I recall the first time one of my close friends tried it; she was a little scared because she didn't know how being high felt. My friends, who smoke pot all the time, reassured her that that she probably won't get high the first time because it isn't common for beginners to get the feeling. She took a few hits, probably more than a first timer should have, and surprisingly got really high. All of my friends were in shock that she actually got that high too. I assured them that they were just really good social guides to properly teach her how to smoke it right the first time. While she was high, she laughed at EVERYTHING, and felt really tired and sluggish. She couldn't really keep her eyes open and was definitely couch-locked. If it wasn't for these social cues, we probably wouldn't have known that she was high.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Being High is a Social Construction
I couldn't agree more with Howard Becker's article, "Becoming a Marihuana User." After reading it, I just sat there and though about how right he is about everything he wrote. Learning to get high while smoking pot is a social construction. Culture tells us that when someone is high, they get really tired, usually referred to the term "couch-locked", generally is really hungry and has the "munchies," and thinks everything is funny and is constantly laughing or giggling at things that wouldn't normally be funny. These are all things that signify being high. If this sub-culture did not construct the "rules" and behaviors of becoming high, no one would really know whether they are high or not. First time users could think they are high just because they are "smoking" pot, even though they don't feel the "correct" effects. Becker also talks about how a novice usually doesn't get high the first time they smoke because they don't know how to do it correctly.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I enjoyed reading your post, but I need to disagree. While I do agree that having social cues does strongly urge certain behavior there is still a chemical effect taking place when smoking pot. Our culture does have many signifiers for being high, it would be interesting to see how a person would act outside of cultural influence and see how close or different they act to what we think is "normal" for a high person.
ReplyDeleteThe other commenter is correct. THC is a Cannabinoid which are a family of chemicals that are directly linked to affecting the part of your brain that makes you feel hunger. The "muchies" may be a nickname for being hungry after smoking marijuana, but it is a serious effect of the drug and is one of the reasons that it is used for medical purposes for cancer patience's, to increase their appetite.
ReplyDeleteGood insight and topic, I really enjoyed reading this. I think social cues can play a large role in this activity but I would like to see how a person is affected without knowing any of it or merely in a different setting; sometimes friends just go along with stuff which is definitely what he/she could have been doing; I only say this because smoking pot has chemical effects like the others noted. My grandfather who smokes medical marijuana doesn't act like that, granted it is a bit of a different situation, it is probably some of the best weed grown and he doesn't laugh hysterically or eat obscene amounts and he smokes to keep calm (he was a Vietnam vet) because he used to have a lot of flashbacks.
ReplyDelete