SOC224 Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Chewing Tobacco, Eth
17 Oct 2016
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Document Summary
Using the word "substance" to be more broad in its coverage. Substance: any [chemical] substance-other than food or water-that, when taken into the body, alters its functioning. Theses boundaries can blur when a medicine can become addicting because of how it makes you feel or if you see a therapeutic benefit from a therapeutic. Ex, alcohol can be traced back to 4000bc; opium and other plants of eth sort have been around for a long time. Substance use (whether legal or not) carries with it cultural/symbolic meaning. Both draws on and reinforces the culture that it is occurring in. Ie alcohol=transition into adulthood; tobacco use in aboriginal ceremonies. Also tied to assumptions around race and class. Substance use is learned through interaction with others. Social attitudes towards the substances, how to use them, which lines are the ones to use, and how the substances are supposed to make you act. Situational factors also influence substance-use and the experience.
