Recreational drugs aren't status-lowering because of their effects, they're status-lowering simply because they're mostly used by people of low status. Perhaps the difference in Europe is that recreational drug use is associated with people of high status?
It has a lot more to do initially with how children are conditioned at a young age to think that drugs are bad, a message that is repeated throughout our lives.
In the US there is a huge stigma associated with weed, but in Canada people don't really care. The difference there comes from the official US government message that weed makes people insane and murderous, and the subsequent war on drugs. A good documentary to watch is "The History of Marijuana", which covers much of the post World War II period of the US government campaigning against Marijuana.
Comments
Recreational drugs aren't status-lowering because of their effects, they're status-lowering simply because they're mostly used by people of low status. Perhaps the difference in Europe is that recreational drug use is associated with people of high status?
It has a lot more to do initially with how children are conditioned at a young age to think that drugs are bad, a message that is repeated throughout our lives.
In the US there is a huge stigma associated with weed, but in Canada people don't really care. The difference there comes from the official US government message that weed makes people insane and murderous, and the subsequent war on drugs. A good documentary to watch is "The History of Marijuana", which covers much of the post World War II period of the US government campaigning against Marijuana.