1. Social Problems: A Down-to-Earth Guide, 11e James M. Henslin
Chapter 4
Alcohol and Other Drugs

2. Learning Objectives
4.1 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.

3. Learning Objectives
4.7 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 Summarize research findings on the steroids Summarize research findings on morphine and heroin Explain why it is difficult to establish social policy on drug use and abuse Explain the likely future of the problem of drug abuse.

4. 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?
Drug use as a social problem is part of a history of defining drugs as problems. The subjective concerns of citizens is evident when you look at the history of drug use.
Lecture Starter
Ask students to help you make a list on the board of drugs (prescription included) they’ve heard of that are helpful to people or “bad” for you. This exercise can begin the discussion of objective and subjective concerns. This will also help differentiate common sense and research findings. (L.O.4.1)

5. 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”
There is evidence of Marijuana use 4,000 years ago. It was recommended for “female weakness”, absentmindedness, rheumatism, malaria, constipation
Peru natives chewed the leave of the coca plant to have the same effects found today in cocaine.
Christopher Columbus saw natives using tobacco and introduced it to Europe.
As early as 1604, King James I of England spoke of its harmful effects and put out a pamphlet.
Other rulers physical mutilated ad even killed tobacco users.
Caffeine was introduced to the Arab world in the 1500s and Islamic religious leaders were upset when people used caffeine to stay awake during long vigils.
“The Women’s Petition Against Coffee” complained that there men were leaving ale for a bitter, black drink. And, complained it affected their sex drive.

6. If you want to protect your throat, smoke Lucky Strikes! Ideas about
cigarette smoking have changed just a tad since the publication of this
ad in 1937.

7. 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.
Opium was the drug of choice in the U.S. In fact, using caffeine and tobacco was more of a “social problem” in the 1800s than opium.
Opium was legal to purchase at drug stores, grocery, stores, and through the mail.
Babies were given opium laced syrup in their bottles.
Thomas Szasz said that “no drug is good or bad in and of itself” What he meant was the objective conditions (what the drug does to the body) is not the basis for the drug raising subjective concerns.
Throughout history drugs come in and out of favor. They raise more or less subjective concerns
The measurement of subjective concerns is key to understanding drug use and abuse in the U.S.

8. 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

9. In the 1800s, using tobacco or caffeine was more of a social problem than opium use. A. True B. False

10. 4.2 – The Scope of the Problem
A Personal Problem or a Social Problem?
Addiction to Drugs
This section explores how drug use/abuse (a personal problem) is also a social problem.
Lecture Starter
Ask your students why they think some drugs are harmful and should be outlawed, while others are legal. Why should alcohol be legal while cocaine or heroin is not? From their responses, help your class to elicit what elements of drugs lead people to view them as problematic. Discuss the issue of it being a personal problem versus a social problem. (L.O.4.2)

11. Explore: The Downward Spiral: Drug Use and Socioeconomic Status

12. 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
Most of us take the use of drugs for granted, but when drug use interferes with some- one’s health or how that person gets along in life, we begin to question it.
This we consider a personal problem.
Definitions:
A drug is a substance that people take to produce a change in their thinking, consciousness, emotions, bodily functions, or behavior.
What types of change do people want to produce?
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
What harm are they doing?
But if large numbers of people become upset about a drug and want to see something done about it, then that drug becomes part of a social problem.

13. 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
Someone who is addicted comes to depend on the regular consumption of a drug to make it through the day.
The reason people avoid withdrawal is the intense distress of nausea, vomiting, aches and pains, nervousness, anxiety, and depression.
Physically addictive drugs produce these symptoms when an addict abstains from the drug.
Withdrawing produces cravings for the effects of the drug.
Long after quitting drugs, former addicts report the intense feeling to use again.
This is a psychological dependence.

14. 4.3 - Looking at the Problem Theoretically
Symbolic Interactionism
Functionalism
Conflict Theory
Research Findings: The Use and Abuse of Drugs
It is legal to use nicotine, caffeine, and alcohol.
Yet, people are sent to prison to use far milder types of drugs.
This section explores sociological theory and tries to understand the social significance of drugs.

