“Time-out”: The Recreational Use of Drugs by Portuguese-American Immigrants in Southeastern New England

Abstract

This writing will examine the recreational use of alcoholic beverages and marijuana by the Portuguese-American members of a social club located in a coastal city in Southern New England. The ways in which Portuguese-Americans use alcoholic beverages and marijuana to distinguish and to assert reference group identity within their club will also be considered. MacAndrew and Edgerton's (1969) formulation of drunken behavior as a “time-out” will be used as a model to assess the “stoned” behavior of those who smoke marijuana. Conflicting opinions about the use of these licit and illicit substances by Portuguese-American immigrants and their descendants will be critically reviewed. Readers who traditionally think in terms of the effect of a drug will learn here that even the simplest drugs have a wide range of effects depending not only on their chemistry but on the ways in which they are used, the user's attitudes and expectations, society's attitudes and expectations and countless other factors (Brecher et al., 1972: xi). This study will examine the recreational use of two popular drugs, alcohol and marijuana, by Portuguese-American residents of an ethnic neighborhood in a coastal city located in Southeastern New England. For convenience this writing will describe the use of these licit and illicit substances by youths and adult men with the specific socio-cultural context of a well-known men's social club. This enquiry will comment on the significance of the socially organized and controlled use of intoxicating beverages and marijuana for asserting group identity and reinforcing social bonds which distinguish different reference groups within the Portuguese community. MacAndrew and Edgerton's (1969) formulation of drunken behavior as “time-out” will be generalized to the “stoned” behavior of those who smoke marijuana. The utility of this explanatory model to account for conflicting opinions about the use of alcoholic beverages and marijuana by Portuguese-American immigrants will be critically reviewed.