{"product_id":"9780786165322","title":"Drugs \u0026 Alcohol","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Drugs,\" a broad and vague term, usually refers to mind-altering chemicals that people ingest. But this covers a wide range, including \u003ci\u003emedical prescriptions, legal stimulants\u003c\/i\u003e (e.g. caffeine and tobacco), \u003ci\u003elegal intoxicants\u003c\/i\u003e (alcohol), and \u003ci\u003eillegal intoxicants\u003c\/i\u003e. \u003ci\u003eAttitudes\u003c\/i\u003e toward drugs are similarly variable. Wine is seen as both a \u003ci\u003ereligious sacrament\u003c\/i\u003e and an \u003ci\u003eunacceptable temptation\u003c\/i\u003e; juvenile smoking can be seen as a \u003ci\u003epremature imitation of adult behavior\u003c\/i\u003e or\u003ci\u003e as rebellion\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany currently legal drugs were banned when first introduced in various countries but the bans proved unenforceable. Consumers eventually have come to use less powerful (and more manageable) forms of tobacco, coffee, and alcohol. In the U.S., drugs of all kinds (including opiates) were legal and widely available until the 20th century, especially before the Harrison Narcotic Act of 1914. Prohibition of alcohol (1920 - 1933) was a failed \"Noble Experiment,\" with highly contested effects on \u003ci\u003elawlessness, health, \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e patterns of alcohol consumption\u003c\/i\u003e. Prohibition also is a major source of lessons for later problems with illegal drugs.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMarijuana, a member of the \u003ci\u003ehemp\u003c\/i\u003e family, has been grown as a source of fiber, and used as a medicine or intoxicant, since antiquity. Anti-marijuana sentiment, and the belief that marijuana causes criminal behavior, led to the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 1970 Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention \u0026amp; Control Act (a.k.a. the Controlled Substances Act) established a systematic and consolidated U.S. drug code, ranking drugs in five classes according to their \u003ci\u003epotential for abuse, medical usefulness , \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003esafety\u003c\/i\u003e. Drugs also can be pharmacologically classified as \u003ci\u003estimulants, depressants, narcotics , \u003c\/i\u003eor\u003ci\u003e hallucinogens\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMany people argue that drugs should be much more broadly legalized, with their use (and consequences) left to individual conscience and responsibility. But the consequences for health, lawlessness, and patterns of drug use are as highly disputed as they were for Prohibition. Much depends on whether the law is understood to be a description of \u003ci\u003eideal behavior\u003c\/i\u003e or a \u003ci\u003eminimal standard of conduct\u003c\/i\u003e; whether law should \u003ci\u003eprotect people from themselves\u003c\/i\u003e; and to what degree drug-taking\u003ci\u003e causes or encourages criminal behavior\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Knowledge Products, Inc.","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47095391551728,"sku":"9780786165322","price":11.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780786165322_p0.jpg?v=1763665756","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780786165322","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}