High Culture

I thought that Howard Becker's writing was very interesting. It broke down what smoking weed really is and the culture that has built around it and almost sustains it. The part i really found intriguing is that first time users normally don’t feel the same "high" and it is shaped by what experienced users tell them they should be feeling.
In the reading Howard describes how people intend to "get high" but don’t really know what that means in concrete terms. This is where the culture really comes in to play. The people that make up the Marijuana culture play an important role in shaping the way that first time pot users experience this high. The way they feel is even shaped by what the frequent users feel. The frequent users often tell the lesser experienced user how he should feel and what feelings they should notice. The object in the culture is the Marijuana itself. The culture is built up around it; the subjects are the users who make the social experience of smoking. This social experience is very important in holding the culture together.
Becker really illustrated the importance of the subjects within the marijuana culture. Without these subjects the social aspect and shaping of what being high is wouldn’t exist. Becker really underlined the importance of this. The reader is in a position that really shows the effects of marijuana are basically what one makes of them. This really shows through first time experiences when people often feel frightened or uncomfortable. This idea really left me with more questions than answers. If pot users need their high to be shaped and can choose whether to notice certain feelings or not why is the drug so common? The only reason I can really think of is the culture propels its use and encourages its expansion to new users. The social construction created by the subjects in the culture is what makes Marijuana an effective drug and what attracts new users.