Unbecoming a Marijuana User

In this paper, I critically engage with Becker’s seminal work on marijuana consumption, challenging the notion of “becoming” a user as a straightforward process of taste acquisition. Drawing on the personal narratives of 38 current and former marijuana users, I show that “becoming” a marijuana user constitutes a dynamic state of tension rather than a linear trajectory with a terminal endpoint. In light of these tensions, even experienced users—despite having undergone the social processes that render an ambiguous activity coherent—face the ongoing threat of “unbecoming.” I contend that such destabilizing processes extend beyond marijuana use, highlighting how people's taken-for-granted relationships with experiential objects—sustained through processes of reality maintenance—risk lapsing into unfamiliarity. This study thus contributes to our understanding of experiential breaks and ruptures, offering insights into the fragility of the continuity underlying the world of common sense.