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A Cross‐cultural Study of Attitudes about Marijuana Smokers
Author(s) -
Doctor Ronald M.,
Sklov Monny
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
british journal of addiction to alcohol and other drugs
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0007-0890
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1973.tb01231.x
Subject(s) - addiction , psychology , marijuana smoking , social psychology , public health , order (exchange) , psychiatry , clinical psychology , medicine , substance abuse , nursing , polysubstance dependence , finance , economics
Summary It is well known that British and American legal and health professions have established very different modes of dealing with drug addiction problems. Presumably, differences in treatment of the addict are also reflected in public attitudes about addiction and addicted individuals. It seems reasonable to assume that public attitudes would also differ regarding individuals who smoke marijuana. The purpose of this survey was to determine the nature of British and American attitudes about marijuana smokers. It was hypothesized that British citizens would tend to be more tolerant of the marijuana user, would be less socially rejecting, more inclined to view their behavior as a medical problem with physical determinants than American citizens. In order to identify differences and similarities between British and American views of marijuana users, samples of students from these countries were asked to complete an attitude questionnaire that sampled views of etiology, treatment, and personal reactions to people who smoke marijuana. Comparisons were also made between users and nonusers of marijuana in the two cultural samples in order to isolate attitudes within these subgroups.