SOC 2700 Lecture Notes - Legal Intoxicant, Khat, Peyote

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-all societies have used psychoactive (mood altering) substances: alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, qat, peyote, opium (except maybe the inuit!) -drugs often had a religious use to help achieve a higher state of consciousness or to bring members together. -generally, all civilizations have allowed some drugs and banned others as deviant. -drugs are not measured just by the numbers they kill. -illegal drugs tend to be more dangerous on a dose by dose level, as deaths from alcohol and tobacco are cumulative over many years. -deaths by illegal drugs tend to be younger and unanticipated, deaths by smoking and alcohol are of middle-aged people and have warning period. -when people are poor & traditional, drugs may be known but out of reach of majority. -illegal drugs are associated with a rejection of society"s values (not just in doing what is illegal) -as prosperity advances (or wars disrupt communities) taboo drugs are used by more people.

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