* Ethnographies of drug use, have demonstrated the effects of social controls, and how they are used to minimise harm amongst drug users. Zinberg’s theory proposes that social controls; namely social sanctions and social rituals, apply to the use of all drugs, both legal and illegal, successfully bringing their use under control in both Western and non-Western societies through minimising both harm and addiction.
Zinberg comprehensively describes social controls as rituals and sanctions that regulate where, why and how drugs are taken, successfully minimising addiction to drugs and harm caused by drug use. Social sanctions are both informal rules that “define whether and how a particular drug should be used” (Zinberg, 1984), and formal rules regarding the laws and policies surrounding legal and illegal drugs. Where as social rituals are the “stylized, prescribed behaviour surrounding the use of a drug” (Zinberg, 1984).
Along with Zinberg, many other people have agreed with and added to his theories regarding these social controls, mainly Zinberg’s idea of social rituals. In “Into that Whole Ritual Thing: Ritualist Drug Use Among Urban American Heroin Addicts” (Agar, 1977) demonstrates how rituals have a significant symbolic component for the drug user; the reason and location that certain drugs are taken have a symbolic meaning. To further the theory of social control minimising harm to drug users, Jean-Paul Grund uses an interview based experiment in “Rituals of Regulation” (Grund, 1993) to demonstrate the symbolic dimension of frontloading; meaning through sharing the drugs, the bonds between the users are strengthened, increasing the caution taken to make sure themselves and their friends are all free of harm due to the drug.
The Essay on How Can Drug Trafficking Be Controlled
How can drug trafficking be controlled The Drug Enforcement Agency has tried to limit the drug trafficking problem coming from countries south of the U. S. Also many other law enforcement agencies. The southern hemisphere has given the U. S. a really hard time with the international drug trade. Where do drugs come from Most of the marijuana Smuggling routes that come into the United States comes ...
In Western societies, there are many studies that have shown both the positive and negative effects of these social controls. Formal social sanctions have proven to reduce the use of illicit drugs by approximately 30% since 1991 (AIC, 2011).
Social sanctions have also established a very large decrease in harm caused by legal drugs, for example alcohol. Since the establishment of the laws regarding driving under the influence, and intoxication in pubs and clubs, harm caused by alcohol has also had a significant reduction. However, these formal social sanctions also have negative impacts on society. As the laws have made consuming certain drugs illegal, people that suffer from addictions are seen as criminals and find it harder to get the help that they need. Informal social sanctions play an important role in minimising harm, however they also have a negative impact on society. These social sanctions are followed by both small and large groups of users, and indicate the appropriate time, place and way in which a drug is taken. This acts to minimise harm as individuals have a way to interact with others and receive any relevant information regarding the safest possible way to deal with drugs, and also provides them with a safer environment where they are surrounded with other experienced drug users. Having this information available reduces the risk of becoming addicted to these drugs. The article “Social Location, social integration, and the co-occurrence of substance abuse and psychological distress” (Tenorio, Lo, 2011) presents an idea that demonstrates how certain social factors, specifically the location and the community, strongly act as social controls to minimise harm caused by drug abuse.
The Research paper on Drug Policy: Harm Minimisation vs Zero Tolerance
Discuss the concept of harm reduction and compare it to the notion of zero tolerance (or total abstinence): evaluate both as approaches to either. 1. Public policy approaches to drug use When dealing with the concept of illicit drug use on its different levels (manufacturing, distribution and consumption), government legislation has always had to make the innate decision between the notion of harm ...
This research has proven that in the United States, people who used drugs in a community where information about the detrimental effects of illicit substances, and how a drug is to be taken in the safest possible way had an addiction rate of 73% less than communities that didn’t have any of these resources available to them. Even though these informal social sanctions do act to minimise harm among drug users, they also have quite a negative impact on the idea of drug taking as individuals are pressured into consuming these drugs in certain situations.
Social rituals also influence society in both positive and negative aspects. Social rituals act to minimise harm through providing long used methods of how to choose whether to take a particular drug and the way of taking this drug. This ensures that drugs are being taken by people in the correct frame of mind, preventing negative side effects of the drugs, and also reducing the risk of overdosing. Although these impacts are very important in reducing harm caused by drugs, social rituals also negatively influence society. These rituals introduce a symbolic meaning behind drug taking, encouraging it, and therefore not allowing the formal social sanctions to ban the use of illicit drugs permanently.
