Puff, Puff, Pass

In Becker's "Becoming a Marihuana User" he illustrates how addictive a behavior can become. He states that the presence of a behavior is the result of some trait which predisposes one to engage in that behavior. It may not necessarily always be the specific behavior or activity that is addictive, but the social experience during that situation. He also states that in any activity, in this case pot smoking, one needs "insider guides" to help construct the way an individual should feel.

In going off of Becker, cigarette smoking is something that occurs all throughout society, each and everyday. It is a type of social construction that develops from human choice. Although smoking is a choice of each individual, it is usually subconsciously influenced by the background or (sub)culture everyone has been in. Cigarette smoking is an object that has been produced and maintained through culture. Although smoking may be more popular in some cultures versus others, that single object has positioned us in one way or another to form beliefs as to how each one of us feels about smoking. When one first decides to try smoking, he or she is usually curious to what ‘it’ feels like or as to why so many people enjoy this behavior. New users may need an ‘insider guide’ to construct the way one should feel. Over time this behavior may be something an individual finds pleasure in; the act of smoking becomes addictive. Being addicted to something that an individual finds desirable is a product of nature. No only is it the feeling from the nicotine that becomes addictive, but it may also be the behavior associated with cigarettes that becomes addictive. If smoking is something that an individual takes part in during a lunch break with co-workers, they may enjoy the laughter and fun they have that is consistently associated with the action of smoking (social experience developed through nurture).