I don't smoke weed. I know lots of people that do, and I'm sure I could if I wanted to. But I never have, and don't plan to in the near future.
However, there are thousands of people that do, on a very regular basis. This has caused many people to ask - why? Why do so many people smoke, and what leads people to do it?
In my opinion, smoking weed and being high creates a separate culture of people. Culture is defined (roughly) as "a group of people and who they are, what they make, how they understand and create their reality." Thus marijuana creates it's own culture - those who smoke on a daily basis. They have their own schedule and habits, their own activities, and their own lifestyles.
There are many signs and objects that create this culture. It seems pointless to explain them all, but I'll mention a few - the drug itself, joints, bongs, the "marijuana plant emblem," and many more. These are all things that you would know about if you were a part of the culture, but would be clueless about if you were not.
Because I don't smoke, I am not a part of the "Marijuana Culture." Not because I wouldn't be accepted or because I can't; but simply because I don't smoke.
Howard Becker makes some interesting observations in his article about "Becoming a Marijuana User." His main point, however, is that to become a marijuana user, you must become a part of the culture and learn the rules to really enjoy the drug. He argues that the drug itself is not addictive, but the social experience of smoking with others, and being a part of the culture, can be addictive.
Therefore, it's not the actual drug that causes so many people to smoke marijuana on a daily basis. It's the desire to be a part of the marijuana culture - to know the lingo, feel accepted, and have others to experience the drug with. It's the desire to be a part of a new culture or community. The actual drug has little to do with the "addiction."
I think that you make a good point that not a lot of people think about; that the drugs in marijuana are not, in themselves, addicting. It's a lot more like alcohol than most people seem to think. In alcohol itself, there is nothing addicting. But, if there is nothing in alcohol that is addicting than why do people become alcoholics? Simply because they become mentally or emotionally addicted to the feeling or relief that they get when they drink. I mean, if you think about it people get addicted to all sorts of things, video gaming, couponing, etc., even though those things have no physical addiction factors. Society has been constructed to think that drugs are bad and dangerous regardless of the facts surrounding them. Therefore, people are, for the most part, unable to view an addiction to couponing and an addiction to marijuana as the same type of addiction.
ReplyDeleteBoth the blogger and the commentator bring up excellent points, but there are also occasions where, just like the alcoholic, people smoke to feel numb. I have a friend from high school, who admitted to me that when he's high, the only thing he can think about is getting higher. As sad as it sounds it happens more often than people think. People do smoke because of the group, but what about the people who smoke by themselves? I think for a lot of people it starts out as a social thing, but evolves as a type of crutch or a norm in peoples' lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the points that you've brought up here. I think that there's a very culturally heavy attachment with both marijuana and alcohol. It even goes so far as to mean something different to different subgroups within the culture. From my perspective, high school students do it as a form of rebellion (initially) and then once they progress into college, it becomes more heavily revolved around the social aspect. For most, the "fad" of marijuana becomes dry and is discarded while the draw (and legal factor) of alcohol stays prevalent and while it still acts as a social catalyst, medium or whatever term you want to use, adulthood is where addiction will most likely form. It is also a timeframe where people become addicted.
ReplyDeleteI guess to sum up what I'm trying to say is that even within the culture, there is a subculture and even though some people may not be integrated in any of the cultures, they are still familiar with them. They can associate terms to marijuana (MJ, Mary Jane, Hemp, Bong, Gravity Bomb, etc) and some other terms to alcohol (well... you know), without having to become a part of that culture. It's just that prevalent in our culture in America.