Abstract
Different views have prevailed within our society that have provided divergent approaches to explain drug use and drug addiction. many of these approaches have involved medical, sociological and psychological perspectives; moral factors have also been evoked. This paper explores drug use from a different perspective- cultural anthropology. It discusses drug use as a natural result of human technology. Drawing on a theory of culture as communication systems derived from elaborate patterns of behavior, this paper proposes that criminal and medical explanations of drug abuse have inhibited the development of a comprehensive understanding of drug use. It is possible that a "new culture" has developed in which many people anticipate using some type of psychoactive substance, selected from the legal, illicit and prescribed substances, on an "as needed" basis to change mood or feeling-state. These thoughts are elaborated on in the present article.
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