TY - JOUR AU - Huff- Corzine, Lin AU - Corzine, Jay PY - 2010/04/26 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - DRUG POLICY EXERCISE JF - TRAILS: Teaching Resources and Innovations Library for Sociology JA - TRAILS VL - IS - SE - DO - UR - https://trails.asanet.org/article/view/drug-policy-exercise SP - AB - The Drug Policy Exercise focuses on the criminal law as a mechanism of social control. The exercise is designed to: (1) demonstrate that the criminal law is a social product; (2) expose students to varying viewpoints on a major policy question, the proper societal response to drugs and drug use; and (3) illustrate the role of labeling processes in affecting public perceptions of particular drugs (e.g., heroin or alcohol). Depending on the class size and the amount of time available to the instructor, the Drug Policy Exercise can be presented in one of three ways. The procedure described below includes two separate assignments and requires two or three class periods to complete. As will be discussed below, this plan may be modified by using only the second assignment with minor modifications or, more radically, by changing the format from small group discussion to lecture. These shorter versions are especially useful with a large number of students or if the instructor wants to devote only a single period to the exercise. ER -