This document discusses various reasons why people use drugs, including experimentation, pleasure-seeking, peer influence, spiritual purposes, and rebelliousness. It also covers the differences between drug dependency and addiction, and discusses several theories for why drug addiction occurs, such as genetic predisposition, personality traits, reinforcement, and social/cultural factors. Finally, it examines the use of performance-enhancing drugs in sports and their associated health risks.

1. Albia Dugger • Miami Dade College
Chapter 3
Motivations for
Drug Use

2. Reasons for Drug Use
• Experimentation:
• Especially among young people, curiosity is a natural
phenomenon that easily leads to experimentation
• Pleasure/Escape from Boredom:
• An individual who is bored will engage in something
pleasurable to relieve the boredom
• Drugs used to increase pleasure or reduce boredom
provide positive reinforcement
• Drugs taken to alleviate discomfort provide negative
reinforcement

3. Reasons for Drug Use
• The desire to get high
may be genetically
programmed into some
people

4. Reasons for Drug Use
• Peer Influence:
• Many young people use drugs to gain peer acceptance or
approval
• Basic values, life goals, and aspirations still are influenced
more by parents
• Spiritual Purposes:
• People have used drugs to communicate with something
or someone greater than themselves
• Psychoactive plants have roles in many religious and
spiritual practices

5. Parents who pass on values
can discourage drug use

6. Reasons for Drug Use
• Self-Discovery:
• Drugs sometimes are used to fill a void in one’s life
• Social Interaction:
• Drugs are used to facilitate interactions with others
• Certain social groups determine how a drug is used
• Rebelliousness:
• Young people rebel against the conventions of society,
including warnings about drugs

7. Factors That Influence the
Use of Alcohol and Other Drugs

8. Drug Dependency vs. Drug Addiction
• Drug dependency:
• Recurring desire for drugs based on a psychic or a
physical need
• Drug addiction:
• Continuing desire for drugs based on a physical need
• Both connote a compulsive need to use a drug and an
inability to cease using it despite serious consequences

9. Drug Dependency vs. Drug Addiction
• Physical dependency is marked by withdrawal symptoms –
physical symptoms that appear after drug use ceases
• People who are physically dependent on a drug need to take
the drug to ward off withdrawal symptoms.
• Psychological dependency refers to one’s perceived need for
a drug

10. Downward Spiral of Psychological Addiction

11. Cycle of Psychological Addiction

12. Drug Dependency vs. Drug Addiction
• Addiction is “an ingrained habit that undermines your health,
your work, your relationships, your self-respect, but that you
feel you cannot change”
• Dependency encompasses more than drugs: a person can
become dependent on food, religion, love, exercise, or
gambling

13. Theories of Drug Addiction
• U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Addiction is
a “chronic, life-threatening condition that has roots in genetic
susceptibility, social circumstance and personal behavior”
• No single theory adequately covers every aspect of drug
addiction – elements of various theories provide insight into
drug addiction

14. Personality Theory
• Delayed behavioral or emotional development may be a
factor in substance abuse
• Personality characteristics associated with drug abuse:
• Low self-esteem
• Poor interpersonal skills
• Need for immediate gratification
• Defiant feelings toward authority
• Little tolerance for anxiety, frustration, and depression
• Impulsivity
• Risk taking
• Low regard for personal health

15. Reinforcement Theory
• Reinforcers are stimuli or events that increase the likelihood
of a particular behavior
• Primary reinforcers reduce physiological needs or are
inherently pleasurable; examples are food, water, and sex
• Secondary reinforcers act as signals for the increased
probability of obtaining primary reinforcers; example: money
• Drugs can be primary or secondary reinforcers

16. Biological Theories
• Biological theory is a view of addiction holding that it is
based on genetics and metabolic imbalances
• Genetic theory: a person is predisposed to drug addiction,
including addiction to alcohol, by hereditary influence
• Metabolic imbalance: Narcotics help addicts stabilize the
metabolic deficiency caused by absence of the drug

17. Genetic and environmental
effects on twins

18. Social Theories
• Social theory is the hypothesis that drug use is determined
by cultural and social influences
• Rewards of drug use may be derived from groups and others
with whom we associate
• Drug abuse may arise from antisocial behavior
• Social theory does not explain drug addiction

19. Mass Media and Drugs
• The impact of the media on drug use is hard to determine
• Many forms of mass media feature drugs:
• Movies
• Advertisements
• Billboards
• Television
• Music
• Celebrities