15. 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
Objects and events have no meaning in themselves. Meaning depends on who is defining it.
The same is true for drugs. If a group in power defines the drug as “bad” there is usually an effort to rid society of the evil substance.
Alcohol had been part of the U.S. culture since the Pilgrims brought beer with them.
In 1919, alcohol was banned by a constitutional amendment in the U.S.
Let’s look at what meaning people attached to alcohol and why it ended up being banned.
In the 1820s the WASP citizens in the U.S. were suddenly met by immigrants from Italy, Germany, and Ireland.
These immigrants brought with them a new religion (Catholicism) and use of alcohol (the citizens would say excessive use).
The established Protestants viewed them as ignorant, Catholic drunkards.
As more immigrants came to the U.S. the established New Englanders lost political power.
The Temperance Movement began.
Alcohol as a symbol
Abstinence associated with morality, respectability, and being a hard worker
Drinking associated with being unreliable, questionable character, and uneducated
Overnight, it became illegal for Americans to buy even a glass of beer.
Prohibition marked the victory of middle-class, Protestant, rural values over working-class, Roman Catholic, urban values.
In 1933, the amendment was repealed and alcohol became legal again.
Making a drug illegal—or keeping one legal—can certainly differ from common sense.
Look at the box in your book about drugs and common sense.
Long Assignment
The media have an important influence on people’s attitudes toward alcohol and other drugs. In this project, you can show students a variety of television programs and/or commercials to determine how drug and alcohol use is presented to viewers. For example, they might note the number of males and females in beer commercials, the ways in which sexual images are combined with drinking beer, or the extent to which “stars” or athletic figures promote drinking in beer and wine commercials. They might also observe soap operas, especially those aired during prime time, to note the extent to which drinking takes place as a “normal” part of daily life (e.g., how often people are seen drinking, offered a drink, have open bars in their homes, drink with a meal, or drink and drive). Non-prescription drugs like analgesics, diet pills, sleeping aids, etc. are often presented in a fashion that encourages the viewer to solve personal problems through the use of a pill. After students have determined the extent to which the use of various drugs occurs in the programming they have selected, they can draw some conclusions about the ways in which the media supports social definitions of alcohol/drug use and abuse. (L.O.4.3)

16. Overnight, drinking alcohol became illegal
Overnight, drinking alcohol became illegal. A reflection of Protestant rural values over urban Catholic values.
Fourteen years later, drinking was legal again.
It is the definition of the act, not the act itself that makes something deviant or not.
This photo from the late 1920s or early 1930s shows one response to the endless attempt to eradicate alcohol from American life.

17. 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.

18. Functionalism What are the functions and dysfunctions of drugs?
Even prescription drugs used as prescribed can be dysfunctional.
Have students discuss the functions of drugs.
Whether legal or not, functionalists analyze the functions and dysfunctions of drugs for society.
What is functional for one group (e.g., drug dealers making money) may be dysfunctional for others.
Review:
Functions are intended or recognized and have a positive effect on society.
Dysfunctions are unintended or unrecognized and have a negative effect on society.
Some question if we use prescription drugs to “deal with” behaviors we may not want to work with.
Short Assignment
Students can work in pairs to interview health care professionals who deal with drugs and alcohol. One student could interview a physician, pharmacist, or corporate drug representative who deals with the promotion of legal drug use, while the other student could interview a therapist or rehabilitation counselor who deals with prevention of and abstinence from drug use. The students can then present differences in the perspectives, explore the strengths and weaknesses they found in the various approaches, and draw conclusions about the social definitions that professionals attach to the role of drugs in treating individuals. (L.O.4.4)

19. Drug abuse can ravage the individual’s body, employment, and social standing. As this box stresses, the individual’s family also suffers.
Addiction consumes all the energy in a family. As addicts try to fight their addiction, the families are left to pick up the pieces when they fail.

