Date of Defense
Spring 4-19-2001
Department
Sociology
First Advisor
Timothy Diamond, Sociology
Second Advisor
Douglas Davidson, Sociology
Third Advisor
Gwen Raaberg, Women's Studies
Keywords
Harry Aslinger
Abstract
The United States currently spends in excess of seventeen billion dollars annually attempting to control the drug problem. It is estimated that the annual market for illicit drugs is fifty billion dollars, only seven of which is spent on marijuana. Nevertheless, the government continually reaffirms its position that marijuana constitutes a serious social problem. While most Americans are aware of the controversial status of marijuana as a social problem, few are familiar with the process whereby marijuana users became stigmatized. Through a critical content analysis of selected articles from popular media of the 1930s, the author examines the ways in which social construction of the identity of the marijuana user in the United States was intimately connected to the construction of race, class and gender in accordance with existing stereotypes.
Recommended Citation
Star, Kim, "Constructing Cannabis: A Social History of Marijuana from a Race, Class and Gender Perspective" (2001). Honors Theses. 476.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/476
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Campus Only