Drugs

1. Unit 3
Drugs

2. What are drugs?
 Any substance that causes a change in a
person’s physical or psychological state

3. What is medicine?
 Any drug used to cure, prevent or treat
illness or discomfort

4. What is the path to addiction?
Drug use Tolerance Dependence Addiction

5. What is drug abuse?
 The intentional improper or unsafe use
of a drug.

6. What are Psychoactive drugs?
 Drugs that affect a person’s mood or
behavior.

7. What are some dangers of
drug abuse?
 Danger to yourself, your family, to society due to crime.
 Increased chance of child abuse and family abuse.
 Driving under the influence (DUI) causes death to the
driver and others.

8. When is a person addicted
to a drug?
 When his/her body
has grown so used to
having the drug that it
cannot function
without it.
 Addiction is a
physical process.
When a person is
addicted they become
physically dependent
on the drug. Their
body must have it.

9. What is physical dependence?
 Addiction
 The body expects that
drug. If it does not get
the drug it expects the
body will go through a
physical withdrawal.

10. What are withdrawal symptoms?
 Nausea, chills,
depression,
sleeplessness,
headaches.

11. What are withdrawal symptoms?
(continued)
 Some people who have developed a
very high tolerance for a drug may
suffer more serious and dangerous
withdrawal symptoms, such as
seizures.
 In general the more addictive and
powerful a drug is, the more serious its
withdrawal will be.

12. What is psychological dependence?
 When a person is controlled by a
constant craving for a drug.
 They need it to feel happy.

13. What is the first step in the
addiction process?
Tolerance

14. What is Tolerance?
 Needing more and more of the drug to get
the same effect.
 Example:
Regular Tylenol works, then you need
2, then you need 1 extra strength,
then 2 extra strength, then you call a
doctor for something stronger.

15. How do drugs enter the body?
 Implanted pumps
 Dr. surgically implants
 Inhalation
 Through blood vessels in the lungs
 Injection
 Needles
 Transdermal patches
 Patch placed on skin (nicotine patch)
 Ingestion
 Swallowing
 Topical application
 Ointment, cream

16. What is drug dependence?
 Drug user experiences uncomfortable
withdrawal symptoms if he or she tries to
stop using the drug

17. What is addiction?
 Drug user has lost control of his or her
drug taking habit

18. What is a Stimulant?
A drug that causes alertness
and speeds up the activity of
the body.

19. What are some Stimulants?
 Caffeine
Naturally occurring
Interferes with chemical called
adenosine in the brain

20. What are some Stimulants? (continued)
 Cocaine and crack
 Derived from leaves of cocoa plant
 Sniffed, injected, smoked
 Interferes with reabsorption of
dopamine (associated with
pleasure in the brain)
 Extremely addictive

21. What are some Stimulants? (continued)
 Amphetamines
Synthetic drug (made in
laboratories)
One dangerous form is “ice”

22. What is a Hallucinogen?
A drug that distorts a person’s
senses.

23. What are some Hallucinogens?
 LSD
 Made from fungus
 Sometimes acts as a depressant
 Flashbacks may occur: return to an
unpleasant experience after using
LSD (can be months later)

24. What are some Hallucinogens?
(continued)
 PCP
 Also known as “angel dust”
 Can cause severe mental disturbances
 Can last a few hours to a few weeks
 People using PCP can be very violent

25. What are some Hallucinogens?
(Continued)
 Peyote and Mushrooms
 Derived from peyote cactus
 Contains drug mescaline
 Can cause vomiting and cramping followed by
hallucinations
 People claim they can hear colors

26. What are Designer Drugs?
 Synthetic drugs that are similar in
chemistry to certain illegal drugs.

27. What is an example of a Designer
Drug?
 MDMA
 Ecstasy (a.k.a: “X”, )
 Can cause blurred vision, nausea, faintness, sleep
problems, anxiety, chills and sweating
 Shown to cause brain damage in laboratory
animals

28. What are Marijuana and
Hashish?
 Drugs derived from the cannabis plant

29. What kinds of problems are
associated with Marijuana and
Hashish?
 Loss of coordination and difficulty
concentrating
 Can cause anxious feelings or paranoia
 Toxins can damage lungs, reproductive
system and immune system
 Marijuana today contains more THC than in
the 1960’s

30. What are Inhalants?
 Chemicals that produce strong
psychoactive effects when they are
inhaled.

31. What are Inhalants? (continued)
 Inhalants can be anything you inhale:
 Paint thinner
 Correction fluid
 Degreasers
 Glue
 Gasoline
 Aerosol propellants

32. What are the dangers of
Inhalants?
 Enter the bloodstream and travel to the
brain immediately
 Initial feeling of lightheadedness followed
by nausea and headache
 Repeated use can cause hearing loss,
brain and nerve damage, liver damage,
kidney damage, etc.
 Can cause suffocation and heart failure

33.  If you begin to feel these symptoms go
outside immediately and get fresh air!

34. What are Heroin and Other
Narcotics?
 Narcotic: a drug with pain relieving and
psychoactive properties that is made from
the opium poppy plant
 Heroin: a narcotic, but is illegal to buy, sell
or use.

35. What are some Narcotics?
 Morphine and Codeine
 Used in hospitals for patients with severe pain
 Most physically addictive drug of abuse
 Overdose (a serious, sometimes fatal,
reaction to a large dose of a drug) very
common
 Large doses of heroin can severely depress
respiratory system which leads to loss of
consciousness, coma and even death

36. What are Sedative-Hypnotics?
 Drugs that depress the body systems and
cause sleepiness
 Two major types:
 Barbiturates
 Prescribed for prevention of seizures
 Benzodiazepines
 Prescribed to relieve minor anxiety and insomnia

37. How can you treat addiction and
abuse?
 Talk to an adult
 See the school nurse
 Tarzana treatment center

38. The End