Drug culture

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Drug cultures are examples of countercultures that are primarily defined by spiritual, medical, and recreational drug use. They may be focused on a single drug, or endorse polydrug use. They sometimes eagerly or reluctantly initiate newcomers, but their main functions are to share drug experiences, to reduce harm by providing knowledge of how to use drugs as safely as possible, and to exchange information on suppliers and avoidance of law enforcement.

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Drug subcultures are groups of people united by a common understanding of the meaning, value, and risks of the incorporation into one's life of the drug(s) in question. Such unity can take many forms, from friends who take the drug together, possibly obeying certain rules of etiquette, groups banding together to help each other obtain drugs and avoid arrest, [1] to full-scale political movements for the reform of drug laws. [2] The sum of these parts can be considered an individual drug's "culture".

Many artists, writers, and musicians have used various drugs to facilitate or enhance their creativity. Writers have explored their influence on human life in general and particularly on the creative process. There are many writings that portray drug culture. Hunter S. Thompson's 1971 novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas employs multiple drug use as a major theme and provides an example of the drug culture of the 1960s.

After various drug cultures came to prominence during the 1960s, 1980s and early 2000s, the internet provided a new location and medium where drug cultures could be born and propagate. Technologies like Tor were able to offer anonymous website hosting and browsing, which were used for the creation of the darknet market SilkRoad, the first of many to be used in the sale of psychoactive substances and other illegal goods. There are YouTube channels devoted to recreational drug use and harm reduction, with the most popular being PsychedSubstance. Except for forums (like Blue Light) where individuals can post and discuss the properties and experiences of psychoactive substances, there are websites and organizations specifically created to serve as encyclopedias of psychoactive drugs and drug culture, such as Erowid and PsychonautWiki.

Drinking culture

Alcohol (also known as ethanol) is a psychoactive drug [3] [4] found in alcoholic beverages. Alcohol is one of the most commonly abused drugs in the world [5] and is often used for self-medication, [6] and recreational use. [7] "

Cannabis culture

A man smoking cannabis in Kolkata, India. Ganja Smoking - Gangasagar Fair Transit Camp - Kolkata 2013-01-12 2646.JPG
A man smoking cannabis in Kolkata, India.

Cannabis has been used in the ancient past in places such as ancient India, Romania, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. [8] It was often used as medicine or for hemp. Its main route of consumption was smoking. Over time the culture became more international and a general "cannabis culture" formed. Cannabis culture has been responsible for the genre of films known as stoner films which has come to be accepted as a mainstream cinema movement. [9] [10] In the United States the culture has also spawned its own celebrities (such as Tommy Chong and Terence McKenna), magazines (Cannabis Culture and High Times ), and, in North America, its own distinct holiday: April 20 (420), which is marked as a day for calling for the legalization of cannabis and celebration of cannabis. [11] [12] The consumption of cannabis influenced many artistic movements such as jazz, electronic music and hip hop.[ citation needed ]

Hip hop and drugs

The hip hop, hardcore rap, and trap scenes, alongside their derivative subgenres and subcultures, are most notorious for having continuously celebrated and promoted drug trafficking, gangster lifestyle, and the consumption of alcohol and other drugs since their inception in the United States during the late 1980s–early 1990s. [13] [14] [15] [16]

Witchcraft and drugs

The drugs used in witchcraft are different depending on the culture. Most of the research done on drug use in witchcraft was done in the 60s during the hippie movement. Since then, the claim that ergot was taken in Salem has been disproven. However, because the research was done during the hippie and drug movement in the 70s, the theory is still a part of drug culture. [17]

Ancient Greek love magic used many rituals that show drug use in poisoning to deepen the emotion of love. Love magic would be used by ancient Greek women to gain or keep a man's love. Researchers of this period often look at the agency of the women. Greek love magic relates to drug culture as it deals with poisoning people. There can be similarities found in today's date rape drug. However, in ancient Greek time the women would slowly poison the men. Women would put the poisons on their robes to expose it to the men. [18]

Shamanism used hallucinogens to further their spirituality. These hallucinogens were used for different ceremonies of the Indians in the Northwest Amazon. These ceremonies include funerals and initiation of the young. Shamans had a wider range of use for these drugs. Shamans used these drugs to identify illnesses and find possible cures or to find an enemy. [19]

There is a theory, seemingly disproven due to timeline of events and number of those who experience the symptoms, that the Salem witch trials were caused by ergot poisoning. Ergot poisoning gives a similar effect to LSD, but like ergine the physical effects and dangers (including death due to higher toxicity of the ergolines in ergot) are much more substantial than the use of LSD for psychedelic research and ritual contexts. [20] [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Datura</i> Genus of poisonous, potentially psychoactive plants

Datura is a genus of nine species of highly poisonous, vespertine-flowering plants belonging to the nightshade family (Solanaceae). They are commonly known as thornapples or jimsonweeds, but are also known as devil's trumpets or mad apple. Other English common names include moonflower, devil's weed, and hell's bells. All species of Datura are extremely poisonous and psychoactive, especially their seeds and flowers, which can cause respiratory depression, arrhythmias, fever, delirium, hallucinations, anticholinergic toxidrome, psychosis, and death if taken internally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recreational drug use</span> Use of drugs with the primary intention to alter the state of consciousness

Recreational drug use is the use of one or more psychoactive drugs to induce an altered state of consciousness, either for pleasure or for some other casual purpose or pastime. When a psychoactive drug enters the user's body, it induces an intoxicating effect. Recreational drugs are commonly divided into three categories: depressants, stimulants, and hallucinogens.

