It has become a recent topic for media in Canada, the use of marijuana. The question going through the court system today is whether or not to decriminalize the use of marijuana. To see how Sociologist, Anthropologist, and Psychologist would look into the topic we first must understand what each one studies. Anthropologists study the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans. Sociologists study human social behavior, especially the study of the origins, organization, institutions, and development of human society. Psychologists study mental processes and behavior.
Anthropologists would look into the cultural background of marijuana and find that Marijuana is the most widely used drug in North America after a alcohol and cigarettes, which are both legal. Both of which are considerable worse for you health wise. Anthropologists would also find that many people have already shown that they feel marijuana should be legal which is shown through the wide spread usage, we should take that as a strong indication and courts should too. It is estimated that about three million Canadians, age 14 to 65 have smoked pot at least once during the previous 12 months. (MacLean's "Just say yes") Among teens 12 to 17, the average age of first trying marijuana was 14. A Survey of students in grade 8 to 12 showed that 23% of the 8th graders have tried marijuana at least once and by tenth grade, 21% are regular users. Among the grade 12 students, around 50% have tried marijuana at least once and around 24% were regular users. Approximately 600,000 Canadians have a criminal record for simple possession of marijuana. (www.drug-statistic.com). Finally they would find out how much it is costing government to enforce Canada's pot laws is estimated at 300 million dollars, with only 20,000 people arrested on marijuana possession charges each year.
Sociologists would look into how legalization of marijuana would affect our society.
