ABSTRACT
Evidence for the importance of social rather than pharmacological factors in determining which intoxicants can be used, how they are used, and the consequences of use come from several sources. Alcohol use is probably the best example of the power of informal social controls to mediate a drug’s pharmacological potential for harm. Alcohol is clearly a very dangerous drug. Physical addiction to alcohol can develop within a few weeks, and alcohol use is associated with dozens of physical and psychological problems, and with motor vehicle crashes, falls, accidental injuries. Assimilation of informal social controls begins in the family as children see their parents and adults drink. In some families, the socialization process includes allowing children to consume small quantities of alcohol. Formal social controls, the laws and regulations governing alcohol use, tend to buttress the norms and rituals that support controlled use. Informal social controls that encourage control, discourage abuse also operate within the subculture of illicit drug users.
