drug policy?

Answer 1

Criminal Justice

And

Public Health

Question 2

What is the CJ framework
Drug use is constructed as …

Answer 2

Drug use is constructed as illegal and deviant

Question 3

What is the Public Health framework
Drug use is constructed as ..

Answer 3

Drug use is constructed as unhealthy

Question 4

What are the three models of drug regulation?

Holloway (1995 cited in Barton 2011)

Answer 4

Consumer sovereignty (pre-history) - Unrestricted access to substances.

Occupational control (middle ages) - Control of the access, sale, and use of substances by trades or professional groups.

Bureaucratic legislation (today) - Control over the access, sale, and use of substances by local or central state authorities.

Question 5

What is a drug, according to the pre-history context?

Answer 5

A drug is a substance that, unlike food, has the ability to significantly change the body’s organic functions or mood.

Question 6

How did our pre-historic ancestors use plants that could be considered drugs?

Answer 6

They consumed plants in a way that their usage could be considered as drug-taking

Question 7

What were the 3 main purposes for using drugs in pre-history?

Answer 7

Medicinal purposes
Religious/spiritual purposes
Recreational purposes

Question 8

How were drugs and witchcraft linked in the Middle Ages?

Answer 8

The Blame of drugs by Christians was linked to the condemnation of magic by witches.

Question 9

How did the role of Free trade grew and pharmacists change in the drug trade during the Middle Ages to 1800s?

Answer 9

Free trade grew and pharmacists gained control over the supply of drugs

Question 10

How did the economic status of drugs change by the 1800s?

Answer 10

Drugs became a lucrative commodity

Question 11

What period is known for the resurgence of consumer sovereignty?

Answer 11

Between 1800 to 1850 there was a resurgence of consumer sovereignty.

Question 12

What are the 2 main reasons for the resurgence of consumer sovereignty between 1800 and 1850?

Answer 12

The medical profession was in its infancy
The ‘opium wars’ between Britain and China

Question 13

What time period was crucial for the change in attitude towards substances due to occupational control and moral condemnation?

Answer 13

Between 1850-1900.

Question 14

Which two groups became important in changing attitudes towards substances between 1850 and 1900?

Answer 14

1. The medical and pharmaceutical professions.
2. Religion-inspired moral philanthropists.

Question 14

What factors were cited as reasons for the shift in attitudes towards substances between 1850 and 1900?

Answer 14

Gender, social class, and racial biases were implicated.

Question 15

What model was the Quakers associated with?

Answer 15

Moral Model

Question 16

What was the shift in blame concerning substance use during 1850-1900?

Answer 16

The shift was from blaming the drug to blaming the immoral choices of the individual.

Question 17

What are the historical associations of the Moral Model?

Answer 17

Historically bound up with religious ideas about sin (i.e. what is right and wrong)

Question 18

How is drug use perceived in the Moral Model?

Answer 18

In the Moral Model, drug use is viewed as immoral, irresponsible, and reckless, considered a ‘disease of the will’.

Question 19

What is considered the ‘cause’ of drug use and related problems in the Moral Model?

Answer 19

Including crime, is attributed to the ‘badness’ or ‘poor choices’ of the individual. Individuals are seen as selfish, weak, or having poor morals.

Question 19

What does the 2016 study by Smith and Riach indicate about UK drug policy?

Answer 19

UK drug policy positions drug consumption as the antithesis of economic potential.

Question 20

What concept is highlighted by Smith and Riach regarding UK drug policy and employment?

Answer 20

The ‘employable citizen’:

Captures the increasing regulation of working identities deemed viable or appropriate

Foregrounds the connections between drug taking and employment

Question 21

What does the Rolleston Report 1926 recognize as legitimate medical treatments involving the administration of morphine or heroin?

Answer 21

1) Those undergoing treatment for cure of addiction through gradual withdrawal
2) Persons for whom, after every effort has been made, the drug cannot be completely withdrawn.

Question 22

What is the basic premise of addiction according to the Medical/Disease Model?
Heather and Robertson (1997)

Answer 22

Addiction is seen as a discrete entity, similar to other diseases, where you either have it or you don’t.

Question 23

What are some examples of substitute prescribing in the context of the Medical/Disease Model?

Answer 23

methadone and cannabis-based products for medical prescribing.

Question 24

What does the brain-disease model of addiction describe?
reviewed by Hall et al., 2015,

Answer 24

points out that addiction involves dopamine-mediated changes to cortical areas of the brain that persist over time despite long periods of abstinence and genetic factors that contribute to the risk of developing an addiction.

Question 25

What is a major argued benefit of the Medical/Disease Model as per Heather in 2017?

Answer 25

major benefit of the Medical/Disease Model is that it is that it de-stigmatizes problematic drug use

Question 26

What was the trend in drug use from 1964 to 1979?

Answer 26

increase in drug use
Younger people using drugs for pleasure
Drugs became linked to youth culture
LSD, amphetamines, cannabis

Question 27

How does the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 differentiate drug-related offenses?

Answer 27

It distinguished between ‘supply’ and ‘possession’ offenses.

Question 28

What was the problem with young people in managing drug use between 1964 and 1979?

Answer 28

Young people using drugs for ‘luxurious’ purposes.

Question 29

What is the Tri-dimensional Personality Theory according to Cloninger (1987)?

Answer 29

Personality is a predisposing factor in addiction
Novelty seeking
Harm avoidance
Reward dependence

Question 30

What classification system did the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 introduce?

Answer 30

The ABC classification system of drugs.

Question 31

Which personality trait from Cloninger’s model has evidence supporting its influence on addiction?

Answer 31

Novelty seeking is the trait with evidence supporting its influence on addiction.

Question 32

What is the key concept of Social Learning Theory according to Bandura (1977)?

Answer 32

that people learn behaviors, such as drug use, through observing and imitating others, influenced by the consequences of these behaviors in social contexts.

Question 33

How might personal and social situations influence drug use according to Social Learning Theory?

Answer 33

Someone using drugs to cope with personal problems might have a different experience and learn different behaviors compared to someone who uses drugs socially with friends, due to different environmental and social reinforcements.

Question 34

According to Becker (1963), how do different social groups view behaviors?

Answer 34

Different social groups hold different views regarding ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ behaviors, influencing how they perceive and label others.

Question 35

How do labeled ‘deviants’ perceive others, according to Becker?

Answer 35

Those labeled as ‘deviant’ may view others as ‘outsiders’ who simply follow different sets of rules.

Question 36

What are the 3 steps for an individual to use marijuana for pleasure according to Becker (1953)?

Answer 36

Learns to smoke it in a way that will produce real effects

Learns to recognise the effects and connect them with drug use

Learns to enjoy the sensations he perceives

Question 37

What two ‘experiments’ gave momentum to socio-cultural explanations for behavior, including drug use?

Answer 37

The Vietnam War and Alexander’s ‘rat park’ study

Question 38

What are the components of the Biopsychosocial Model as it relates to drug use, and what does each component represent?

Answer 38

Drug = the pharmacological/biological effects of the substance

Set = the individual’s mindset (psychology, mental health)

Setting = the social and spatial features of the environment that drug use occurs in

Question 39

What are social sanctions in the context of substance use?

Answer 39

formal and informal values and rules of conduct associated with substance use including legislation and restrictions

Question 40

What social rituals in the context of substance use?

Answer 40

informal behavioural patterns associated with substance use (e.g. new users of psychedelics consumed drugs in the company of an experienced users)