20. Conflict Theory Drug Laws as Political Tools
powerful control tool
Race, ethnicity, and social class influence drug policies.
Drug laws as a way to control society
Drug control is a tool used by the most powerful groups to control others and serve political and economic interests.
For example, from the text:
If a particular drug (such as crack cocaine) is common among some group, to make that drug illegal allows authorities to unleash the police against this group. In contrast, by keeping a drug legal (such as a prescription drug), the state can protect favored groups that profit from that drug (physicians, pharmacies, and pharmaceutical companies).
Conflict theorists also stress that politicians use drug laws to control what are called “the dangerous classes.”
Conflict theorists point out the influence of race, ethnicity, and social class in the formulation of drug policies.
Chinese immigrants were targeted as opium users.
Mexican immigrants were target as marijuana users.
Laws surrounding these drugs help control the populations who use them.
Discussion Question
A stimulating and controversial discussion can be prepared on the latent functions of widespread drug use in our society. Have students prepare responses to the following questions: Does the widespread availability of drugs serve to placate the poor and unemployed (or underemployed) such that they are less likely to serve as a threat to social stability? Does drug use by the poor actually benefit the middle class and the affluent? Are efforts to control drugs really just an attempt to prevent the offspring of the middle class from becoming addicted to drugs? Should marijuana be legalized? (L.O.4.2)

21. 4.4 - Medicalizing Human Problems
Expanding the Medical Model
1930s prescription drug revolution
Advertising prescription drugs
Targeting youth
People are using and abusing prescription drugs. Some are overdosing on drugs prescribed by doctors.
How did we reach this point in our society?
Physicians haven’t always been able to treat personal problems, only physical
1930s psychotropic drugs came into favor.
Prescribing medication for things people used to “live with”
They medicalized human problems
Today, we prescribe lots of medication for children who teachers/parents feel is not behaving.
Drug companies advertise medications that you can only get through a prescription. And this works.
People ask their doctors for the drugs heavily advertised.
Pharmacists and drug companies are making a lot of money off our medicalized problems.
Short Assignments
To focus on historical forces and their impact on individuals’ behavior, students can write a three- to four-page essay on whether their parents or grandparents drank, smoked cigarettes or marijuana, or used prescription pills. Was there any abuse of those substances in their homes as they grew up? What were the reasons (if any) that people did use those substances? How else were students taught to cope with life problems (gym, hobbies, sports, etc.)? If their families did not teach them to cope, who did or what are the tools they use today to deal with stress or life? (L.O.4.8)

22. Among the many stars who have died from drug abuse are Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. Winehouse was photographed passed out in her car
after a night of partying. A couple of years later, she died from alcohol poisoning.
Celebrity deaths bring the problem of drug abuse out in the media.

23. 4.5 - Abusing Prescription Drugs
The “Good-Grade” Drugs
The “Getting High” Drugs

24. Although there is increasing awareness of the burden that Ritalin places on schoolchildren, the problem continues.
Children who “act up” are prescribed drugs to get them to be complacent. The drugs work. Children are complacent. And they have tics, depression, some have hallucinations.

25. 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 drugs also allow them to stay up most of the night studying and to still be alert in school the next day.
To get what the students refer to as the “good-grade” drugs, many fake symptoms of ADHD to psychologists.
They report that they have a had time concentrating and are easily distracted, even looking out the window while talking to the psychologist.
The use of the “good-grade” drugs continues in college.
Discussion Question
Ask students to discuss the issue of drugs on campus or by college students around them. Are they aware of this problem? What do they know about this issue? How are college students getting these drugs and what are the reasons they are using them? Do they believe alcohol is in fact the number one drug of college students or has that been replaced by other drugs, such as marijuana and amphetamines? Is it more rumors than facts around their college friends? Have they seen any side effects, positive or negative, from the use of these drugs? (L.O.4.6)

26. The “Getting High” Drugs
Xanax, Valium, and OxyContin
Prescription drugs that produce a “high”
Used with alcohol to enhance the effects
Some call OxyContin “hillbilly heroin” because its effects are similar to those of heroin or opium, but it is much cheaper.
OxyContin’s sensations last up to 12 hours
OxyContin can be chewed in pill form, eliminating the need for injections

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

28. 4.6 - Drug Use by College Students
Alcohol, nicotine, marijuana
Some gender differences
Binge drinking is a major concern.
For the first ten editions of this book, nicotine in the form of cigarettes was the second most popular drug.
But over the past 20 years, cigarette smoking dropped each year while marijuana smoking stayed about the same.
The result is that marijuana has now nudged out nicotine as college students’ second most popular drug.
For most drugs men use more than women.
Binge drinking five or more drinks in a row for men, or four or more drinks for women, on a single occasion
Binge drinkers are more likely to have academic powers and engage in risky sexual behaviors.
The risk of alcohol poising is also real.

29. Until his death in 2009, JAMES A
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.
With the restoration of Miami’s art deco districts and the popularity of the South Beach area, Miami has become an international destination for partying, sexual tourism, and club drug use. To “get high,” about 80 percent of ecstasy users in the Miami club culture appear to be using prescription narcotics (OxyContin, Vicodin, Percocet, and morphine), “downers” (Xanax and Valium), and stimulants (Ritalin and Adderall)
Most participants described the “high” from prescription drugs as less exciting and less euphoric than that from illicit drugs, but they perceived prescription drugs to be purer, safer, more respectable, and more legal, as well as producing fewer withdrawal symptoms.

30. The sample on which the research on this table is based is so good that we can generalize these findings to all college students across the nation.
This chart shows the drugs used by college students. You can see that alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana use far exceeds the other drugs.

31. 4.7 - Research Findings: The Recreational Mood Elevators
Nicotine
Alcohol
Marijuana
Cocaine

32. We know that nicotine is lethal.
We know that smoking- related deaths are lingering and painful, a burden to both the victims and their families.
Smoking cuts the average smoker’s life by 13 or 14 years, one of five (19 percent) of Americans over the age of 17 continue to smoke.

33. At the peak of cigarette use, most men and 1 in 3 women smoked cigarettes.
What happened?---the making of a social problem.
Awareness grew about what smoking does to the body.
Leaders emerged, officials responded, and smokers and nonsmokers confronted one another.
One battled to limit smoking, the other to preserve the right to smoke anywhere.
One fought under the banner of freedom from harm, the other under freedom of choice.
Legislation outlawed smoking on commercial flights, in airports, workplaces, and public buildings. Even bars became “smoke free.”
Smokers are forced to smoke outside, but to stay a certain distance away from most buildings.
States sued tobacco companies. None went out of business.
Tobacco companies raised prices on cigarettes to cover the costs.

34. 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.
Alcoholics—people who have severe alcohol-related problems
10 million Americans are considered alcoholics.
Each year 800,000 Americans are treated in substance abuse centers.
Considering reduced productivity and alcohol-related accidents, the total runs over $200 billion a year
These combined costs make alcohol the most expensive of all drug abuse problems.
Drinking and Sex Roles
Basic reason most drunk drivers are male is centered on socialization
Men taught drinking is “macho”
If American culture socialized women to believe drunkenness was feminine, more young women might drink to excess.
Femininity being redefined in more traditionally masculine terms
Anticipate an increase in drunk driving accidents among women
Gender Transitions
Getting publically drunk and blowing off steam used to be part of a masculine role. Now more women are adopting this behavior.
One indication is an increase in the arrest of women for drunkenness and disorderly conduct

35. Perhaps. But too much, and you won’t hear a thing.
The humor in alcohol advertisements is not so funny when the effects of alcohol abuse come into play.
Perhaps. But too much, and you won’t hear a thing.

