Culture and Addiction (2 of 2) الثقافة والإدمان

The biological (disease) model assumes that if children are given even a taste of a drink or a drug, they are more likely to become addicted. The learning model assumes that the cultural context is crucial in determining whether people will become addicted or learn to use drugs moderately. In fact, when children learn the rules of social drinking with their families, as at Jewish Passover seders (left), alcoholism rates are much lower than in cultures in which drinking occurs mainly in bars or in privacy. Similarly, when marijuana is used as part of a religious tradition, as it is by members of the Rastafarian church in Jamaica, use of the “wisdom weed” does not lead to addiction or harder drugs.