For this assignment, I wanted to choose a topic to which I could relate. I was seeking a topic that I am familiar with, and am interested enough to want to learn more about. I wanted to find a paper that discussed substance abuse: a cross-cultural study comparing drug use in different cultures/societies. I wanted not to focus on the issue of, for example, the use of a certain drug in a single city, but instead to see how different societies deal with and view a specific drug use.
I chose marijuana as being the issue that I wanted to study. I did so because I have relatively liberal views on the regulation and consumption of marijuana. I also believe marijuana to be the most culturally accepted drug on a worldwide scale. In comparison to heroin or cocaine, which are commonly established to be serious drugs, the views towards marijuana as a "soft" drug are ever debated. I believe that I developed my view, in part, because of the society in which I grew up.
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