36. 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.
Heavy drinkers more likely to have heart attacks, problems with their endocrine, metabolic, immune, and reproductive systems.
Alcohol, pregnancy, and childbirth
Each year about 5,000 babies are born in the United States with a cluster of problems called fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).
The most serious is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) which causes mental deficiencies and birth defects
Born addicted to alcohol, these children suffer painful withdrawal for a week to 6 months.
irritable, irregular heart beat, and some go into convulsions.
Potential for brain damage, making learning, memory, speech, and coordination difficult.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Occurs most often within groups that have higher rates of alcoholism
Most likely to suffer are Native Americans
How you learn to drink.
Five ways to ensure a low incidence of alcoholism:
Make drinking a regular part of life
View alcohol as neutral—neither poisonous or wonderful
Do not view drinking as a sign of adulthood or virility.
Do not tolerate abusive drinking.
Allow parents to provide an example of moderate (light, social, nonabusive) drinking
Factors most likely to lead to alcohol-related problems in the home:
The family considers drinking alcohol as something special.
Alcohol is viewed as either sinful or as a magical substance that makes the world more pleasant.
Drinking is considered a sign of adulthood.
The family looks at getting drunk as a favorable event.
Family members learn to drink outside the home, in a sneaky manner.
Some research supports a biological basis for development of alcoholism but cannot rule out social influences.
Discussion Question
. Discuss with your students the role of alcohol on your college campus, in your community, and society as a whole. Discuss why alcohol is such an accepted part of society. Are there any cultural differences among the groups of students that impact their views? Ask students whether they think that a drinking age of 21 should be lowered. What are the pros and cons of such a decision? Also, have them discuss the extent of underage drinking in small groups. Then each group should create a list of solutions that would have impacted their own decision to drink or not drink when under 21. If you are able to, obtain any data that your college has collected on the student body related to their alcohol use. (L.O.4.7)

37. About one of every seven tenth-graders and one of four high school students have been drunk in just the past month. A large number of teenagers are learning to drink in ways that maximize problems with alcohol, not minimize them.

38. 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
Alcohol and tobacco can ravage a body, marijuana does not. So why is it a social problem? Look at who is using…
Marijuana was not a popular drug, and as long as it was confined to “bohemian” or marginal groups, it posed no cultural threat to mainstream society.
Today, 53 percent of Americans ages 18 to 34 have smoked marijuana at some point in their lives.
Smoking marijuana does pose some health problems.
The smoking of marijuana increases respiratory problems (bronchitis, coughing, wheezing)
Marijuana use increases the risk of testicular cancer, especially if use begins prior to age 18
There are reproductive issues for both men and women.
Men who us have decreased sperm count and motility
Women have a reduction in estrogen, which suppresses ovulation. And an increased risk of miscarriage.
Marijuana can relieve symptoms associated with glaucoma, HIV/AIDS, and cancer treatments
Research on marijuana and addiction is mixed and needs further research.
Most people can quit marijuana with no problems
A small percentage become addicted and experience withdrawal symptoms
Social consequences of smoking marijuana among high school students may be compounded by other factors.
Low grades among smokers
Smokers are also more likely to come from broken homes, drink more alcohol, and be part of subcultures that don’t emphasize academics.
Marijuana is an excellent example of subjective concerns leading to social problems.
It is a weed, that used to be in medicines.
Now is a schedule 1 drug, carrying some severe consequences.
Read about the history of marijuana in your text.

39. Read: Becoming a Marijuana User

40. Why does usage go down among college students?

41. The United Arab Emirates (as you probably have figured out) has a zero tolerance dug policy.
Based on what you know, however you know it, including the contents of this chapter, how accurate do you think this cartoon is?

42. Terminal 3 at the airport at Dubai
The United Arab Emirates (as you probably have figured out) has a zero tolerance drug policy.
A man was arrested and sentenced to four years in prison for having marijuana in the tread of his shoe. The amount of marijuana smaller than a grain of sugar.
Should the U.S. have policy like this?
Terminal 3 at the airport at Dubai

43. The legalize marijuana movement points out that:
Being illegal has not stopped people from using.
Enforcing marijuana laws is expensive.
The government could tax marijuana if it was legal.
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.

44. Cocaine Social history:
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
Social history:
Cocaine has not always been viewed the way it is now.
The coca leaf extract was an ingredient in coca-cola. Removed when cocaine was viewed as a dangerous drug.
Although cocaine is a stimulant, in 1914 the Harrison Act mistakenly classified cocaine as a narcotic, making it illegal to sell or purchase the drug.
Harrison Act paved the way for cocaine to be sold on the black market.
Has a distinctive medical use
Surgeons apply cocaine as a local anesthetic and as a vasoconstrictor (a substance that reduces blood flow to the area to which it is applied)
So effective it is the medicine of choice for many surgeons doing nose, throat, larynx, and lower respiratory passages.
The 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 addiction
Why does cocaine have the reputation it has?
A drug’s reputation is not based on objective conditions. It does not, for instance, derive from tests showing that one drug causes more physical or psychological harm than another.
Like humans, drugs gain their reputation and acceptance through the people and events with which they are associated.
Drugs associated with higher-status (or “respectable”) people are likely to be defined as good and desirable, while drugs associated with lower-status (disrespected, poor) people are likely to be defined as bad and undesirable.
The reputation or social acceptability of drugs changes over time.
Cocaine was “more” acceptable than crack.

