A theory of subcultural evolution and drug use

Many studies (mainly from the popular census) show that people often use alcohol and tobacco before using cocaine powder, other illegal drugs such as cracks and heroin, then use marijuana I will. ; And Kandel, 2002). People who do not use substances related to certain stages rarely continue to use substances related to higher stages. Therefore, many people call alcohol, tobacco and marijuana "portal drag". However, this nomenclature is misleading. Using alcohol, tobacco and marijuana shows that young people are more likely to use other illegal drugs that are potentially more dangerous. In fact, some scholars have clarified that this relationship may be biochemical (Nash, 1997).

This pharmacological view is in stark contrast to most of the original studies that demonstrated the gateway phenomenon. Yamaguchi and Kandel (1984, p. 671) carefully studied the discovery of drug use phases as part of a more complex development and cultural process.

However, as the observed sequence can simply reflect the association of different classes of drugs with different ones of age and / or individual attributes rather than a particular class, the existence of advanced stages is not necessarily different between drugs It does not mean a causal relationship of. Impact Use drugs of a certain class for another class. ... Medicines at a particular stage do not necessarily use other medicines at higher levels in that order. Many young people stop at a certain stage and they do not advance anymore. In addition, the particular order of progress identified can be determined in part by long-term trends.

In fact, our subcultural evolution theory suggests that the gateway sequence may be a cultural artifact. Since the use of these legal substances is modeled at home, children can start with alcohol and tobacco. When they enter puberty, their first illegal drug may be marijuana. Because its use is most prevalent among peers, and it is widely thought not to be particularly harmful.

Therefore, the spread of gateway sequences is limited by cultural differences between different places and may evolve over time. To support this idea, several studies from drug users in downtown New York discovered that most of them did not follow the portal sequence (Golub & Johnson, 1994b, 2002; Mackesy-Amiti, Fendrich & Goldstein, 1997). . Johnson and Gerstein (1997) discovered that among Americans born before the Second World War, illegal drugs are rarely used. Golub and Johnson (2001b) discovered that over time the risk of progress through the gateway sequence changed dramatically. In the United States, when a baby-boomer generation occurs, the portal sequence is displayed and then decreases. Golub and Johnson (2001a) stated that the use of cannabis increased in the 1990s, but the use of hard drugs did not increase.

The logic behind the coffee shop is not well understood. It was introduced to protect marijuana users from more difficult medicines. According to theory, indiscriminate prohibition creates subculture where users of drugs with significantly different risks are confused. In addition, some believe that young people with criminal record may be driven to more difficult drugs. For example, in Sweden, 52% of cannabis users report that other drugs are available from regular cannabisus. According to the European Drug Monitoring Service, in the Netherlands, only 14% of marijuana users can access other medicines from cannabis sources. This is mainly for most marijuana users to buy from the coffee shop.

After having a deep understanding of subculture theory, it is equally important to judge the importance of studying subculture and why it is indispensable to continue to study evolution of subculture theory from this viewpoint. In the early 1950s, when sociologists Albert Cohen and others discovered that there were some problems during the years after World War II, the subculture theory developed and became wider understanding It is widely believed that it began to be. Various social phenomena caused more problems in subculture than in the United States at any time in American history. The reason can be traced back to the United States which developed after the war; people are basically passionate about the pursuit of America's dream - a temptation of a large family, a comfortable home, a shiny new car, and others All material success of.