Classifying psychoactive substances as either licit or illicit is not based excl

Question

Classifying psychoactive substances as either licit or illicit is not based exclusively or even primarily on their pharmacological properties. It is as much, if not more, a matter of class, race, and economic issues. During the course of your readings and study, consider several questions.

If it were possible to erase all previous history and attitudes and start afresh, and you were asked to designate classes of drugs to be licit, which would you choose?

What factors would you consider to be important in making these assignments?

Which things would you see as important in defining harm? And harm to whom? Are there harms that are introduced or avoided by the legal or illicit status of a substance? To what extent can these be diminished?

How do the social benefits of alcohol use compare with its social costs?

How do drinking patterns in the United States compare to those in other countries?

Please include references and web site sited page.

Explanation / Answer

Anyone can become dependent on and addicted to a drug. The desire to use a drug before drug dependence (addiction) sets in is both seductive and indiscriminate of its users. Most people do not realize that drug use causes at least three major simultaneous changes:

1.The social and psychological basis of the attraction to a particular drug can be explained as feeling rewarded or satisfied because social pressures can appear to have become postponed, momentarily rectified, or neutralized
and defined as nonproblematic.
2.Pharmacologically, the nonmedical use of most drugs alters body chemistry largely by interfering with its proper (homeostatic) functioning. Drugs enhance, slow down, accelerate, or distort the reception and transmission of reality.
3.The desire may satisfy an inborn or genetically programmed need or desire.

Many argue that our “reality” would become perilous and unpredictable if people were legally free to dabble in their drugs of choice. Many do not realize, however, that if abused, even legal drugs can alter our perception of reality, become severely addicting, and destroy our social relationships with loved ones.
We are going to discuss the answers for the folowing questions here:
• What constitutes a drug?
• What are the most commonly abused drugs?
• What are designer drugs?
• How widespread is drug abuse?
• What is the extent and frequency of drug use
in our society?
• What are the current statistics on and trends in
drug use?
• What types of drug users exist?
• How do the media influence drug use?
• What attracts people to drug use?
• When does drug use lead to drug dependence?
• When does drug addiction occur?
• What are the costs of drug addiction to society?
• What can be gained by learning about the
complexity of drug use and abuse?

Dimensions of Drug Use

To determine the perception of drug use in our country, we asked several of the many people we interviewed for this book, “What do you think of the extent and the amount of drug use in our society?” The following are three of the more typical responses:
I think it is a huge problem, especially when you think about the fact that there are so many people doing drugs. Even in my own family, my sister’s kids have had drug problems. My niece became addicted to cocaine, nearly died one night from overdosing, had to leave college for a year and go into rehab. I cannot emphasize enough how this was one of the most beautiful (physically and mentally sharp) and polite nieces I ever had. The rest of the family had no idea why she left school last year. Then, just last week, my sister tearfully announced during a Christmas gathering that Cindee was heavily into drugs while attending her second year of college. We were all shocked by this information

Now, just think how many other kids are addicted to such junk while the people who really care and love them do not have a clue. If the kids are having to deal with this, just stop and think how many other people in other jobs and professions are battling or have caved into their drugs of choice. How many workers are there on a daily basis
doing jobs that require safety and are “high” on drugs? This is a scary thought. Just think of a surgeon on drugs, or an airline pilot. Yes, we have big monster problems with controlling drug use. (From Venturelli’s research files, female dietician in Chicago, age 43, February 9, 2003)

A second response to the same question:

I use drugs, mainly weed and alcohol, and at least once a month I have a night of enjoying coke with several friends. As long as I am not a burden on my family, I think drug use is a personal choice. Locking up people for their drug
use is a violation of my rights as a human being. For many years now, our government has not been able to stop recreational drug use, this is despite the millions that have been arrested, and countless numbers of other drug users incarcerated. What’s the point of all this? If after so many years of trying to enforce drug laws has met with failure, we need to take a long hard look at the small percentage of people like me who are fully employed, have families, pay our taxes regularly and outside of drug use, are fully functioning adults. The funny thing is that the
two drugs [referring to alcohol and tobacco] that are legalized are far worse or at least as debilitating as the drugs that are legally prohibitive. Drug use is a personal choice and unless you are causing problems for other people, it should remain a personal choice. If I am using drugs on a particular night at home either by myself or with friends and we are not outside causing problems, we should not be in violation of any drug law or laws. Substances to get high have been around for hundreds and probably thousands of years, these substances that some of us like should not be any concern to others.

Even my pet cat loves his catnip and appears to get a high from it; should I prohibit this little pleasure? I let him occasionally have it even if, for example, my neighbor thinks catnip is affecting the normal nature of my cat. How about if I get a rise from snorting or smoking one of the herbs in my kitchen cabinet? Whose business is it if I like to use herbs in this manner? Maybe we should also outlaw catnip and herbs?

dDug use for whatever purpose is a personal decision and all the laws against the use of drugs are not going to stop me from using drugs. (From Venturelli’s research files, male residing in a Midwestern town, age 27, May 6, 2010)

A third response to the same question:

My drug use? Whose business is it anyway? As long as I don’t affect your life when I do drugs, what business is it but my own? We come into the world alone and leave this world alone. I don’t bother anyone else about whether or not so and so uses drugs, unless of course, their drug use puts me in jeopardy (like a bus driver or pilot high on drugs). On certain days when things are slow, I even get a little high on cocaine while trading stocks. These are the same clients who I have had for years and who really trust my advice. Ask my clients whether they are happy with my investment advice. I handle accounts with millions of dollars for corporations and even the board of education! Never was my judgment impaired or adversely affected because of too much coke. In fact, I know that I work even better under a little buzz. Now, I know this stuff has the potential to become addictive, but I don’t let it. I know how to use it and when to lay off for a few weeks. (FromVenturelli’s research files, male investment broker working in a major metropolitan city in California, age 48, June 2, 2000)

