SOC 201 Chapter 11: Chapter 11.16
Document Summary
As a sociologist, however, becker suspected that to truly understand the nature of this behavior, we would have to place it in its social context. And so it was that becker began a sociological study of marijuana use. He conducted interviews with dozens of pot-smoking musicians. From his interviews, becker found that marijuana use did indeed have important social qualities. For example, becker found that becoming a marijuana smoker involved three separate social processes: (1) learning to smoke (gaining proper technique) (2) learning to perceive the effects (3) learning to enjoy the effects. According to becker (1963), the novice smoker does not ordinarily get high the first time he (becker"s subjects were primarily male) smokes marijuana. Generally, it is necessary to smoke the drug several times to achieve a high. One explanation of this is that the novice does not know how to smoke. Properly that is, in a way that ensures a large enough dosage of the drug.
