Moral Panic
Discussion
What is a “moral panic”? Which drugs have touched off moral panics, and when did they occur?
Moral panic is a situation in which the public fears and the state interventions exceed the aims poised by a threat to society by a factor responsible for creating the threat. In other words, it is the feeling of fear to spread evil threats among a large group of people. Such evil always threatens the well-being of society (Block, 2017). In criminology, the concept of moral panic gives valuable insight into the effects of powerful social agents creates public fear and concern of a group or individual. Cohen first developed the concept of moral panic as a field permissible to the use of media as a social institution. According to Cohen, media is a powerful social institution that can set both political and social agenda. During this time, the moral panic was mainly understood from the concept of media and politics (Krinsky, 2016). The concept was first applied in the case of Mods and Rockers in 1960, and since its first application, the concept has been used in other social problems such as crime, HIV/AIDS epidemic, and child abuse.
In the recent past, many European countries have been contemplating the legalization of marijuana. With heated debates emerging every fortnight, the concept of marijuana legalization has still not sunk into society, and some still consider it unlawful (Krinsky, 2016). The proponents of such legalization, on the other hand, argue from what they think the best objective of such legalization is all about. Therefore, from both aspects, the society is in tantrums and experiencing some stretch from both sides of proponents and opponents, creating social issues. Moral panic in this sense can be realized from the drug laws set to protect society against the consumption of illicit drugs such as marijuana. These drugs laws are driven by “moral panic” in the sense that they are not flexible enough to identify where the harms related to such drugs are opined. The community’s perception of drug use and the prevalence of crime rates is thus a factor to consider when discussing the concept of moral panic.
Marijuana use has become a thorn in the flesh for countries such as the United States, Australia, and Britain. In these three countries, cannabis is a widely used illicit drug. In the early 1800s, the plant existed in these three countries and was once an innocuous plant. It was used as a reliable commodity and as a valuable medicine (Block, 2017). Its use as a psychoactive substance has been debatable over the drug polarized between loathes and fears. In the early 1900s, the first moral panic led to the racialization of the drug. The races that were considered inferior to the whites and the Anglo culture were considered as the perpetrators of the cannabis use for recreational purposes. This led to the introduction of legislative laws that plunged the three countries in the grip of moral panic.
Heroin overdose and subsequent deaths bring another dimension of moral panic. In the late 1990s, powerful groups in the society informed the media of heroin saga by exaggerating its claims and applying the stories of the addicts (Krinsky, 2016). The media’s exaggeration of the problem brought the moral panic, and more recently, such exaggerated presentations by the media have been extended to the use of drug ice. Ice drug users are always depicted by the media to be more aggressive and violent than any other illicit drug user. Such issues became a concern in Australian society in the late 1990s. It can be surmised that media influences community perceptions, create a moral panic, and exacerbates fear of crime in disproportionate levels.
Responses
#1: Torey
Torey brings the concept of moral panic from the perspective of the use of illicit drugs, which is narrows more to the question posted. This discussion captured the various periods when drugs such as opium and heroin became a “moral panic” to society. This work vividly explains how drugs became a moral panic. To begin with, opium was originally used as pain relievers for soldiers who fought during the Civil War. However, Torey explains the drug has since become a different option for drinking. Addiction levels went high, thus raising the issue of moral panic. On the other hand, heroin was originally used in 1890 as an analgesic for the cure of certain addictions. Crazily, people began getting addicted to heroin. Torey finishes the discussion by posting a question that will malinger in the minds of the readers as they comprehend why heroin has led to moral panic.
#2: Emily
Emily’s response takes the reader back to the times when Cohen first developed the concept of moral panic. Just like Cohen, Emily discusses this concept from the entrepreneurial and mass media perspective. At this point, Emily invokes the thoughts presented by Cohen that moral panic is a process of arousing social concern over an issues-usually the work of entrepreneurs. She brings in the concept of repressive drugs laws which relate to my point of view that some of the drugs laws are driven by social panic. She uses an example of Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) drug in the 1960s.
References
Block, S. (2017). Marijuana business workers most common news source. Newspaper Research Journal, 38(2), 187-197.
Krinsky, C. (2016). The Problems with Moral Panic: The Concept’s Limitations. In The Ashgate Research Companion to Moral Panics (pp. 88-100). Routledge.