The Cultural Criminology Approach to the Changing Patterns of Drug Use amongst the Young

The official studies and reports show that the age of drug use has been reduced in spite of spending significant economic and social costs to control drug use. This paper is going to examine this issue from the cultural criminology perspective. One of the main suggestions for effectiveness of crime control programs is to influence on deviant culture through accessing the criminological understanding. Giving this suggestion serious consideration totally changes the conformation of the young issue and drug use. According to this new conformation, some of youths accept the drug use as it is the norm. In the light of understanding of normalization process of drug use, it becomes meaningful the reduction of age and changing patterns of drug use and deliberate preventive programs can be executed. Contrary to the positivistic discourse governing the most of drug abuse policies and control programs which are based on metanarratives such as rational choice and opportunity theory, this note concentrates on the qualitative variable of the normalization of drug use, firstly, it shows the effect of this variable in establishing of drug use culture and secondly, it strengthens this proposition that the negligence of the normalization variable, the effectiveness of drug use control programs confront serious challenges.