Term Paper on "Social Construction of Marijuana"

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The Formation of Risk Perception

The modern perception of marijuana and associated risks cannot be understood as the result of a single isolated event, but rather is the combined process of decades -- nearly a century, at this point -- of ongoing information campaigns aimed at perpetuating the belief that marijuana is a dangerous drug associated with violent crime on a local and an international scale. The beginnings of this trend can be traced back to a more isolated event or series of events, however, beginning right around the time of prohibition in the early part of the twentieth century (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009). All forms of intoxication were viewed with an increasing mix of mistrust and temptation during this period, and after alcohol was legalized again a pettern of finding a new substance to react to emerged and continued throughout the rest of the twentieth century (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009). The first such substance was marijuana, and by the 1930s the substance had been vilified and made illegal throughout the nation, and has remained so (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009).

Some research suggests that the perceived threat of marijuana grew out of a reactionary movement spurred on by the Great Depression, which is also cited as being responsible for the end of Prohibition (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009). Society sought a way to protect itself from the poverty and risks around them, and substance abuse seemed a likely culprit (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009). While such "moral panics" are typically short lived, however, in the case of marijuana the perception of danger has been perpetuated (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 1994).

In the current era, research suggests that certain stigmas and preconceived notions that are associated with marijuana and its use are the primary impediments to legalization laws (Myers, 2011). While this is an indirect measure of the perceived threat that marijuana poses to communities and to society at large, it is a fairly good indicator of threat perceptions nonetheless, and this research is quite clear in establishing marijuana criminalization as arising out of a social impetus rather than out of an evidenced-based need or recommendation (Myers, 2001). With a public that is increasingly well-informed by news media through a variety of communication technologies and the level of evidence that marijuana is not especially detrimental to health, families, or social well-being (and is certainly less so than alcohol), it can only be that certain social stigmas and ongoing media campaigns are responsible for keeping marijuana feared and illegal (Goode & Ben-Yehuda, 2009).

Specific elements of social makeup that have been identified… READ MORE