45. Can cocaine be addicting
Can cocaine be addicting? This man in Wales was so addicted, snorting so much cocaine, that his nose collapsed. His heart was also damaged.

46. 4.8 - Research Findings: The Hallucinogens
LSD
Peyote and Mescaline
Psilocybin
PCP
Ecstasy

47. LSD Most famous of the hallucinogens
Reached height of media attention in mid-1960s with hippie culture
The experience of LSD is learned
This drug was first synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hoffman, a Swiss chemist. Hoffman discovered that LSD was psychoactive when he accidentally inhaled a minute dose of the drug.
When LSD was first used people believed it would create panic in the user—and it did.
After people learned what the experience was like, they told their friends what to expect on the “trip” (how is opened the mind to new worlds, etc.) and the new users experienced a trip.
The experience of LSD is learned.

48. Peyote and Mescaline Widely practiced among Native Americans
Can be used legally—but only by members of the Native American Church for religious purposes
Peyote, a small cactus that produces hallucinatory experiences, was being used by some Native Americans when the Spanish arrived in North America. Mescaline, which is synthesized from peyote, produces similar visual effects.
While peyote can be used legally by most Native Americans under freedom of religion, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, however, that Oregon could arrest these users.

49. Psilocybin
Associated with pagan rituals, rulers launched religious campaigns causing decline in their use
Catholic Church launched a campaign against the use.
In the 1500s, the Spanish also found that Native Americans in Mexico were using a mushroom (Psilocybe mexicana) for its hallucinatory experiences.
As with peyote, reports about the effects of this drug often contain a spiritual or religious emphasis

50. 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
PCP (phencyclidine hydrochloride), often called angel dust, was synthesized in 1957 by Parke-Davis and sold as a painkiller. As people soon discovered, this drug produces hallucinations.
Because PCP requires little equipment to manufacture, it is often made in home laboratories.

51. Ecstasy Popular party drug
Side effects for some are mental confusion and anxiety
may cause brain damage
It produces an euphoric rush like that of cocaine combined with some of the mind-altering effects of the psychedelics.
Its users say that Ecstasy, sometimes called “the love drug,” relaxes them and increases empathy and feelings of intimacy.
Users also report that it enhances sensual experiences, making touching and other physical contact more pleasurable.

52. 4.9 - Research Findings: The Barbiturates and the Amphetamines

53. 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”
In 1862, Dr. A. Bayer (the Bayer of aspirin fame from Munich, Germany), combined urea with malonic acid and made a new compound, barbituric acid
Barbiturates have a feeling similar to alcohol.
Regular barbiturate use leads to physical dependence.
Withdrawal causes nausea, anxiety, sweating, dizziness, trembling, muscular twitching, and sometimes convulsions, coma, and death.
physicians usually substitute a long-lasting barbiturate and then withdraw it slowly to get people off the drug.

54. Amphetamines Became popular in the 1920s Behavioral fixations
Many uses
Behavioral fixations
Withdrawal symptoms
The effect of the meth epidemic on Sudafed
Discovered in 1887, Benzedrine became popular in the 1920s in over-the-counter inhalers intended to dilate the bronchial tubes.
Later Benzedrine was available by prescription in tablet form for hyperkinesis and, in 1939, as an appetite suppressant.
During World War II, the military gave amphetamines to soldiers to help them stay awake.
At this time, people began to soak the amphetamines from Benzedrine inhalers, and amphetamine abuse began.
Heavy use of Amphetamines results in behavioral fixations, like repeated counting or cleaning.
Withdrawal symptoms include aggression, violent outbursts, and thoughts of homicide or suicide.
Because it is easy to manufacture at home, methamphetamine has become a problem.
In some states drugs containing pseudoephedrine (e.g., Sudafed) are available only from a pharmacist.

