Free Custom «Sociology of Drug Use» Essay Paper

The use of psychoactive substances that have the capacity to affect the mood, the ability to think and the function is referred to as the drug use. Drugs constitute the categories of legal and non legal substances. The use of these substances is addictive leading to the development of tolerance with a transfer to larger doses of the substance required to experience the effects. A continuous use of these substances results to the development of craving for them by users, who experience the behavior control loss, as a result of the persistent drug use. The use of drugs has caused serious problems to individuals and the society, at large, and, thus, triggered a campaign to understand the sociological issues that result into the drug use (Abadinsky, 2010). The social problems associated with the drug use and the extent of social consequences should offer some solutions to the problem.

There are many sociological theories focused on an attempt to explain the basis of drug use by an individual, though there is an assumption of difficulty of the individual to escape from using these substances. It is, therefore, important to understand the origin of this behavior whether it is inherited or genetic. This is due to the biological and chemical predisposing, personality or behavioral disorders that have the consequences in treatment. The use of drugs has some effects on the society and the individuals addicted to drugs. The use of drugs has led individuals to become as addicts the behaviors of which affect the society (Dosetsu, 2012).

 

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Drug use has become common among the youth due to the peer pressure, hopelessness and the environmental influence that is dependent on the society’s culture. Drug use and addiction has been considered as a deviant behavior theorized to the impact of drug use (Adrian, 2003). The deviance behavior is, thus, the departure from normative standards which have been set up by culture. This is the deviation from the society’s expectations of conformity to other inherent forms of behavior. Deviance is, thus, a dependent of an individual and a group that take the offence to react negatively. It is created by individuals and groups through the creation of rules applied to other people as to outsiders, and this is becoming a social problem. The drug use continuity can, thus, lead the individual to adopt other forms of behavior that can perpetuate the conflict, carrier, social control, social disorganization, and functionalist perspectives (Adrian, 2003).

The individuals in the society are not equally resourceful and by fortune. This makes the society be constructed in a hierarchy that discriminately puts individuals and groups according to their differential access to power, status and capital (Shaw, 2002). The continued deprivation of resources in some societies that are legitimate leads to individuals being socially disapproved, thus, resorting to other sensible ways of the survival. The merciless denial of convectional and unconventional opportunities in their environment result into individuals and groups using drugs as an ultimate result of their life (Adrian, 2003). Thus, the mainstream of social norms and values in some social classes of individuals becomes remote and irrelevant to cultural and unconventional rules and beliefs as the guiding principles to their behaviors. The perspective of anomies perceives the use of drugs as the resources, an opportunity and a means by which individuals respond to the social structural situations. The substances are used for the material gain and success, and the attainment of the social status in the society. The use of drugs can also be used as the alibi for the failure in life and struggles, and a means which individuals use for coping with social mechanisms of active functioning in the society. Most individuals do institute the drug use to defense themselves against disappointments and frustrations which strain the relationships of the individual with the society (Dosetsu, 2012).

The use of drugs has been taking place in the relation to groups, societies, and generations. Therefore, the use of substances is a part of social life, whether the drugs are legal or illegal in different societies and through the historical periods. The use of drugs is, thus, a cultural practice that has transferred from the human survival adaptation to their environment. The use and abuse of drugs has been influenced by the entire social system, as it necessitates the use through offering the functional maintenance and progression of systems (Adrian, 2003). The occurrence and existence is, hence, a form of deviance from the social system and the functioning of body systems of individuals and the social cultural system. Thus, the setting of the social system contributes to a greater extent to the use of drugs by individuals in an effort to adopt the environment they are exposed to.

The conflict perspective behavior is set at the particular environment and has the capability of affecting the societal environment, at large. The use of drugs causes some conflicts among individual groups, which, in essence, has led to social divisions based on the social economic status of individuals. This division of the society in relation to the social economic status, thus, creates an environment conducive for the continued drug use (Shaw, 2002). This will then lead to the consequences of dividing people in relation to the substance dependence and sustainability. The use of this substance will validate and accelerate the social protest, which can result into the departure from the society, in the whole. The conflict perspective views the use of drugs as the drivers of conflict and the confrontation among individuals and groups that is an expressive instrument of group skirmishes (Abadinsky, 2010).