Drugs: Use and Abuse in Contemporary Society   [Archived Catalog]
2021-2022 Academic Catalog and Student Handbook
   

CP 315 - Drugs: Use and Abuse in Contemporary Society

3 Credit(s)
The course is designed to introduce the student to the social reality of drug use and abuse in the US.  It will explore the different categories of illegal and legal drugs and review their basic psychopharmacology.  We will study the historical significance and social construction of drug use and addiction.  This course will look at issues surrounding drug policy, drug legislation, drug enforcement and its relationship to crime, medicalization in our society, and various movements aimed at drugs.  Students will emerge with a multifaceted understanding of drugs and their place within American society, including basic statistics, consequences and ramifications of regulation, and theories of addiction and alcoholism.