Running head: TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA AND SOCIETY 1

Tobacco, Alcohol, Marijuana and Society

Kelly Eckard

Salt Lake Community College

Running head: TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA AND SOCIETY 2

Tobacco, Alcohol, Marijuana and Society

I have “…examined the dynamics of power and how it shapes such issues as knowledge,

privilege, gender, economies, religion, environment and/or race relations," regarding tobacco,

alcohol, and marijuana and have found that these substances have been commercialized and

glamorized in Hollywood, through social media channels, and market people to use their

products.

I don’t think that there is just a certain race that abuses alcohol, tobacco, or marijuana. To

the people that have these addictive habits, it’s a lifestyle and culture. Typically, when a person

experiments with alcohol, tobacco or marijuana it is during their adolescence. Pop-culture, peer

pressure, rebellion against their superiors and against a world who has been telling them to, “Just

say no!” since they were brought into it. When you look at commercials especially during the

Superbowl, alcohol is glamorized and sexualized. The models they use in their advertisements

are stunning and holding a cold one with all of their friends and people buy into it.

There is a certain glamour to these substances that are seen in Hollywood and music

videos, in Pulp Fiction almost every scene John Travolta is in he is smoking a cigarette.

Throughout the movie, he uses heroin and murders people. And while he is high and getting high

he looks very appealing.

The movie, The Dirt, a biopic based on the band, Motley Crue, about every fifteen

minutes of the film a new scene invites sex, drugs, and rock n roll on the screen topped with a

ton of alcohol. I don’t think they were glamorizing any of this though, this is how they lived and

spent their day to day lives.

In all of Clint Eastwood movies, he is smoking cigarettes, and in some of his most

famous films, like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly the most famous scenes show him smoking.
Running head: TOBACCO, ALCOHOL, MARIJUANA AND SOCIETY 3

For the people that choose to smoke or use alcohol I think it makes them feel good, they like

smoking and drinking, they like the way it makes them feel.

I think alcohol is abused by all ethnicities and economic classes regardless of status. The

only difference is, with your economic status you are picking the top or bottom shelf to get your

buzz on.

Anything that causes a crave is an addiction, it can be food, gambling, shopping, but for

this topic, we are focusing on the addictions of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana. Alcohol is a

drug, it’s addicting, it will and can make you crave it. If an alcoholic goes too long without

drinking they will get the shakes until they have a drink. Even though it is a legal drug the

government will never try to go through another prohibition and ban it to the public and the

companies are fully aware of this.

It has made me wonder if the owners of the big alcohol and tobacco companies use their

products knowing the side effects that they have on the body, mind, and soul. Do they turn a

blind eye to the damage that these things do to people?

Marijuana is a different story, there has been so much research done and proving the

benefits that it has for people. It helps those with mental disorders and PTSD, it helps those who

are diagnosed with MS, and there is proof that it decreases cancer cells and helps those with

cancer gain weight. These are just a few of the benefits of marijuana. Even though it was

believed at one time it was harmful, the more research being done is proving that is not the case.