- Title
- A sociology of licit and illicit drugs
- Creator
- Freij, Maria; Germov, John
- Relation
- Public Sociology: An Introduction to Australian Society p. 204-226
- Relation
- https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/other-books/Public-Sociology-Edited-by-John-Germov-and-Marilyn-Poole-9781743315873
- Publisher
- Allen & Unwin
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2015
- Description
- We often think of drugs as illegal and dangerous substances, such as heroin and cocaine, yet the drug that causes the greatest harm is legal - alcohol. Many illicit drugs were once legal, such as heroin, which was prescribed in Australia as a cough suppressant until 1953, and many so-called 'designer drugs' initially escape the law because of their novel properties. Even legal drugs, such as prescription medicines, can be illegal when used for non-medical purposes. To make things even more complicated, some illicit drugs such as marijuana have been decriminalised in parts of the world for medical use, or such offences are treated with non-criminal fines and police warnings for possession of small amounts. What is considered a 'drug' can vary over time and between cultures, and there remain major differences in societal responses to drugs between countries today. It should come as no surprise, then, that the topic of drugs is ripe for sociological study. The sociological study of drug use usually concerns what are termed 'psychoactive drugs', which are substances that alter people's emotions, thoughts, perceptions, and behaviours. Erich Goode (2012) suggests that there are four main forms of drug use: legal instrumental use: prescription and over-the-counter medicines to address physical and mental ailments ; legal recreational use: consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine for their pleasurable effects ; illegal instrumental use: using medicines without a prescription, such as anti-depressants and stimulants, to address pain or undertake tasks such as staying awake to cram for exams, and ; illegal recreational use: drugs consumed for their pleasurable, euphoric, and intoxicating effects. Whether psychoactive drugs are licit or illicit, they can be the basis of abuse, and can lead to a host of personal and social problems, including addiction, crime, illness, and premature death (Hanson, Venturelli & Fleckenstein 2015). Sociologists are interested in the reasons behind people's drug use and abuse, the social patterning of drug abuse (such as gender and regional differences in attitudes and consumption patterns), how cultural traditions and social norms shape societal responses to drug abuse (including what is defined as legal or illegal drugs), and the social influences and interactions that affect how drugs are accessed and used. In particular, societal responses to the 'drug problem' have tended to be polarised into two camps: punitive law-enforcement approaches epitomised by the 'war on drugs', 'zero tolerance', and prohibition; and harm-reduction approaches that view drug abuse as a health problem and favour decriminalisation, prevention, and rehabilitation of drug users (see Mendes & Rowe 2004; Nutt 2012). Legislative frameworks vary between countries, reflecting the culture and political system within which these laws are made - a drug that is illegal in one country is not necessarily illegal in another; the legal drinking age differs between countries, as does the legal age for buying cigarettes. While seldom encouraged, there are greater social taboos against pregnant women drinking and smoking in some countries than in others, and some societies are known to be more accepting of alcohol consumption in general than others: Australia is one such country. This chapter introduces the historical framework in which alcohol and other drugs exist, and highlights characteristics of Australian drug consumption that are of specific interest to sociology.
- Description
- 3rd
- Subject
- norms; deviance; agency; structure-agency debate
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1301550
- Identifier
- uon:20317
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781743315873
- Language
- eng
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