55. 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.

56. 4.10 - Research Findings: Steroids
Anabolic steroids have medical uses.
Body builders use it to bulk.
Gained attention when athletes were using.
Steroids have a legitimate medical use for patients who need to rebuild muscle mass (e.g., breast cancer, AIDS patients).
Body builders found they could bulk by using steroids. But, it creates a dependence that can cause depression when withdrawing. In addition, it can shrink testes and produce liver cysts.
Another example of the social construction of drugs, steroids did not gain attention because of the side effects. They gained attention when athletes used them illegally as performance enhancers.
Should athletes be allowed to use steroids if they want? Why the push to “clean up” sports?

57. 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.
The debate remains as to whether or not athletes should be allowed to use steroids.
If regulated and everyone can do it, why not?

58. 4.11 - Research Findings: The Narcotics - Opium, Morphine, and Heroin
Heroin, Crime, and the Law

59. Morphine is a painkiller that is so potent that doctors use it on the battlefield to give wounded soldiers immediate relief from their wounds.
Morphine is highly addicting.
The government controls morphine, making it available only for limited medical use.

60. Heroin Mixed research on physical addiction Fetal Narcotic Syndrome
Some find that heroin has serious physical addictions with withdrawals so bad that the addict will do anything to avoid withdrawing.
Others found that some heroin users will use once or twice a day and then not for a few days with no symptoms from withdrawing.
Fetal narcotic syndrome babies are born to mothers who use and are addicted themselves. They are usually low birth weight and more likely to be born premature. They have tremors, can’t sleep, suck their fists.

61. 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.
Few people would argue with this statement, but how true is it?
There are doctors addicted to narcotics.
They don’t rob.
They go to work
They don’t have the same negative health effects
Why??
These professionals had access to clean drugs, they didn’t need to prey on others, and had good nutrition at home. The impact of the drug on their lives is very different.
Social position matters, even in terms of addiction.
Narcotics, then, do not cause the things we commonly associate with them: robbery, burglary, prostitution, unemployment, and poor health.
Life circumstances make the difference, not addiction to narcotics.

62. 4.12 - Social Policy The Dilemmas of Social Policy
Deciding Social Policy
Complicating social policy are contrasting moralities, subcultural values, and conflicting laws. Consider this:
The health findings on alcohol suggest that we should encourage light to moderate drinking, but discourage heavy drinking. Which of our high schools and colleges—or our churches and state governments—would promote such a policy?

63. 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
Of all the social problems, developing adequate policies for drug use is most difficult.
Theory and social policy
Social policy should be built around the dimension of social harm. Why would we prohibit drugs that don’t cause social harm?
The theory determines the question:
Symbolic interactionists—whose definition of social harm
Functionalists—when do drugs interfere with people and welfare of society?
Conflict sociologists—social policy is created by the ruling class and it is a form of social control
The dominant idea about drugs is to “get tough”
The war on drugs tried to stop drugs coming in from the Mexican border. The result, even more drugs flowed into the United States, so much so that the price of heroin dropped, and its purity increased.
Profits from drugs on the black market can fuel armies and take out governments.
Criminalizing drugs feeds organized crime and other criminal acts
MyLab Activities
Explorer. The Downward Spiral: Drug Use and Socioeconomic Status
a. Slide 3 shows a graph for about “Spending on Dealing with Drug Addiction”
b. There are two questions asked about government spending. What is the difference between asking whether the government spends a specific amount on drug addiction or drug rehabilitation? Do you see any biases? If so, what are they?
c. How would you create a question that would show less bias?
d. Does the question about government spending on rehabilitation really measure whether people support drug rehabilitation or whether they think it’s the government’s job to provide this service?
e. What does Slide 4 lead you to conclude about drugs and race?
f. Why do you think there was a clear pattern of people who injected drugs based on their level of education?
g. What could you conclude from these slides about drug use in regard to race, social class, and educational level?
h. What could you suggest would be effective social policies to address these issues?
(L.O.4.12)

