Drug Abuse in the United States

Drug Abuse in the United States

Leslie Rollins

Devry University

Culture & Society

SOSC185

Professor Valencia Jackson

November 9, 2012

Drug Abuse in the United States

Drugs are everywhere in the United States. It’s one of the major causes of death in the youth and young adults. Everybody has been introduced to some kind of drugs in their life time. The number one drug abused in the United States is tobacco. 74% of American abuses it. There are many different theories of why people use drugs. The three major sociological theories are the functionalist, the conflict, and the interactionist perspectives.

The functionalist sees things as stability and consensus. They believe that drug use is based on social norms, and therefore it is not normal for a person to abuse prescription medications. Prescription medicines are proscribed to help patient’s symptoms and come with labels on how to take the medication so it’s not over dosed. The functionalist also believes that abuse is a product of the environment in which the abuser finds them. The United States has taken curtain measures to help control prescription drug abuse.

The conflict theories see the problem of drug abuse as a problem that arises because of class inequalities. Regular drug abuse is more likely in the middle class of people because they have more access to it. It is also more likely in the white class stay at home parents. Mostly in women who are feeling overwhelmed and unfufillment in their lives. For a long period of time studies fail to recognize that gender was a big issue in who abuses drugs. (Schaefer, Sociology, 2010) They have stepped up law enforcement and laws that conflict theories believe is the best way to attack the problem of drug abuse.

The interactionist perspective contends that society is possible because human beings have the ability to communicate with one another by means of symbols. They also say that we act towards people, objects and events. The...