Drug abuse is a disease that plagues our society. The abuse of hard drugs such as cocaine or heroin takes the lives of Americans daily. Abuse of drugs goes back as far as time. With the discovery of wine and other alcoholic products people began to abuse it. Spawning from there people have looked for new drugs, usually harder ones, and new feelings of intoxication. People then moved onto such drugs as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, pcp, ecstasy, and meth. Not so much marijuana but the rest of these drugs are highly addictive and fatal even if not abused. Drugs and drug abuse have also reshaped our societies. Entire neighborhoods have been ruined by the sale of drugs or the abusers. Drug sales drive down real estate prices and drive out better modeled citizens. Creating slums and driving up crime in those areas. Drug abuse can affect us on personal, societal, and impersonal levels.
From a functionalists point of view drug abuse is a necessity in society. The people who supply these drugs, deal these drugs, and use these drugs all create a long list of jobs for other people. Social workers, rehabilitation center workers, counselors, police officers, F.B.I. officials, and numerous other's jobs are related to drug abuse whether it is directly or indirectly. Also drug abuse sets presidents and examples for others in society. People look at the abusers as someone who they wish not to be. Seeing these people is a necessity for them in proper development. Functionalists believe that everything whether it be good or bad it is a necessity for society and drug abuse wouldn't be any different.
Symbolic interactionists have a few theories to help explain deviance. One is called differential association theory, this theory says that people learn to or imitate deviant behaviors from the people they associate with. According to this you will act whether it is normal or deviant by how your friends and family act.