64. Deciding Social Policy
Banning advertising
Drug education
Drug addiction social policy
Methadone maintenance
Forcing abstinence
Alcoholics Anonymous
Principles of Successful Social Policy
These suggestions for social policy have a rational basis.
Banning all advertising for nicotine would mean we don’t see young, happy people enticing us with cigarettes. Advertising works, lets not let it work for nicotine.
Many programs of drug education have been tried, but researchers do not agree that any work. Some programs even seem to backfire. Students who are given information about drugs use drugs in greater moderation, but the information they receive piques their curiosity and more of them use drugs
Drug education should be based on studies, not on what someone thinks is “good” or “bad”
Such a program would require that we deter- mine both the beneficial and the harmful effects of drugs—and that we communicate these findings, even if they go against our biases.
Jailing addicted people does not address addiction.
Drug addiction programs must address the reflect the realities of the addict’s life.
A policy where drugs could be obtained legally, possibly free, from a doctor would allow addicts to live life. This would break the dependency on the black market for drugs. The drugs could be regulated and controlled.
Methadone Maintenance: example of how the labels illegal and legal play key role in developing social policy
Force abstinence: 24/7 sobriety. Was created by a judge in South Dakota. To stay out of jail, anyone convicted of an alcohol related crime must show up for a breathalyzer test twice a day.
They report that 99% of the people show up sober twice a day.
Alcoholics Anonymous is a alcohol treatment program designed by people who were addicts themselves. The model has been applied to other drugs. It is based on a twelve-step program that is outlined in the text.
Principles:
To be effective, social policy must match subculture of target group. This means the emphases may be different for different groups.
Drug programs should offer an alternative lifestyle and reward conventional behavior (job placement and training)
It needs to be related to the realities of the user. Imposing moralities from non-users will not work on users.
Lecture Starter
Ask your students why they think some drugs are harmful and should be outlawed, while others are legal. Why should alcohol be legal while cocaine or heroin is not? From their responses, help your class to elicit what elements of drugs lead people to view them as problematic. Discuss the issue of it being a personal problem versus a social problem. (L.O.4.2)
MyLab Activities
Audio. NPR: Texas Considers ‘Conscience Clause’ for Pharmacists
After listening to this audio file, students can answer the following questions. The instructor can place students in different groups to support the argument of one side or the other, or students can answer individually.
a. What is the conscience clause and what states are currently enforcing this clause?
b. Why do pharmacists refuse to dispense the morning after pill or emergency contraception to patients? What does this medication do and how does it violate beliefs about anti-abortion?
c. When should the morning after pill be taken and how does this issue of time enter the argument of when conception occurs? Please discuss the scientific evidence that conception may occur within 12 to 72 hours.
d. How do symbolic interaction theory and perception enter into this argument?
e. Students should do research about pharmacists and their professional oaths to dispense medications. Do they have the right to make moral decisions about this issue?
f. Do you support this conscience clause?
(L.O.4.12)
Long Assignment
Students can complete an observation project by attending AA meetings in their community. Describe the people who attended this meeting, the reasons they started using drugs, and what led them to finally attend these meetings and become sober. Students would not identify themselves as researchers to avoid impacting the people they were observing. A follow-up interview with a recovering addict may also add a lot more substance to this research project. This individual can also be encouraged to talk about the early signs of alcohol or drug dependency as a way for your students to assess their own behavior or that of family members or friends. (L.O.4.12)

65. 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.

66. Mexico’s drug violence is spilling into the U. S
Mexico’s drug violence is spilling into the U.S. Authorities worry about how to stop the border cities from becoming battlegrounds.
But, the problem continues with the drugs coming in and cash and guns going out.
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.

67. 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.
The devastating consequences of anti-drug laws will be written off as things these “bad” people deserve. Lurking in the shadows of social policy, this perspective of “us” and “them” needs to be brought into the light where it can be examined thoroughly.

68. Question for Discussion
Explain how drug laws are based on subjective concerns and not objective reality.