CHAPTER 13: Drugs

Drugs are defined as any substance that directly affects the brain or nervous system
when ingested.

This broad definition suggests that society accepts some drugs as appropriate and
regards others as unacceptable.

Within the United States, inconsistent, ambiguous, and sometime contradictory

definitions exist about the acceptability of certain drug use.

Three main points: (1) definitions concerning drugs and drug-related behaviors are
socially constructed, (2) members of different societies or groups within societies differ
in their social constructions about drugs and drug use, and (3) the definition of drugs by
the most powerful groups in society will become part of the law.

Definitions of drugs and drug-related behavior have a political nature – the politics of
drugs.
The Politics of Drugs
A. Historical Legality of Drugs
1. The definition of drug use and abuse is complicated because different
patterns of drug use are acceptable for different people, and this changes
over time.
2. There has been virtually no consistency concerning the legality of drugs
historically.
3. Drugs that were at one time legal are no longer legal (e.g., in the 1800s,
opiates were legal in the United States).
4. Drug laws began to change in the early 1900s under the pressure of reform
forces.

1
 5. Congress passed the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914, which was basically a tax
law, but it also established a Narcotics Division in the Treasury Department
(which eventually became the Bureau of Narcotics). This division assumed
the task of eliminating drug addiction and launched a campaign to convince
the public there was a link between drug use and crime.
6. The net result was that what had been a medical problem became a legal
problem.

Factors Influencing Drug Laws and Enforcement

Cultural Reasons
a. Drug laws and policies tend to reflect how people perceive drug use.
b. Certain drugs have negative stereotypes and others do not.
c. Dominant society has interpreted some drug use as a symbolic rejection
of mainstream values and therefore condemns those drugs.
Interest Groups
a. Approaches to controlling drug use have more to do with the power
structure of society than with the inherent characteristics of the
substance being controlled.
b. The relation between social class use and drug policy can be found in the
current drive to liberalize marijuana laws.
c. By demonizing certain drugs and not others, the government, the criminal
justice system, and the media all serve their own interests.
d. The pharmaceutical industry works diligently to dissuade Congress from
restricting amphetamines and other pills.
e. The illegal status of some drugs enables illicit economic interests to
flourish.
f. The law enforcement profession also uses its influence to affect drug
policy.

2
 g. Moral panics occur when a social problem is defined as a threat to societal
values and interests, as in the portrayal of crack cocaine.
h. Current drug laws are illogical related to the dangers they pose to
individuals and society, but they reflect successful political lobbying by a
variety of powerful interest groups.
Drug Use in U.S. Society
Commonly Abused Illegal Drugs
1. Marijuana
a. Marijuana is the world’s fourth most widely used psychoactive drug.
b. It is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States. In 2010, 17.4
million Americans used marijuana in the previous month, and an
estimated 4.6 million Americans are daily users.
c. It is a widely misunderstood drug. There are some dangers of marijuana
use including health and legal risks, but there are also some positive
effects for certain medical problems.
d. Some states have removed state-level criminal penalties for growing or
possessing medical marijuana.
2. Hallucinogens
a. Hallucinogens are also called psychedelics and produce sensory
experiences that represent a different reality to the user.

b. In 2010, 1.2 million people reported using an hallucinogen in the

previous month.

c. The most dangerous psychedelic is angel dust (PCP), which can cause
psychotic and negative health reactions.

d. Another synthetic drug, “ecstasy,” is a popular “club drug” which can also
be dangerous especially if combined with alcohol.

3. GHB (Gamma Hydroxybutyrate)

a. GHB is a central nervous system depressant.

3
 b. GHB is a favorite date-rape drug because it knocks out the user but it is
also quickly cleared from the body.
4. Narcotics (Opiates)
a. Narcotics are powerful depressants that affect the respiratory and central
nervous systems.
b. Opiates are highly addictive and very dangerous.

c. Rates of heroin use have remained fairly constant among teenagers.

d. The use of opiate-based prescription painkillers is on the rise.

5. Cocaine
a. Cocaine is a strong central nervous system stimulant.
b. Cocaine gives users a sensation of pleasure, intensified sexual highs, euphoria,
alertness, and feelings of confidence.
c. Repeated used of cocaine can cause paranoia, hallucinations, sleeplessness,
tremors, weight loss, and depression.

d. In 2010 there were 1 million current cocaine users.

e. Crack is a smokable form of cocaine that provides an instant rush.

6. Methamphetamine

a. Methamphetamine is a subclass of amphetamines also known as speed,

crystal, crank, chalk, or ice.

b. Methamphetamine use is associated with a number of negative effects, both

short- and long-term.

c. Methamphetamine use and addiction has become a frequent topic in the

media.

d. Studies on the amount of methamphetamine use give mixed results of both

increased use and decline.

e. Studies of youth show methamphetamine use is low and declining.

4
Legal but Dangerous Drugs
1. Nicotine
a. Nicotine is the active ingredient of cigarettes and is a stimulant.
b. Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona has reported that smoking
causes no fewer than 26 diseases.
c. The CDC estimates that the cost of smoking to the nation from 2000 to
2004 was approximately $193 billion in medical costs and lost worker
productivity.
d. Approximately 45.3 million Americans smoke.
e. More men than women smoke.
f. Smoking and education are inversely related.
g. The tobacco industry is enormous, but is faced with declining sales. It has
responded by
(1) Investing in politicians in hopes of favorable legislation.
(2) Increasing advertising in the United States aimed primarily at
African Americans, Latinos, women, and youth.
(3) Increasing advertising and sales overseas to compensate for
declining domestic sales
Alcohol
a. Alcohol is a relatively safe drug if used in moderation, but it is very
dangerous if abused.
b. Alcohol is a depressant that directly affects the central nervous system.
c. In 2011, 51.8 percent of the population over age 12 consumed alcohol
in the past month.
d. Alcohol abuse has enormous financial and social costs.
Drug Use Patterns by Class and Race
1. Drug use is not uniform throughout society.
2. The poor are more likely to use intravenous drugs, placing them at
greater risk of exposure to AIDS from sharing of needles.

