Drugs, Self, and Society

From your daily cup(s) of coffee to the 'War on Drugs,' drugs touch the lives of most people. Yet, how societies deal with drug use and abuse change throughout time. In this course, we will look at drug use and abuse through a sociological lens, exploring how micro (personal), meso (interactional), and macro (structural) level forces underpin the meanings, experiences, and policies associated with drug use and abuse in the United States. Beyond this, we will examine how these forces contribute to persistent systems of inequality among different groups. This will not serve as a 'how to' course, but one in which you will be asked to critically examine the role of drugs and their effects on society. By the end of this course, students should be able to: