Alcohol and other drugs: the response of the political and medical institutions

Abstract

Formal and informal social control in shaping individual behaviors toward the use of alcohol and other drugs is discussed. Emphasis is placed on formal social control as it occurs in two major institutions. The state, which embodies the political and legal structures of the society is discussed in terms of the social control of some of the consequences of drinking, such as public drunkenness, alcoholism, operating vehicles with specific blood alcohol levels, and crime and alcohol use. The medical institution's involvement in alcohol and drug control is discussed in terms of the physician's role in diagnosing alcohol and drug dependent individuals. Two contemporary cases, those of pregnant addicts and alcohol‐related organ transplant patients, illustrate the significant interactions between the responses of the political and medical institutions, and the broader influences that help shape these responses. Copyright © 1991, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved