SOC212 - 8. Drugs Flashcards
Introduction
Drug use is common way of life for many Canadians
“Drugs” is loosely defined term that covers a range of substances from aspirin to alcohol and cocaine to cough syrup
Introduction
drug is a socially defined + labeled by society.
labels change
vary by the purpose: recreational vs medical use
Introduction
ultimately defined by social norms + ppl in power
Deviant vs non-deviant drug use
Social Attitudes & Drugs
Character of drug
Cocaine was acceptable in 1830-1850s used in wine
During the 19th century people regarded drug addiction as personal problem.
Social Attitudes & Drugs
Most attitudes identifying drug use as deviance developed
during the 20th century - link betw characteristics of person + drugs
smoking - used to be normal
Social Attitudes & Drugs
change in public opinion for some drugs followed acceptance of link between drug use + disvalued lifestyles.
Canada - health care is covered so prevent illness - saves money
Canadian Drug Laws
Opium Act – 1908, 1911 used as medicine
regulated more
Moral Panics: public outrage galvinized certain issue
religious + political influences
Canadian Drug Laws
Race: racial politics - control chinese immigrants
ignored drugs powerful ppl use + criminalize drugs minority used to control them
control, punish chinese folks + drive them out
Canadian Drug Laws
Marijuana claims that only way out of prosecution was insanity, abandonment or death
medical marijuana: 59 to 71% now support decriminalization of weed
Canadian Drug Laws
Medical Exemptions: cultivation of hemp legal
prescription from doctor
controlled by health canada
The Case of Marijuana (U.S.)
prohibition centred around Harrison Act of 1914 - selling + using weed, coke without prescription
Marijuana Tax Act of 1937
The Case of Marijuana (U.S.)
National Problem: Visibility increased
Threat to health and morality
Youth: change in how ppl saw youth + social conflicts
The Case of Marijuana
Marijuana symbolized divide between youthful protest and mature conservatism, between the status quo + change.
The Case of Marijuana
Immigration & Racism: control + punish mexican
cannabis to marijuana because it sounded more mexican
race + drug laws are linked
drugs that racialized folk will use
The Case of Marijuana
Economics & Industry: hemp is versatile product
lobby groups for banning hemp as drug prevention, but really as a way to protect cotton industry
The Case of Marijuana
Jurisdictional Politics
prison system: drug users 25% of prison population
increased by 800% since drug laws were increased
The Case of Marijuana
federal gov: way to have control
drug laws not necessarily about damage of drugs: about politics, voting, economy, gender, race
The Case of Marijuana
Cocaine use generally occurred among rich, upper class people as an occasional practice
The Case of Cocaine
With lower costs for cocaine demographic of users began to change
variety of uses
The Case of Cocaine
Crack cocaine became cheap form of cocaine that quickly flooded urban areas
The Case of Cocaine
1980s: price dropped - went from high class to middle class
more effeciencies in transportation
drugs are biggest school problem
Public Policy & the War on Drugs
Public concern over drugs varies
Links between drug-taking behaviour + general behaviour patterns
Public Policy & the War on Drugs
Judgments of deviance will likely target use of drugs
perceived as popular among less powerful groups.
criminalize drugs used by powerless and minority
Public Policy & the War on Drugs
Moral panics
Political uses: it takes more to put rich drug users in jail
Public Policy & the War on Drugs
criminalize drugs used by powerless + minority
punished diff - 5 years (5 grams of crack vs 500 grams of powdered coke)
it takes more to put rich drug users in jail
Legal Drug Use
Drug use also involves legal substances with socially approved applications:
• Prescription Drugs: women more likely to take
• Amphetamines & Barbiturates
Types of Illegal Drugs
Drugs fall into categories depending on their general effects on the body. • Morphine &Heroin • Methadone • Cocaine & Crack
Types of Illegal Drugs
Marijuana
Barbiturates
weed, coke, meth more mentioned in media
Types of Illegal Drugs
Methamphetamine
Hallucinogens: acid, molly, mdma, lsd
Designer Drugs
Marijuana Use
Marijuana most widely used illicit drug in Canada
40% admit to using it
44% admit using it at least once
Marijuana Use
Extent of use: social drug
Marijuana can help to establish pattern of social relations in some groups
Marijuana = Gateway Drug?
Research has found no relationship linking marijuana use to the use of other drugs
There is no evidence for the gateway theory.
Marijuana = Gateway Drug?
Correlational, not causal relationships: heavier drug users do weed as well, but not causal
Heroin Use
Patterns of Heroin Use: 19th century nearly 2/3 of heroin users were women. 40-50 age range
20th century: drug’s popularity peaked in most large U.S. cities during the 1960s
Heroin Use
Characteristics of heroin users:
Common among young, urban, racialized, lower-SES men from large cities
can vary: users range from ‘street addicts’ to performers to physicians
Cocaine Use
spread of cocaine use in late 60s + early 70s was result of two events:
U.S. Congress passed legislation reducing legal limits on
production of amphetamines + controls on depressants
Cocaine Use
World Bank allocated funds to build new highway in high jungles of Peru
crack widely available
Cocaine Use
Extent of Cocaine Use
crack outside of Rob Ford’s social standing
Understanding Addiction
term addiction refers to physical dependence, “an adaptive state of the body manifested by physical disturbances when drug use stops” (Milby, 1981: 3). - withdrawals
Understanding Addiction
Many professionals prefer to discuss “tolerance,” “dependence,” + “abstinence syndrome” instead changes body chemistry, brain wiring
build up tolerance - need larger doses
Addiction as Socialization
Opiate addiction can be seen as learned behaviour - socialization
Primarily in association + communication with other addicts
Addiction as Socialization
Process of Addiction (Waldorf, 1983):
1. Experimentation or Initiation - often teenage years
steps
2. Escalation
Addiction as Socialization
- Maintaining or “Taking Care of Business”
4. Dysfunction or “Going through Changes”
Addiction as Socialization
- Recovery or “Getting Out of the Life”.
