Answer the following questions. Make sure your response (to all questions total) is at least 400 words in length, cites references from the text and outside sources if necessary. Please include a separate cover page with each written assignment. You must indent paragraphs, and double-space. Your answers can be brief but they should be substantive. It is very difficult to demonstrate understanding or mastery of the material with brief (1-3 sentence) responses. Please be sure to clearly indicate the question to which you are responding. I recommend restating the question, and providing your response beneath each question.
Discussion Questions:
1. What do you think Becker means when he asserts, regarding the “drug problem,” that “It is, rather, a semantic problem, a problem of definitions, a problem of the fit between words and reality.” Do you agree or disagree with this assertion and, explain your reasoning.
2. Becker asserts that the “drug problem” as defined in American society is largely a police problem. What is meant by this statement? Do you agree or disagree with the statement. Explain why. (In your response, please note that Becker is not claiming the the police are the problem.)
3. Becker describes categories of use, routes of administration, and moral judgment as important factors in defining “drugs.” What do you think is the significance of each of these factors? How do you react to people based on the drugs they use and how they use them? What does Becker mean by moral judgment?
4. How do you think definitions shape our perspectives of the “drug problem?”
