Substances
Social Problems 112
BYU-Idaho
October 27, 2009
What is a drug?
What is a drug?
A substance that is taken to
to produce a change in
one’s bodily functions,
behavior, emotions,
thinking, or consciousness.
What is a drug?
• To be a drug, a substance does not have to
be sold in an alley or be exchanged for
money in a van
• We are born with the aid of drugs, and drugs
ease our departure from life
• We use drugs for sickness, to ease pain and
discomfort, to calm anxiety and nerves
So What’s the Problem?
Addiction/Dependence
• People rely on the regular consumption of a
drug (a “fix”) in order to function:
• “I really need a cigarette…”
• “I can’t get through the morning without my
cup of coffee…”
• “This would be fun if we got wasted first…”
So What’s the Problem?
Withdrawal/Cravings
• Intense distress:
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Aches and pains
• Nervousness
• Anxiety, depression
So What’s the Problem?
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
So What’s the Problem?
Abuse
•
Example: Alcohol
Alcohol abuse is drinking alcoholic beverages at
a level that interferes with physical health,
mental health, and social, family, or job
responsibilities.
•
•
Alcohol affects the central nervous system as a
depressant. This leads to a decrease in:
•
Activity
•
Anxiety
Inhibitions
•
•
Tension
So What’s the Problem?
• Even a few drinks can change behavior,
slow motor skills, and decrease the ability to
think clearly. Alcohol can impair
concentration and judgment.
• http://cognac.com/2670-drunk-driving-
deaths-so-far-in-2009/
So What’s the Problem?
Abuse
On average, someone is killed by a drunk driver every
40 minutes in US
•
•
Each day 36 people die and almost 700 more are
injured in vehicle crashes that involve a drunk driver
•
Half of all teenage fatalities is due to drunk driving
•
Top 5 states with highest number of alcohol related
fatalities are Texas, California, Florida, Pennsylvania
and Illinois
•
•
About 81% of all drunk drivers are male drivers
As you read this article most probably the number of
deaths caused by drunk driving has already changed
Functionalist Perspective
• How do drugs play a part
in society?
Functionalist Perspective
• How do drugs play a part
in society?
•
•
“Recreational drugs” loosen people up, making
them more sociable
Those who grow, produce, distribute, sell drugs
make money
Functionalist Perspective
Marijuana
• Street terms?
Functionalist Perspective
Marijuana
•
•
Most commonly used illicit drug
According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug
Use and Health (NSDUH), an estimated 102
million Americans aged 12 or older have tried
marijuana at least once in their lifetimes,
representing 41% of the U.S. population in that
age group.
The number of past year marijuana users in 2008
was approximately 25.8 million (10.3% of the
population aged 12 or older)
•
•
The number of past month marijuana users was
15.2 million (6.1%).
Functionalist Perspective
Marijuana
• Money maker drug!
• Illegal dealers AND law makers make
their money through this drug
• 1937- Marijuana Tax Act
Functionalist Perspective
Prescription Drugs
The second most commonly abused category of drugs,
behind marijuana and ahead of cocaine, heroin,
methamphetamine, and other drugs.
•
•
In the 1950’s, more than a half million Americans were
locked in mental hospitals
•
Since then, our population has doubled, and thanks to
the spread of doctors prescribing mood-altering drugs
the number of patients in these institutions has shrunk,
rather than increasing into the millions
Functionalist Perspective
• Prescription drugs
•
Drug companies, physicians, pharmacists all
benefit from sales
•
Prozac, Xanax, and Zoloft each pull in over a
BILLION dollars a year…
•
How?
Functionalist Perspective
• Prescription drugs
Medicalizing human problems
•
•
•
•
“Legal abuse of legal drugs”
Doctors now prescribe drugs for conditions we
used to assume were a normal part of life
“Rowdy kids” used to be seen as mere discipline
cases, now their unacceptable behavior has a
name- ADHD.
Functionalist Perspective
• Prescription drugs
•
Ads for drugs you cannot buy over the counter are
plastered in every type of media
•
People imagine themselves living happy, carefree
lives if they can just get their hands on some Zoloft or
Prozac
Physicians do not want to lose business, so they write
the prescriptions- locking in a patient
•
•
Doctors make money for writing the prescriptions,
pharmacists for filling them, and the drug companies
themselves laugh all the way to the bank
Functionalist Perspective
Prescription Drugs
•
•
According to the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use
and Health (NSDUH), approximately 52 million
Americans aged 12 or older reported non-medical
use of any psychotherapeutic drug at some point in
their lifetimes, representing 20.8% of the population
aged 12 or older.
Approximately 6.2 million Americans aged 12 or older
reported current (past month) use of
psychotherapeutic drugs for non-medical purposes,
representing 2.5% of the population.
In this report, psychotherapeutics include any
prescription-type pain reliever, tranquilizer, stimulant, or
sedative but do not include over-the-counter drugs
•
Functionalist Perspective
Prescription Drugs “Street Terms”
Term
Definition
80
OxyContin pill
Doctor Shopping
Going from doctor to
doctor to fraudulently
obtain prescriptions
Murder 8
Fentanyl
Pharming
Consuming a mixture of
prescription substances
Ritz and T’s
Combination of Ritalin
and Talwin injected
Conflict Theory
• Drugs as a political tool… Who has the power?
•
•
If the use of a particular drug is common among
some groups, by making that drug illegal the state
can unleash it’s police power against that group
In contrast, by keeping a drug legal, the state can
protect favored groups that make money from it
•
•
Alcohol
Tobacco
Conflict Theory
1937 Marijuana Tax Act
• Marijuana was improperly labeled as a
narcotic. Even though this is common
knowledge now, no interest group is
powerful enough to get this
classification changed
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism
420
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism
Symbolic Interactionism
Can We Change This?
Solutions?
Social Policy?
Does Drug Education Help?
Legalization of Pot?
“Medical Marijuana”
Should we legalize marijuana?
In 1972 marijuana was placed in
Schedule I of the Controlled
Substances Act, representing that
the US government considered it
to have "no accepted medical
use in treatment in the United
States." 13 of 50 US states currently
have approved the medical use
of marijuana for qualified patients.
“Medical Marijuana”
Should we legalize marijuana?
Pro
Con
Marijuana has "accepted
medical use in treatment in the
US," and that it would easily meet
the FDA criteria over "whether a
new product's benefits to users
will outweigh its risks." Marijuana,
they claim, is a safe and
effective treatment for dozens of
conditions, such as cancer, AIDS,
multiple sclerosis, pain, migraines,
glaucoma, and epilepsy.
Proponents say that thousands of
yearly deaths from legal
prescription drugs could be
prevented if medical marijuana
were legal.
Marijuana has not been FDAapproved because it is too
dangerous to use, and that
various FDA-approved drugs
make the use of marijuana
unnecessary. Marijuana, they
claim, is addictive, leads to
harder drug use, injures the lungs,
harms the immune system,
damages the brain, interferes
with fertility, impairs driving
ability, and sends the wrong
message to kids. They say that
medical marijuana is a front for
drug legalization, and that
people who claim medical use
are actually using it for
recreational pleasure.
Moral Perspective?
D&C 89- “Word of Wisdom”
7. And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your
bodies.
8. And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not
good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle, to be used
with judgment and skill…
18 . And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in
obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel
and marrow to their bones;
19. And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge even hidden
treasures;
20. And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.
21. And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel
shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.