Drug Control Exam 2 Study Guide

Social Construction of Drug Use

The concept that drug problems are socially constructed, driven by perceived harms, moral panics, and social status rather than purely objective scientific danger.

Set and Setting (Andrew Weil)

Set is the user's mindset, mood, and expectations; setting is the physical and social environment. Both influence the drug experience as much as the chemical.

Camba vs. U.S. Drinking (Dwight Health)

The Camba (Bolivia) drink near-pure alcohol in rituals without addiction or violence, whereas U.S. drinking is individualistic and competitive, leading to higher addiction rates.

Addiction vs. Dependence

Addiction is psychological compulsion and craving despite harm; dependence is physical adaptation causing withdrawal symptoms when stopped.

19th-Century Opiate Use (Courtwright)

Primarily involved middle- and upper-class white women addicted through doctor prescriptions and patent medicines.

Racialization of Cocaine (Early 1900s)

Southern media and politicians pushed racist myths that cocaine made Black men violent and bulletproof to pass strict anti-narcotics laws.

Becker's 3 Steps of Becoming a Marijuana User

1. Learn to physically smoke/inhale. 2. Learn to recognize the high. 3. Learn to enjoy the sensation.

Direct Connections Between Drugs and Crime

Psychopharmacological (intoxication/fighting), Economic-Compulsive (property crime for money), and Systemic (black market turf wars).

Harry Anslinger and the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937

Anslinger used yellow journalism ('Assassin of Youth') to secure bureau power, leading to the 1937 Act which effectively criminalized possession via an unobtainable tax stamp.

Decriminalization vs. Legalization

Decriminalization keeps personal possession illegal but replaces jail with civil fines or rehab; legalization removes criminal prohibitions and introduces state regulation and taxation.

Harm Reduction

An approach focused on minimizing the health and social harms of drug use through measures like clean needle exchanges and safe consumption sites.

Effect of Drug Seizures and Lab Destruction

Police seizures cut supply while demand stays constant, causing street prices to rise, purity to drop, and user property crime to increase.

Reinarman's 7 Ingredients of a Drug Scare

Kernel of truth, media magnification, politico-moral entrepreneurs, professional interest groups, historical context, linking to a dangerous class, and scapegoating.

Moral Panic

An intense, exaggerated public fear that a specific group or behavior poses a direct threat to the moral order and safety of society.

Alcohol as an 'Excuse Mechanism' (Peralta)

People use being drunk as a social shield to break everyday gender, sexual, or social expectations without social penalty.

FAS vs. 'Crack/Meth Babies'

FAS is a legitimate condition from prenatal alcohol exposure, whereas 'crack/meth babies' claims were sensationalized media myths tied mostly to poverty and malnutrition.

Three Types of Power

Coercive (force), Charismatic (personal appeal), and Legal-Rational (laws and formal rules).

Privilege in Drug Enforcement

Unearned advantages (race, class, gender) that shield wealthier or privileged users from police intervention.

Crack vs. Powder Cocaine Disparity

Chemically identical, but federal laws penalized 5g of crack (low-income Black users) the same as 500g of powder cocaine (wealthy white users).

Tannenbaum's 'Dramatization of Evil'

Publicly labeling a youth as 'evil' for a minor act causes them to internalize the label and cement a criminal identity.

Federal Drug Schedule I

Substances with a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use, such as heroin, LSD, and marijuana.

Federal Drug Schedule II

Substances with high abuse potential and severe dependence risks, but which have accepted medical uses, such as cocaine, morphine, and methamphetamine.