Socials controls play an important role in minimising harm caused by drug use in Non-Western societies as well. In non-western societies, rituals are the only reason that a drug is consumed. These societies prefer to use pure chemicals from nature for their drug usage, rather than substances that have been modified to produce the mind altering experience given by the consumption of drugs. Based on the studies examined in “Clues from the Amazon”, (Weil, 1973) proposes that the reason the Indian’s don’t have a drug problem is due to their preference of natural drugs.
The social rituals that are believed and followed by these native Indian’s are believed to be the main reason that they have close to no harm caused by drugs. To the native Indian’s, drugs are seen as extremely symbolic and have a highly ritualised ceremony for consuming them. This constrains the amount of the drug they are able to ingest, how often the drug is ingested, as well as how the drug is taken and why. This acts as a social control to reduce harm caused by the drug, chances of an overdose, and addiction to the drug. Another social ritual that acts to reduce harm caused by the drug as well as addiction and overdoses is the symbolic ceremony that is performed by the native Indian’s, which introduces children to the drug in small doses over a long period of time. Finally, to minimise potential harm as much as possible, the native Indian’s only ever use the drug because they “can be of positive usefulness to individuals of the tribe”, (Weil, 1973) rather than the common reason for Western societies; a positive end to a negative reason.
The Essay on Social Control And Socialization
Social order can exist only if there is an effective system of social control. It ensures that people generally behave in expected and approved ways and is vital for life of any society. Social control is usually divided into formal and informal controls. Formal control is exercised by the police and government. Informal control works through the reaction of other people in the course of everyday ...
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* Zinberg’s proposal that “Social controls apply to the use of all drugs” includes both the positive and negative impacts on society. These social controls successfully act to minimise harm, addiction and overdose cases caused by drugs in both Western and Non-Western societies, proving to be a very important aspect of both legal and illicit substance consumption.
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Reference List
Agar, M.H. (1977) ‘Into that Whole Ritual Thing: Ritualist Drug Use Among Urban American Heroin Addicts’. In B.M. Du Toit (ed) Drugs, Rituals and Altered States of Consciousness. Rotterdam: Balkema, pp. 137-148.
* Australian Government. 2011. Australian Institute of Criminology. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/drug/druguse.html. [Accessed 11 January 13].
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Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Tenorio, A, Lo, C, 2011. Social Location, social integration, and the co-occurrence of substance abuse and psychological distress. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 37(4), 218-223.
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* Grund, J-P, C.D. Kaplan & M DeVries (1993) ‘Rituals of Regulation: Controlled and Uncontolled Drug Use in Natural Settings’. In N Heather et al (eds), Psychoactive Drugs and Harm Reduction: From Faith to Science, London: Whurr Publishers, pp. 77-90.
National Institute of Drug Abuse. 2012. The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction Trends and Statistics. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics. [Accessed 10 January 13].
The Essay on Drug Control in Central Asia
This video talks about Central Asia’s drug control problem and how they are not very well equipped to deal with this issue. This video addresses policy issues. These countries do not have the means to control their drug problem. One major factor is heroin coming from Afghanistan. Countries surrounding Afghanistan have a very high rate of heroin abuse. These abusers could be a productive part of ...
Weil, A. (1973) ‘Clues from the Amazon’. In The Nature of Mind, Jonathon Cape: London, pp. 98-115.
Zinberg, N.E. (1984) ‘Historical Perspectives on Controlled Drug Use’. In Drug, Set and Setting: the Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use. Yale University Press, pp. 1-18.
Word Count: 1432
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[ 1 ]. Zinberg, N.E. (1984) ‘Historical Perspectives on Controlled Drug Use’. In Drug, Set and Setting: the Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use. Yale University Press, pp. 1-18.
[ 2 ]. Zinberg, N.E. (1984) ‘Historical Perspectives on Controlled Drug Use’. In Drug, Set and Setting: the Basis for Controlled Intoxicant Use. Yale University Press, pp. 1-18.
[ 3 ]. * Australian Government. 2011. Australian Institute of Criminology. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.aic.gov.au/statistics/drug/druguse.html. [Accessed 11 January 13].
[ 4 ]. Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Tenorio, A, Lo, C, 2011. Social Location, social integration, and the co-occurrence of substance abuse and psychological distress. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 37(4), 218-223.
[ 5 ]. National Institute of Drug Abuse. 2012. The Science of Drug Abuse & Addiction Trends and Statistics. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics. [Accessed 10 January 13].
[ 6 ]. Weil, A. (1973) ‘Clues from the Amazon’. In The Nature of Mind, Jonathon Cape: London, pp. 98-115
