Drug and Alcohol Use, when is it deviant?

 

I believe that some drug and alcohol use should be considered a form of deviance. I think that any illegal drug use is deviant. But, I also believe the use of legal drugs in a way they were not intended to be used, can also be considered deviant. To me deviance can also include drinking alcohol in excess, whether or not the person would be considered an alcoholic.

The post that I most agreed with on the subject of Deviance from my Sociology course was written by Marie Autiellos.
It states, "I believe that the symbolic interaction theory has the strongest theory of deviance. They believe that deviance is a learned behavior and reinforced by the group they belong to. I want to list two examples, one a general observation and the second one a personal experience. The general example would be with gangs. Many members of gangs start at a very early age. Basically their older siblings or neighborhood associates may be in the gang. At this point I would think they have witness a lot of crime but not actually committed any. However, the child may look up to the older sibling and want to be like them. Once they join the gang they realize they have to participate in criminal actions. Eventually it becomes the norm for them."

The video, Meth inside and out: Human Impact - the cost (2009), is great at showing how not only doing Meth is deviant, but what you will do to get the drug is deviant. I think this shows people the repercussions of Meth use.

Deviance and addiction- This link will take you to the website, alcoholrehab.com (2010). This website has a plethora of good information on addiction and drug use. Although, the website originates in Asia there is also information pertaining to the United States, and many other countries.

Deviant behavior and drug use- The website, about.com (2010),  has a really good visual presentation on deviant behavior, socially problematic behavior, and socially acceptable behavior on addictions of all kinds. I think that they used many different types of addictions that we many not have thought about.


Prescription drug abuse- I found this recent story about a young girl who took just one Prescription pill that was not hers and how it changed many lives on the KXLY.com website (2012). Prescription drug abuse is becoming more and more popular. This topic scares me very much because I have two children, and from what I know about prescription drug abuse is popular with young people.

I also found this article, A New Prescription for Fighting Drug Abuse, that was printed in the District Administration Publication. This article is about the use of prescription drug abuse among US students, and while it provides some statistics it also speaks of prevention!

Another issue facing society today is the threat of bath salts becoming used as a drug. I think that this is a form of deviance in using bath salts as drugs because that is not there intended use. This article Bath Salts and Synthetic Marijuana: An emerging threat, from the publication Fire Engineering, is a very good read because it lays out information on how the bath salts enter the body, how they produce their intended effects but also speaks about the side effects. It also has good information on synthetic marijuana.