These three interviews reflect contrasting views and attitudes about drug use. The first interview shows the most contrast from the second and third interviews. Both the second and third interview show a similarity of views about drug use, largely from an insider’s (the user’s) perspective, indicative of a strong determination and belief that drug
use should not be legally controlled and should be left to the discretion of users. Although much about these viewpoints can certainly be debated, an interesting finding is that such vastly different views about drug use are not only evident, but more importantly often divide drug users and non–drug users. Drug users and/or sympathizers of drug use are often considered insiderswith regard to their drug use, whereas nonusers and/or those who are against drug use are outsiders. These two classifications result in very different sets of values and attitudes
about drug usage. Such great differences of opinion and views about drugs and drug use often result from the following sources:

(1) prior socialization experiences, such as family upbringing, relations with siblings, and types of peer group associations;
(2) the amount of exposure to drug use and drug users;

(3) the age of initial exposure to drug use;

and (4) whether an attitude change has occurred regarding the acceptance or rejection of using drugs.

Keep in mind that this book views the following four principal factors as affecting how a drug user experiences a drug:

• Biological, genetic, and pharmacological factors:Substance abuse and addiction involve biological
and genetic factors. The pharmacology of drug use focuses on how the ingredients of a particular drug affect the body and the nervous system and in turn a person’s experience with a particular drug.
• Cultural factors:Society’s views of drug use, as determined by custom and tradition, affect our initial approach to and use of a particular drug.
• Social factors:The motivation for taking a particular drug is affected by needs such as diminishing physical pain; curing an illness; providing relaxation; relieving stress or anxiety; trying to escape reality; self-medicating; heightening awareness; wanting to distort and change visual, auditory, or sensory inputs; or strengthening confidence. Included in the category of social factors is the belief that attitudes about drug use develop from the values and attitudes of other drug users; the norms in their communities, subcultures, peer groups, and families; and the drug user’s personal experiences with using drugs. These are also known as influencing social factors.
• Contextual factors:Specific contexts define and determine personal dispositions toward drug use, as demonstrated by moods and attitudes about such activity. Specifically, these factors encompass the drug-taking social behavior that develops from the physical surroundings where the drug is used. For example, drug use may be perceived as more acceptable at fraternity parties, while socializing with drug-using friends, outdoors in a secluded area with other drug users, in private homes, secretly at work, or at music concerts.

Paying attention to the cultural, social, and contextual factors of drug use leads us to explore the
sociology and psychology of drug use. Equally important are the biological, genetic, and pharmacological factors and consequences that directly focus on why and how drugs may be appealing and how they affect the body—primarily the central nervous system (CNS) and brain functions.

Although substances that affect both mind and body functioning are commonly called drugs, researchers in the field of drug or substance abuse use a more precise term: psychoactive drugs (substances). Why the preference for using this term as opposed to drugs?Because the term psychoactive drugsis more precise in referring to how drugs affect the body.

This term focuses on the particular effects these substances have on the CNS and emphasizes how they alter mood, consciousness, perception, and/or behavior. Because of their effects on the brain, psychoactive drugs can be used to treat physical, psychological, or mental illness.

Because the body can tolerate increasingly larger doses of them, many psychoactive drugs are used in progressively greater and more uncontrollable amounts to achieve the same level of effect. For many substances, a user is at risk of moving from occasional to regular use or from moderate use to heavy and then chronic use. A chronic user may then risk addiction(a mostly psychological attachment) and experience withdrawal symptomsthat are physical and/or psychological in nature whenever the drug is not supplied.

Generally speaking, any substance that modifies the nervous system and states of consciousness is
a drug. Such modification includes one or more of the following: enhancement, inhibition, or distotion of the body, affecting patterns of behavior and social functioning. Psychoactive drugs are classified as either licit(legal) or illicit(illegal).

For example, coffee, tea, cocoa, alcohol, tobacco, and over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are licit. When licit drugs are used in moderation, they often go unnoticed and are often socially acceptable. Marijuana, cocaine, crack, and all of the hallucinogenic-types of drugs are examples of illicit drugs. With the exception of marijuana—which some states allow for medical use and small amounts for personal use—federal law continues to prohibit the possession and use of all of these drugs.

Researchers have made some interesting findings about legal and illegal drug use:

• The use of such legal substances as alcohol and tobacco is much more common than the use of illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogens (psychedelics). Other legal drugs, such as depressants and stimulants, although less popular than alcohol and tobacco, are still more widely used than heroin and LSD.

• The popular use of licit drugs, particularly alcohol and tobacco, has caused far more deaths, sickness, violent crimes, economic loss, and other social problems than the combined use of all illicit drugs.
• Societal reaction to various drugs changes with time and place. Today, opium is an illegal drug and widely condemned as a pan-pathogen (a cause of all ills).

In the 18th and 19th centuries, however, it was a legal drug and was popularly praised as a panacea (a cure for all ills). Alcohol use was widespread in the United States in the early 1800s, became illegal during the 1920s, and then was legalized a second time and has been widely used since the 1930s. Cigarette smoking is legal in all countries today. In the 17th century, it was illegal in most countries, and smokers were sometimes harshly punished.

For example, in Russia, smokers could lose their noses; in Hindustan (India), they could lose their lips; and in China, they could lose their heads (Thio 1983, 1995, 2000). Today, new emphasis in the United States on the public health hazards from cigarettes again is leading some people to consider new measures to restrict or even outlaw tobacco smoking.

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