Drug Use Health II October 2014 What

Drug Use Health II October 2014

What is a Drug? • A chemical that causes a change in a person’s body or behavior. • It directly effects the Central Nervous System – CNS: a system that coordinates your thoughts, actions, body functions, and consists of your brain, spinal cord, and nerves.

What is Drug Use? • When drugs are taken as directed to treat illnesses. Examples: • when physicians write prescriptions and consumers take as directed • consumers buy non-prescription drugs and take according to instructions

What is Drug Misuse? • The improper use of drugs, when taken not as directed. – Examples: • Taking more than the prescribed amount. • Taking with the wrong foods or at the wrong time of day. • Not taking them for the correct period of time.

What is Drug Abuse? • The intentional misuse of any kind of drug for non-medical purposes Can lead to tolerance and dependence.

Drug Interactions • Medicines have different effects on or cause different reactions in different people. • Reactions depend on how the drug mixes with the chemicals in his or her body. • Most medicines cause side effects – (reactions to the medicine other than the one intended)

Additive interaction • When medicines work together in a positive way.

Synergistic effect • The interaction of 2 or more drugs that results in a greater effect than when the drugs are taken independently, which can lead to life threatening situations and shock.

Antagonistic interaction • When the effect of a drug (medicine) is canceled or reduced when taken with another medicine or drug.

Levels of Addiction: • Drug Use: – Drug use activates the brain reward system.

Levels of Addiction: • Tolerance: – The drug user needs more of the drug to produce the same effect.

Levels of Addiction: • Dependence: – The drug user experiences uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms if he or she tries to stop using the drug.

Levels of Addiction: • Addiction: – The drug user has lost control of his or her drug-taking habit.

Withdrawal • The process that occurs when a person stops using a medicine or other drug to which he or she has a physiological dependence, and a craving occurs.

Psychoactive Drugs • This describes drugs or medicine that affects the brain and changes how a person perceives, thinks, or feels.

Medicines vs. Drugs • Always remember “All medicines are drugs…. but, not all drugs are medicine”. . • What does that mean? Ex- Taking a Rx drug for pain that is prescribed to you properly is considered a medicine. Taking that same Rx drug for pain plus more than is prescribed because it feels good is abusing the drug. This is no longer considered a medicine for you it is now drug abuse.

Drugs of Abuse • There are four main categories of pyschoactive drugs • These categories include – Stimulants – Depressants – Hallucinogens – Narcotics

Stimulants • These are drugs that temporarily speed up a person’s CNS and increase energy and alertness • Some examples include – Caffeine – Nicotine – Ritalin – Amphetamines – Cocaine/Crack

Stimulants • Caffeine and nicotine are legal and relatively mild stimulants • Ritalin is a prescribed drug used as a medicine to treat ADHD behavior • Cocaine and methamphetamines are potent illegal drugs and are addictive and dangerous

Effects include Psychological (mind) Increased alertness Anxiety Euphoria Panic Confusion Nervousness

Effects Cont. • Physical (body) – Loss of appetite – Hyperactivity – Sleeplessness – Increased heart rate – Increased breathing rate – Heart failure – Liver damage – Death

Depressants • These are drugs that cause relaxation and sleepiness. Depressants slow down a persons CNS, including breathing and reducing brain activity. • Most depressants are prescribed to treat disorders such as anxiety, sleep disorders, and seizures

Depressants • Examples of depressants include – Tranquilizers (treats mild anxiety) – Hypnotics (used to treat sleep disorders and seizures) • Rohypnol (roofies) – Alcohol (drug in wine, beer, and liquor that causes intoxication) – DXM (main ingredient in cough medicine)

Effects • Psychological (mind) – Euphoria – Reduced anxiety – Confusion – Loss of memory – Hallucinations – Loss of consciousness

Effects cont • Physical (body) – Loss of inhibitions – Drowsiness – Loss of coordination – Slurred speech – Slowed heart rate – Dangerously slow breathing – Coma – Death

Narcotics • A group of highly addictive drugs that are used to relieve pain or as anesthetics and sedatives. • Can be both highly valuable medicines and a deadly drug of abuse. • Natural narcotics are derived from the opium poppy plant • Tolerance / addiction develops rapidly

Opiates • Opiates come from the poppy plant. When used as medicine, opiates reduce pain, relieve diarrhea, suppress coughing, and induce relaxation. – Examples include • Codeine (Legal) • Morphine (Legal) • Oxycontin (Legal) • Heroin (Illegal) • Opium (Illegal) Oxycodone (Legal) Percocet (Legal) Vicadin (Legal)

Effects • Psychological (mind) – Euphoria – Feelings of well-being – Confusion – Coma – Loss of consciousness

Effects cont • Physical (body) – Vomiting – Drowsiness – Constipation – Dangerously slowed breathing – Pain relief – Relaxation – Death – Coma

Hallucinogens • Hallucinogens are drugs that distort perception and cause the user to experience things that are not real. • While a person is on hallucinogens, his or her emotional experiences seem deeper and more important.

Hallucinogens • Examples include LSD (acid) and Psilocybin (hallucinogenic mushrooms),

Effects • Psychological (mind) – Sensory illusions – Enhanced emotions – Feelings of being outside of the body – Panic – Reoccurring distortions of perceptions (flashbacks) – Chronic mental disorders

Effects • Physical (body) – Dizziness – Weakness – Self injury