20. Advertisement
• An estimated $25 billion is spent on advertising tobacco,
alcohol, and prescription drugs
• One study of alcohol marketing worldwide showed that young
people are influenced by marketing
• Advertisements for cigarettes play on many themes,
particularly independence
• After cigarette ads were prohibited from television in 1971, the
void was filled with advertisements for smokeless tobacco

21. Other Mass Media
• Billboards
• Heavily promote alcohol and tobacco
• Television
• Huge influence on American views and behaviors
• Music and music videos
• Illicit drug, tobacco, and alcohol use are common
• Celebrities
• Many have overdosed, been arrested for drug use, or
entered drug treatment programs

22. Billboards that advertise beer

23. Billboards that advertise tobacco

24. Performance-Enhancing Drugs
• Performance-enhancing drugs, also known as ergogenic
aids, are used to gain a competitive advantage
• As early as 300 BC, some Greek athletes ate mushrooms to
enhance their performance
• Drug abuse in sports has become more publicized in the last
few years – e.g. Major League Baseball
• The type of sport and gender of the athlete influence the drug
of choice

25. Anabolic Steroids
• Anabolic steroids
• Substances used to increase muscle mass
• Related to male sex hormones
• Testosterone during puberty augments muscle mass and
strength, but later in adolescence stunts growth
• Users may engage in stacking – ingesting and injecting
several steroids at the same time
• Users display symptoms of depression, panic, anxiety,
paranoia, mania, and suicidal behavior (roid rage)

26. Steroid Use by Athletes

27. Problems with Anabolic Steroids
• Steroid effects on men and women:
• Acne
• Increased susceptibility to infections
• Abrupt mood changes
• Hypertension
• Decreased HDL (good cholesterol)
• Effects on liver
• Stunted growth

28. Gender-Specific Effects
• Men:
• More frequent
erections
• Atrophied testicles
• Enlarged breasts
• Enlarged prostate
• Infertility
• Baldness
• Women:
• Baldness
• Decreased breast size
• Enlarged clitoris
• Increased facial hair
• Fluid retention
• Menstrual irregularities
• Deepened voice

29. Human Growth Hormones
and Erythropoietin
• Human growth hormones (HGH)
• Hormones that stimulate protein synthesis
• Used by athletes to enhance performance
• Erythropoietin (EPO)
• Hormone that enhances cardiovascular endurance by
increasing red blood cell production
• Can lead to blood clots, increasing the risk for heart
attacks, stroke, and pulmonary embolism

30. Creatine Monohydrate
• Creatine monohydrate
• Natural substance used to increase strength and short-
term speed
• Sold over-the-counter as a nutritional supplement
• Believed to increase water content in muscles, adding to
their size and ability to function
• Reduces range of movement
• Reported side effects include muscle cramping,
dehydration, water retention, and kidney problems
• Not regulated by the FDA

31. Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG)
• Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG)
• Designer drug, closely related to the banned anabolic
steroids gestrinone and trenbolone
• Used by many professional athletes
• Not approved by FDA
• May cause some of the same side effects as steroids

32. Androstenedione (Andro)
• Androstenedione
• Food supplement used for muscle development
• Precursor molecule, one step away from testosterone
• Banned by NCAA, NFL, and IOC
• Effects are similar to those of anabolic steroids
• In January 2010, the FDA recalled androstenedione
because of its potential side effects

33. Stimulants
• Cocaine impairs performance requiring hand-eye coordination
and concentration
• Amphetamines have been used in sports to reduce fatigue
and sustain intense exercise
• Caffeine is used to improve endurance, especially short-term
endurance
• Many sports and energy drinks are high in caffeine and
calories

34. Professional Sports and Drug Testing

35. Depressants
• Barbiturates inhibit performance
• Benzodiazepines (minor tranquilizers) impair psychomotor
performance
• Alcohol reduces psychomotor skills and aerobic capacity –
also impairs reaction time, fine and complex motor
coordination, balance and steadiness, visual tracking, and
information processing

36. Sexual Performance
• Many prescribed and over-the-counter drugs alter sexual
functioning
• Drugs such as methamphetamines and alcohol lead to unsafe
sexual practices
• Drugs are commonly used, especially in clubs, to make the
user less sexually inhibited
• Alcohol and narcotics can adversely affect sexual desire,
performance, and satisfaction