# Study Guide: Chapter 7 — Alcohol And Other Drugs > Organized by textbook section. Review the objectives, study topics, key takeaways, and questions for each section. ## 7.1: Drug Use in History ### Study Topics - Drug Use in US History ### Key Terms - **civil war** — War within nations. - **Deviance** — Behavior that violates norms and arouses negative social reactions. - **drug** — Any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **Narcotics** — Drugs derived from opium that slow down the central nervous system, relieve pain, and induce drowsiness, euphoria, and relaxation. ### Learning Objectives 1. Discuss the presence of drugs in ancient times. 2. Summarize the use of drugs in the United States during the nineteenth century. 3. Explain the racial basis for decisions to ban opium, cocaine, and marijuana in the United States. ### Key Takeaways - Drug use has been common since ancient times. - Alcohol was widely drunk in colonial America. During the latter nineteenth century, opium, marijuana, and cocaine were legal drugs that were also widely used. - Racial prejudice played an important role in decisions during the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century to ban opium, marijuana, and cocaine. ### Review Questions 1. Were you surprised to read that mind-altering drug use has been common since ancient times? Why or why not? 2. Were you surprised to read that racial prejudice helped lead to bans on opium, marijuana, and cocaine? Why or why not? ## 7.2: Drugs and Drug Use Today ### Study Topics - Figure 7.1 Annual Deaths from Legal and Illegal Drugs - Types of Drugs - Legal Drugs - Table 7.2 Prevalence of Binge and Heavy Alcohol Use, 2010* - Table 7.3 Alcohol Consumption in the United States, 2010 - The Drinking Culture and the Alcohol Industry - Consequences of Alcohol Abuse - Children and Our Future - College Students - Tobacco and Nicotine - Illegal Drugs - Table 7.4 Prevalence of Illegal Drug Use, Ages 12 and Older, 2010* - Table 7.5 Prevalence of Illegal Drug Use, Ages 18–20, 2010* - Prescription Drug Abuse - Applying Social Research ### Key Terms - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **Depressants** — Drugs that slow down the activity of the central nervous system; depending on the specific drug, they help induce drowsiness and relaxation, and they can reduce anxiety and pain. - **drug** — Any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **Hallucinogens** — Mind-altering drugs that cause delusions or hallucinations. - **heavy drinking** — Binge drinking on at least five days in the past month. - **Narcotics** — Drugs derived from opium that slow down the central nervous system, relieve pain, and induce drowsiness, euphoria, and relaxation. - **Organized crime** — Criminal activity by groups or organizations whose major purpose for existing is to commit such crime. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **Stimulants** — Drugs that speed up the central nervous system and increase alertness and energy and possibly produce euphoria or anxiety. ### Learning Objectives 1. Summarize the different types of drugs. 2. Explain the various harms caused by alcohol and tobacco. 3. Understand the effects of marijuana, cocaine, and other illegal drugs. ### Key Takeaways - The distinction between legal drugs and illegal drugs has no logical basis; legal drugs cause much more harm than illegal drugs. - Alcohol and tobacco kill more than 500,000 Americans annually. Binge drinking on campuses results in accidents and assaults involving several hundred thousand college students annually. - Marijuana is by far the most commonly used illegal drug. The low prevalence of other illegal drugs still amounts to millions of people using these drugs annually. ### Review Questions 1. Do you agree or disagree that the distinction between legal drugs and illegal drugs is not logical? Explain your answer. 2. Do you agree that binge drinking is a problem that campuses should address, or do you think that it’s a relatively harmless activity that lets students have some fun? Explain your answer. ## 7.3: Social Patterning of Drug Use ### Study Topics - Race and Ethnicity - Region of Country ### Key Terms - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **Deviance** — Behavior that violates norms and arouses negative social reactions. - **drug** — Any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body. - **heavy drinking** — Binge drinking on at least five days in the past month. - **masculinity** — Cultural expectations of boys and men, including toughness and bravery. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. - **religiosity** — How religious someone is, in terms of how often the person attends religious service, prays, and reads scripture. ### Learning Objectives 1. Outline the nature of gender differences in drug use. 2. Understand whether racial and ethnic differences in drug use exist. 3. Explain whether education and religiosity are related to drug use. ### Key Takeaways - Drug use is socially patterned: Aspects of our sociodemographic backgrounds affect our likelihood of using various drugs. - Perhaps the clearest social pattern involves gender, with males more likely than females to use and abuse alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. - Despite common beliefs, the rate of illegal drug use is lower for African Americans than for whites. ### Review Questions 1. The text discusses five social patterns of drug use: gender, race/ethnicity, education, region of country, and religiosity. Taking into account these five sets of patterns, write a short essay in which you use this information to understand your own level of use (or nonuse) of alcohol, tobacco, and illegal drugs. 2. Did it surprise you to read that illegal drug use is lower among African Americans than among whites? Why or why not? ## 7.4: Explaining Drug Use ### Study Topics - Biological Explanations - Psychological Explanations - Sociological Explanations - Table 7.6 Theory Snapshot - Conflict Theory - Symbolic Interactionism ### Key Terms - **conflict theory** — The view that society is composed of groups with different interests arising from their placement in the social structure. - **drug** — Any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body. - **economy** — The social institution that organizes the production, distribution, and consumption of a society’s goods and services. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **Functionalism** — The view that social institutions are important for their contributions to social stability. - **social problem** — Any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. - **Symbolic interactionism** — A perspective in sociology that focuses on the meanings people gain from social interaction. ### Learning Objectives 1. Understand the possible biological origins of drug addiction. 