Updating Howard Becker's Theory of Using Marijuana for Pleasure

Abstract

Utilizing an ethnically diverse snowball sample of 31 current or former marijuana smokers, this paper uses recent data to update and expand Howard S. Becker's (J953) theory of using marijuana for pleasure. Although the main tenets of Becker's social-process-based theory of marijuana use have survived the test of time amazingly well, the data suggest that some significant aspects of the theory need to be updated. Most users become intoxicated the first time they smoke marijuana, many no longer have to learn that they are intoxicated through social interaction with other users, and most immediately find the experience pleasurable. Historical changes in marijuana “scenes,” rather than fundamental weaknesses, necessitate revisions in Becker's theory.