6. Ex-Addict
Theories of Addiction
Lindesmith’s theory emphasizes attractiveness of drug to users - media portrayal
Drug addiction results when people use drugs because they fear the pain or discomfort associated with withdrawal
Theories of Addiction
Stephens (1991) found street addicts use heroin not necessarily to counter pain of withdrawal but to experience the drug high - appeal of being high
Theories of Addiction
concentrates more on the negative physical consequences of stopping opiate use, that is, withdrawal symptoms - fear associated with withdrawal
Theories of Addiction
Subcultural Influences: some more prevalent
can become career - underground economy
reaction to lack of legit drug choices
organize norms around supply + distribution of drugs
Addiction as a Disease
Complex blend of biology, environment + development
influences
gender, ethnicity may factor in
environment: friends, life quality, peer pressure, stress
Similar to most major diseases
Addiction as a Disease
Repeated abuse of drugs or alcohol will rewire brain - makes it harder to stop
can account of 50% of addictive vulnerability
greater likelihood of getting addicted to something else later on
Addiction as a Disease
Children of those with addiction
Addiction is NOT weakness - illness
needs treatment, genetic factors + lifestyle
crosses every social boundary
Addiction as a Disease
developmental stages
lifecourse theory - junctures important
offtrack at one which can change trajectory
The Costs of Addiction
Social costs: affects relationships - families
child abuse, abuse
Economic costs: 600 billion dollars a year
The Costs of Addiction
Heath care: drugs that we police cause less economic harm than tobacco + alcohol
40 billion
The Costs of Addiction
Pain + suffering: 10% of Canadian pop has used illicit drugs (not including weed)
80% drink
Control & Punishment
Policies:
Control substances themselves
Control behavior of people involved with them
Control & Punishment
Applying Criminal Sanctions:
Legalist perspective
Public health perspective
Control & Punishment
Drug Policy: relationship betw addiction + crimes committed to fund purchases
laws affecting manufacturing, selling
Control & Punishment
Unequal policing & punishment
latinos more likely to be arrested for drugs even though white men are more likely to sell drugs
Control & Punishment
Public Health perspective
Prevention through education & awareness
Treatment & Prevention
Treatment programs offer alternative to legally oriented response to drug additions: more outreach + support
Treatment promotes abstinence from drugs + pursues intermediate goal: better ones focus on harm reduction (Levinson, 2002).
Treatment & Prevention
Harm Reduction: seeks to decrease the adverse health, social + economic consequences of drug use without requiring abstinence from drug use.
Methadone Clinics: manage alcohol addiction
designated driver
Society’s Response
Stigma: moral component
shame or disgrace attached to something not social
reinforce social norms
Society’s Response
Barrier: reinforce social boundaries
social control
Discrimination
Language
What to do…?
Prohibition vs Decriminalization: Some believe attempts to suppress drug use have made it more difficult to control drug traffic + drug prices
What to do…?
Underground economy & crime
Increased focus on treatment programs
Harm Reduction
What to do…?
means it strives to decrease the adverse health, social + economic consequences of drug use without requiring abstinence from drug use
Safe Injection Sites
Insite, Vancouver - home to about 12,000 injection drug users, with more than 1/3 living in the Downtown Eastside
legally sanctioned places to do drugs
Safe Injection Sites
Four purposes: It keeps people from transmitting
infectious diseases.
hygenic + stress free environment - use drugs safely
Increases access health care services, including primary care + addiction treatment.
Safe Injection Sites
brings stability to the community
designed to decrease the harm + nuisance
stabilizes people’s health - lowered overdose deaths
Ireland
intention to decriminalise small amounts of heroin,
cocaine & cannabis
Supervised injection rooms
Ireland
Crime to profit from sale of distribution of illegal drugs
Drug users no longer criminalized for their addictions, but still illegal to sell + produce
Self-Help Programs
Ppl struggling with addiction may find assistance in quitting drugs through self-help groups operated by former addicts, such as Narcotics Anonymous (NA) and Synanon
Self-Help Programs
NA replaces norms + attitudes favoring use of drugs with those opposed to drug use
interpersonal coordination and support
Self-Help Programs
Synanon program applies learning/socialization theory of
deviance to treatments of drug addicts
Prevention Strategies
Two strategies attempt to prevent drug use:
Imply threats intended to scare potential users away from drugs
Prevention Strategies
Conduct education programs specially designed to alert potential users to dangers + consequences of drug use.
interpersonal coordination and support
Scare Tactics
Scare Tactics may come in form of media messages.
These messages are typically geared toward young users + stress the negative physical consequences of taking drugs.
Scare Tactics
-tend not to work