2. Explain why longitudinal research on personality traits and drug use is important. 3. Outline the aspects of the social environment that may influence drug use. ### Key Takeaways - Biological theories assume that some people are especially vulnerable to drug addiction for genetic reasons. - A popular set of psychological theories assumes that drug addiction results from certain personality traits and problems. - Sociological theories attribute drug use to various aspects of the social environment, including peer influences, weak social bonds, and the larger drug culture. ### Review Questions 1. When you think about the reasons for drug use and addiction, do you think biological factors, psychological factors, or the social environment play the most important role? Explain you answer. 2. Write a brief essay in which you discuss a time when your friends influenced you, or someone else you know, to use a legal or illegal drug. ## 7.5: Drug Policy and the War on Illegal Drugs ### Study Topics - Harm Reduction - People Making a Difference - The War on Illegal Drugs - Lessons from Other Societies ### Key Terms - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **drug** — Any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body. - **drug courts** — Courts in which drug offenders who have been arrested and found guilty are sentenced to drug treatment and counseling rather than to jail or prison. - **family** — A group of two or more people who are related by blood, marriage, adoption, or a mutual commitment and who care for one another. - **harm reduction** — A strategy that attempts to minimize the harm caused by drugs; an example includes the provision of sterile needles to heroin users. - **Organized crime** — Criminal activity by groups or organizations whose major purpose for existing is to commit such crime. ### Learning Objectives 1. Explain whether the DARE program is effective. 2. Outline the goals and examples of a harm reduction approach to drug use. 3. List the problems arising from the current legal war on illegal drugs. ### Key Takeaways - To deal with drugs, the United States has used several strategies, including treatment, prevention, harm reduction, and the legal war on illegal drugs. - According to its critics, the war on illegal drugs has done much more harm than good and in this respect is repeating the example of Prohibition. ### Review Questions 1. Do you think the United States should make sterile needles and syringes freely available to people who are addicted to drugs that are injected? Why or why not? 2. Do you agree or disagree that the war on illegal drugs is doing more harm than good? Explain your answer. ## 7.6: Addressing the Drug Problem and Reducing Drug Use ### Key Terms - **crime** — Behavior considered so harmful or offensive that it is banned by the criminal law. - **drug** — Any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body. - **drug courts** — Courts in which drug offenders who have been arrested and found guilty are sentenced to drug treatment and counseling rather than to jail or prison. - **harm reduction** — A strategy that attempts to minimize the harm caused by drugs; an example includes the provision of sterile needles to heroin users. - **Organized crime** — Criminal activity by groups or organizations whose major purpose for existing is to commit such crime. - **social problem** — Any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed. ### Learning Objectives 1. Explain the problems associated with arresting hundreds of thousands of people for drug possession. 2. List any three specific measures that may help deal with the drug problem. ### Key Takeaways - Critics of the war on drugs say that people who use illegal drugs should be treated, not arrested, just as people who use alcohol and tobacco are treated, if they seek treatment, rather than arrested. - Specific measures that could help address the drug problem include providing legally prescribed heroin or substitute opiates for heroin addicts and raising the alcohol tax. ### Review Questions 1. Do you think that alcohol taxes should be raised? Why or why not? 2. Do you favor decriminalization of marijuana? Explain your answer. ## 7.7: End-of-Chapter Material ### Key Terms - **drug** — Any substance other than food that, when taken into the body, affects the structure and/or functioning of the body. - **harm reduction** — A strategy that attempts to minimize the harm caused by drugs; an example includes the provision of sterile needles to heroin users. - **race** — A category of people who share certain inherited physical characteristics, such as skin color, facial features, and stature. ### Chapter Summary 1. Humans have used drugs of various types since prehistoric times. Alcohol has been a common drug in the United States since the colonial period, and opium, marijuana, and heroin were common legal drugs in the late nineteenth century. 2. The distinction between legal and illegal drugs lacks a logical basis. Alcohol and tobacco kill many more people than all illegal drugs combined. 3. The use of several drugs is socially patterned. Males are more likely than females to use drugs, and religious people are less likely to use them than those who are less religious. The differences that race/ethnicity, education, and region of country make for drug use depends on the type of drug. 4. Biological theories assume that drug addiction results from a genetic predisposition, while psychological theories attribute drug use to certain personality traits and to positive reinforcement. 5. Sociological theories attribute drug use to peer and cultural influences. A sociological perspective suggests that the ultimate roots of drug use lie in the social environment rather than inside the individual. 6. Major approaches to dealing with drugs include treatment, prevention, harm reduction, and the use of the criminal justice system for illegal drugs. Critics of the war on drugs say that it does more harm than good, and they urge that serious consideration be given to decriminalizing marijuana and perhaps other drugs. ### Application A college friend of yours seems to drink a lot most nights and even goes to class some mornings hung over. You’ve become so concerned that you’ve suggested to your friend when you’ve been out for the evening to just have a couple drinks. Your friend has just laughed you off. What, if anything, do you do? ### Action Ideas To help deal with the societal and individual problems caused by alcohol and other drugs, you may wish to do any of the following: 1. Volunteer for a local agency that helps teenagers or adults who have a problem with alcohol or other drugs. 2. Start or join in efforts on your campus to encourage responsible drinking. 3. Start a group to encourage your state to raise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.