There ought to be a Law.

This paper describes and questions the social meaning of some 1975 general population survey data on individuals' expressed attitudes to legal control of various forms of behaviour, including possession of cannabis. Only a small proportion of the sample favoured 'legalization' of cannabis, larger proportions favouring legal status for homosexual behaviour, abortion and the buying of contraceptives. Few respondents would, however, take it upon themselves to report cannabis users to the police, and opinions about proper court sentences were highly varied. The paper briefly contrasts a social interpretation of such moral sentiments (involving social relations of labour market, family and law) with the individualistic interpretation that the attitude-survey methodology itself imposes. The paper concludes that there is a need to develop social theory able to generate problem-solving research and practice in the dependency field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]