Okay mom, so here it goes....

While reading this article, "Becoming a Marihuana User" by Howard Becker, I thought about my own experiences and what I have witnessed and I couldn't agree more with Becker's theories about smoking pot. A social construction is something culture has built. Smoking marijuana or pot is a social construction. As Howard Becker explains culture has taught society how to "get high". Culture has built this perception and method of smoking pot that,according to Becker, once you learn you are then able to achieve "pleasure" from the social construction. One can picture the characteristics of a stereotypical high person; the laziness, the red eyes, the hunger("munchies"), and so on. These are considered to be signifiers of being high. According to Becker, a person who has had a good experience smoking pot will most likely do it again and vice versa. From my personal experience and seeing friends trying pot for the first time this is true. The first time can make it or break it. This also happens with other things like drinking beer or another type of alcohol. Now once a person has learned how to smoke pot and what it all entails, comes the entire subculture of a user. Things like owning a Bob Marley poster, wearing tie-dye shirts, listening to jam bands, etc. are all included in the subculture. Once again, smoking pot is a social construction. It was created by culture as a means of having fun and relaxing. It has become a staple in our society and would've never become that way if culture had not built it.