5
 3. Alcohol use varies greatly by race, social class, and age.
a. Whites are more likely to report current use than any other racial
group.
b. Youth generally are more likely to report binge and heavy use,
particularly among 18 to 25 year olds.
c. Black women are more likely to be abstainers than White women.
d. Current alcohol use increases with increasing levels of education.
4. The poor are more inclined to use illicit harmful substances.
5. Tobacco and alcohol companies target poor and minority neighborhoods.
6. Drug use cuts across all class, racial, and gender lines.
Why Use Drugs?
1. Medical Pressures
a. Vaccines and antibiotics have been created to fight diseases.
b. The public quickly accepted these drugs as beneficial.
c. U.S. residents spend far more on prescription drugs than people in
other developed countries.
Cultural Pressures
a. The United States has become a “quick fix” society.
b. Psychopharmacology is developing pills that will enrich memory,
heighten concentration, enhance intelligence, and eliminate shyness
or bad moods.
c. The widespread use of “behavior drugs” for children with ADHD has led
to their abuse by adolescents and adults and raised some important
questions.
d. U.S. society has become increasingly concerned with the cultural ideals
of mental and physical perfection and has used drugs to meet these
ideals.
e. Athletes use restorative drugs to heal traumatized parts of the body
and use additive drugs to improve performance.

6
 f. The pressure to use drugs comes from doctors, coaches, parents,
teachers, peers, and advertising as a quick fix solution to life’s
problems.

U.S. Official Policy: A War on Drugs

A. The U.S. drug war is fought on two fronts: stopping the flow of drugs into the
United States and using the criminal justice system to punish those who sell
and use drugs within the country.
B. The war on drugs has cost taxpayers more than $1 trillion since 1971.
C. The policy of interdiction (stopping the supply of drugs into the country) is
clearly a failure.
D. Because of increased use of the criminal justice system in the United States,
there has been an increase in the number of people in jail and prisons because
of drug-related incidents.
E. Consequences of Official Drug Policies
1. Drug laws in the United States are irrational and do not achieve their
intended goals for three fundamental reasons:

a. By making drugs illegal and dangerous to produce, transport, and sell,

society pushes the cost to many times what it would be if they were
legally available.
b. Punitive drug laws encourage crime because someone has to supply the
illicit goods. Legislation does not dry up demand.
c. Drug laws encourage police corruption.
2. Criminal laws create crime and criminals. If there were no laws regulating a
behavior, then there would be no criminal.
3. All of the factors to eliminate drugs join together in the development of a
drug subculture.
F. Is the Drug War Racist?

7
 1. Laws and punishment for violating laws are unfair to African Americans and
other racial minorities.
2. Four facts provide evidence that the drug war is racist:
a. Data show that overall there are more Whites using illicit drugs, yet
African Americans are more likely to be imprisoned for drug offenses.
b. Federal drug enforcement has waged its war against crack cocaine
almost exclusively in minority neighborhoods.
c. The severity of punishment if a law is broken differs in a way that
penalizes minorities more than Whites.
d. There is a strong tendency for the courts to administer medical
treatment for White drug users and the criminal justice system for
Black users.

IV. Alternatives
A. The United States has four options concerning drug policy
1. Continue to wage the war on drugs by enacting and enforcing criminal laws.
2. Legalize drugs and regulate them through licensing and taxation.
3. Take a public health approach with an emphasis on decriminalization.
4. Address the social causes of drug use.
B. Regulation of Trade or Use through Licensing and Taxation
1. Legalizing drugs but regulating their use would have several possible
benefits for society:
a. It ensures the products’ standards of purity and safety.
b. It dries up the criminal networks that distribute drugs.
c. It provides the government with revenues.
d. It reserves prison space and police activities for the truly dangerous.
2. Opponents argue that government regulation would be the same as
condoning such use.

8
 3. Under this regulation option, heroin addicts would be the biggest
population needing attention and could be dealt with through methadone
maintenance.
a. Critics of methadone maintenance programs argue that they are
unacceptable and would encourage wider use of hard drugs.
b. Liberals see a danger in government control of a dependent addict
population.
c. Such programs emphasize the individual level and ignore the social and
cultural sources of drug use.
C. Noninterference
1. Libertarians argue that the government should not regulate or interfere with
what people put into their bodies.
2. Proponents of total decriminalization of drugs argue that all societies have
had drugs and that legislation will not change individual desire for drugs.
3. Critics argue that decriminalization will encourage the spread of drug use.
D. Address the Social Causes of Drug Use
1. Drugs are correlated with poverty, education, gender, social location, and
race/ethnicity.
2. The United States has spent billions of dollars tackling the supply side issue
of the drug problem through policing and regulating its borders.
3. An effective strategy must also reduce the demand for drugs by focusing on
the social causes of drug use.

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES/DISCUSSION
Debate Legalization
Debate drug legalization. Pick either pro or con legalization of marijuana. Consider your
opponent’s position and have responses for any possible arguments from the other side.

Social Power and Legality

9
Why do you think alcohol and tobacco are legal drugs when they are addictive,
physically harmful, and socially disruptive?

Are drug laws really about social power and are drug laws based on objective reality?

10