DRUGS

4 CATEGORIES

• Medicine

• Tobacco

• Alcohol

• Other Illegal Drugs

MEDICINE

• Drugs that are used to treat or prevent diseases or other conditions

• All medicines are drugs, not all drugs are medicines

• Drugs

• Substances other than food that change the structure or function of the body or mind

• Classify into four main categories

• 1. Prevention: Vaccines – work by taking advantage of body’s natural defense system

• 2. Fight Pathogens: Antibiotics – medicine that destroys bacteria

• 3. Relieve Pain

• 4. Manage/maintain

• Can be taken in multiple ways

• Orally – taken by the mouth

• Topically – applied to the skin

• Inhaled – delivered through a mist or powder

• Injected – delivered through a shot

• Side effects

• Tolerance – condition in which the body becomes used to the effect, need more to realize same effect

• Withdrawal – occurs when a person stops using a medicine they are physiologically dependent

• Insomnia, headaches, vomiting, cramps

TOBACCO

• Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disability in the US

• Nicotine – addictive drug that is a stimulant (increases the action of the central nervous system, raises blood pressure)

• Carcinogens – cancer causing substances

• Tar and carbon monoxide (colorless, odorless poisonous gas)

• Short term effects

• Brain chemistry changes, respiration and heart rate increase, taste buds dulled, appetite is reduced, bad breath, yellow teeth, smelly clothes, hair, skin

• Long-term effects

• Chronic bronchitis, emphysema, lung cancer, coronary heart disease and stroke, weakened immune system

• Leukoplakia: thickened white, leathery-looking spots on inside of mouth that develop into oral cancer

• Secondhand smoke can be just as deadly

ALCOHOL

• Ethanol

• Short term effects: Depressant (drug that slows the CNS), slows reaction time, impairs vision, diminishes judgement, causes blood vessels to expand, kidneys increase urine output

• Factors that influence alcohol effects:

• Body size

• Gender

• Food

• Rate of Intake

• Amount

• Medicine

• Long term effects: damage to brain cells and reduction in brain size, increase blood pressure leads to heart attack or stroke, buildup of fat cells in the liver, damage digestive lining, relationship damages

• Bing drinking: 5 or more alcoholic drinks at one sitting, can have serious consequences

• Alcohol poisoning: sever and potentially fatal physical reaction to an alcohol overdose

• Factors that influence alcohol use:• Peer pressure

• Family

• Media messages

• Advertising techniques

• Alcoholism

• Develops in three stages

• 1. Abuse: physical and psychological dependence develops

• 2. Dependence: a person cannot stop drinking and is physically dependent on alcohol

• 3. Addiction: can not survive without it; physiological or psychological dependence on the drug

OTHER ILLEGAL DRUGS

• Substance abuse is any unnecessary or improper use of chemical substances for non-medical purposes

• Illicit drug use: use or sale of any substance that is illegal or not permitted

• Factors that influence teens:

• Peer pressure

• Family Members

• Role models

• Media messages

• Perceptions of drug behavior

• Misleading information

• Marijuana

• Plant whose leaves, buds, and flowers are usually smoked for their intoxicating effects

• AKA: Grass, weed, pot, Mary Jane, and many others

• Gateway drug: teens are 15 times more likely to use cocaine if they have used marijuana

• Mind-altering affects through the THC; depressant

• Contains more cancer-causing chemicals than tobacco smoke

• Inhalants

• Fumes are sniffed or inhaled to give the desired effect

• Short term indicators: Depresses the CNS, give a glassy stare, have slurred speech, impaired judgement, nausea, coughing, nosebleed, fatigue, and lack of coordination

• Long term indicators: Loss of brain cells, death, liver, and kidney damage, blindness, brain damage, paralysis, cardiac arrest

• Steroids:

• Anabolic-androgenic steroids are synthetic substances similar to male sex hormones

• Muscle building

• Unnatural muscle growth can lead to injury

• Long term effects: Weight gain, acne, high blood pressure, liver and kidney tumors, mood swings, depression, paranoia, HIV

• Male specific effects: shrinking testicles, reduced sperm count, baldness, development of breasts

• Female specific effects: Facial hair, baldness, menstrual cycle changes, deepened voice

• Psychoactive Drugs

• Chemicals that affect the CNS and alter activity in the brain

• Stimulants, depressants, opiates, and hallucinogens

• Designer drugs

• Synthetic drugs that are made to imitate the effects of other drugs

• Ecstasy (MDMA), Rohypnol (roofies)

• Hallucinogens: alter moods, thoughts, and sense perceptions

• Rohypnol, Meth, LSD (acid), PCP, DXM, Mushrooms, Peyote

• Opiates

• Drugs derived from the opium plant that are obtainable only by prescription and used to relieve pain

• Morphine, oxycodone, codeine, heroin