<i>Cannabis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: Cannabis sativa, C. indica, and C. ruderalis. Alternatively, C. ruderalis may be included within C. sativa, or all three may be treated as subspecies of C. sativa, or C. sativa may be accepted as a single undivided species. The genus is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from Asia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychopharmacology</span> Study of the effects of psychoactive drugs

Psychopharmacology is the scientific study of the effects drugs have on mood, sensation, thinking, behavior, judgment and evaluation, and memory. It is distinguished from neuropsychopharmacology, which emphasizes the correlation between drug-induced changes in the functioning of cells in the nervous system and changes in consciousness and behavior.

Substance intoxication is a transient condition of altered consciousness and behavior associated with recent use of a substance. It is often maladaptive and impairing, but reversible. If the symptoms are severe, the term "substance intoxication delirium" may be used. Slang terms for the state include: getting high (generic), and being stoned, cooked, or fried.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entheogen</span> Psychoactive substances that induce spiritual experiences

Entheogens are psychoactive substances, including psychedelic drugs, used in sacred contexts in religion for inducing spiritual development throughout history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis (drug)</span> Psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant

Cannabis, commonly known as marijuana, weed, and pot, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various traditional medicines for centuries. Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) is the main psychoactive component of cannabis, which is one of the 483 known compounds in the plant, including at least 65 other cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD). Cannabis can be used by smoking, vaporizing, within food, or as an extract.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deliriant</span> Class of psychoactive drugs

Deliriants are a subclass of hallucinogen. The term was coined in the early 1980s to distinguish these drugs from psychedelics such as LSD and dissociatives such as ketamine, due to their primary effect of causing delirium, as opposed to the more lucid and less disturbed states produced by other types of hallucinogens. The term generally refers to anticholinergic drugs, which are substances that inhibit the function of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis and religion</span> Entheogenic use of marijuana

Different religions have varying stances on the use of cannabis, historically and presently. In ancient history some religions used cannabis as an entheogen, particularly in the Indian subcontinent where the tradition continues on a more limited basis.

Carl Anton Paul Ruck is a professor in the Classical Studies department at Boston University. He received his B.A. at Yale University, his M.A. at the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. at Harvard University. He lives in Hull, Massachusetts.

Many religions have expressed positions on what is acceptable to consume as a means of intoxication for spiritual, pleasure, or medicinal purposes. Psychoactive substances may also play a significant part in the development of religion and religious views as well as in rituals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ethnomycology</span> Study of the human use of fungi, especially psychedelics

Ethnomycology is the study of the historical uses and sociological impact of fungi and can be considered a subfield of ethnobotany or ethnobiology. Although in theory the term includes fungi used for such purposes as tinder, medicine and food, it is often used in the context of the study of psychoactive mushrooms such as psilocybin mushrooms, the Amanita muscaria mushroom, and the ergot fungus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Drug</span> Substance having effect(s) on the body of an individual

A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption via a patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue.

Many urban legends and misconceptions about drugs have been created and circulated among young people and the general public, with varying degrees of veracity. These are commonly repeated by organizations which oppose all classified drug use, often causing the true effects and dangers of drugs to be misunderstood and less scrutinized. The most common subjects of such false beliefs are LSD, cannabis, and PCP. These misconceptions include misinformation about adulterants or other black market issues, as well as alleged effects of the pure substances.

Entheogenic drugs have been used by various groups for thousands of years. There are numerous historical reports as well as modern, contemporary reports of indigenous groups using entheogens, chemical substances used in a religious, shamanic, or spiritual context.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cannabis culture</span> Culture relating to cannabis

Cannabis culture describes a social atmosphere or series of associated social behaviors that depend heavily upon cannabis consumption, particularly as an entheogen, recreational drug and medicine.

Hallucinogens are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Most hallucinogens can be categorized as either being psychedelics, dissociatives, or deliriants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychoactive drug</span> Chemical substance that alters brain function

A psychoactive drug, mind-altering drug, or consciousness-altering drug is a chemical substance that changes brain function and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, or behavior. The term psychotropic drug is often used interchangeably, while some sources present narrower definitions. These substances may be used medically; recreationally; to purposefully improve performance or alter consciousness; as entheogens for ritual, spiritual, or shamanic purposes; or for research, including psychedelic therapy. Physicians and other healthcare practitioners prescribe psychoactive drugs from several categories for therapeutic purposes. These include anesthetics, analgesics, anticonvulsant and antiparkinsonian drugs as well as medications used to treat neuropsychiatric disorders, such as antidepressants, anxiolytics, antipsychotics, and stimulants. Some psychoactive substances may be used in detoxification and rehabilitation programs for persons dependent on or addicted to other psychoactive drugs.

For over two millennia, texts in Chinese herbology and traditional Chinese medicine have recorded medicinal plants that are also hallucinogens and psychedelics. Some are familiar psychoactive plants in Western herbal medicine, but several Chinese plants have not been noted as hallucinogens in modern works. Chinese herbals are an important resource for the history of botany, for instance, Zhang Hua's c. 290 Bowuzhi is the earliest record of the psilocybin mushroom xiàojùn 笑菌.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Entheogenic use of cannabis</span> Marijuana used for spiritual or religious purposes

Cannabis has served as an entheogen—a chemical substance used in religious or spiritual contexts—in the Indian subcontinent since the Vedic period dating back to approximately 1500 BCE, but perhaps as far back as 2000 BCE. It was introduced to the New World by the Spaniards in 1530-1545.

References

  1. ↑ Grund, Jean-Paul (2010-11-20). "subculture of injecting drug use". Thebody.com. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  2. ↑ Armentano, Paul. "norml.org". norml.org. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  3. ↑ Robinson, DL; Howard, EC; McConnell, S; Gonzales, RA; Wightman, RM (2013-03-25). "Disparity between tonic and phasic ethanol-induced dopamine increases in the nucleus accumbens of rats". Alcohol. Clin. Exp. Res. 33 (7): 1187–96. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2009.00942.x. PMC   2947861 . PMID   19389195.
  4. ↑ Drugs and society - Page 189, Glen (Glen R.) Hanson, Peter J. Venturelli, Annette E. Fleckenstein - 2006
  5. ↑ "Medscape: Medscape Access". medscape.com. 16 October 2021.
  6. ↑ Crum, R. M.; La Flair, L; Storr, C. L.; Green, K. M.; Stuart, E. A.; Alvanzo, A. A.; Lazareck, S; Bolton, J. M.; Robinson, J; Sareen, J; Mojtabai, R (2013). "Reports of drinking to self-medicate anxiety symptoms: Longitudinal assessment for subgroups of individuals with alcohol dependence". Depression and Anxiety. 30 (2): 174–83. doi:10.1002/da.22024. PMC   4154590 . PMID   23280888.
  7. ↑ "Alcohol: The World's Oldest Recreational Drug - OUPblog". OUPblog. 27 January 2010.
  8. ↑ Rudgley, Richard (1998). Lost Civilisations of the Stone Age . New York: Free Press. ISBN   0-684-85580-1.
  9. ↑ Peters, Jon. "top ten stoner movies". Killerfilm.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-09. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  10. ↑ "top ten stoner movies". Ign.com. 2008-08-08. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  11. ↑ "report on 420 holiday". NBC News. 2008-04-16. Archived from the original on February 12, 2013. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  12. ↑ "Marijuana rally in trouble". Foxnews.com. 2012-04-20. Retrieved 2013-03-15.
  13. ↑ Gonzales, Matt (2 March 2020) [27 November 2017]. "Rap Culture's Evolution from Glorifying to Decrying Drug Use". Orlando, Florida: DrugRehab.com. Archived from the original on 16 January 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  14. ↑ "Can Hip-Hop Separate Itself From The Drug Culture It Helped Build?". CULTR. 18 December 2019. Archived from the original on 5 December 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  15. ↑ Granovsky, Josh (23 November 2018). "Emo rap needs to end". The Queen's Journal . Kingston, Ontario: Alma Mater Society of Queen's University. Archived from the original on 24 July 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  16. ↑ Smiley, Calvin J. (2017). "Addict Rap?: The Shift from Drug Distributor to Drug Consumer in Hip Hop" (PDF). Journal of Hip Hop Studies. 4 (1). Richmond, Virginia: VCU Scholars Compass (Virginia Commonwealth University): 1–24. doi: 10.34718/ZBWC-RN03 . ISSN   2331-5563. Archived from the original on 6 July 2021. Retrieved 10 January 2022.
  17. ↑ Breslaw, Elaine G., ed. Witches of the Atlantic World: A Historical Reader & Primary Sourcebook. (New York: New York University Press, 2000), 427-511
  18. ↑ Faraone, Christopher A.. Ancient Greek Love Magic. Cambridge, US: Harvard University Press, 2009. Accessed April 27, 2016. ProQuest ebrary.
  19. ↑ Reichel-Dolmatoff, Gerardo. "The Cultural Context of an Aboriginal Hallucinogen: Banisteriopsis Caapi.. Flesh of the Gods: The Ritual Use of Hallucinogens. ed. Furst T., Peter. (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1972).
  20. ↑ Spanos, Nicholas P.; Gottlieb, Jack (1976). "Ergotism and the Salem Village Witch Trials". Science. 194 (4272): 1390–94. Bibcode:1976Sci...194.1390S. doi:10.1126/science.795029. JSTOR   1743999. PMID   795029.
  21. ↑ Discover Health Group
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