The Allure of Drugs

“Why do people use drugs? Reasons for beginning to use drugs Altered Conscious Experience Have a good time, feel good, relax, decrease boredom, relieve physical and emotional pain, seek greater awareness Change in thinking, feeling, perceiving, & behaving Increase awareness Decrease awareness A drug for every ailment

Definitions Risk factors Vulnerability Individual or environmental factors that increase a person’s risk of drug use Vulnerability Idea that some people are differentially at risk Resistance factors (Counter measures) Lowers a person’s risk Religion, academic success, good relationship with parents, contentment

Predisposing Factors Demographic Sociocultural – TV, movies Age/gender Family structure Income Education Employment Sociocultural – TV, movies Adolescence Curiosity Personality/Coping Changes & Conflict in Society Heredity

Enabling Factors Availability Accessibility Social & Institutional Deficiencies Laws are ineffective Personal & Professional Deficiencies Don’t have skills to cope with pressures & insecurity Peculiar Effects of Drugs Psychoactive effects Enablers People who unknowingly support drug problem

Reinforcing Factors Pleasure To avoid bad sensations Functional needs Positive reinforcement – Table 2.2 p. 33 To avoid bad sensations Negative reinforcement – Fig.2.2 p. 34 Functional needs Improve performance Social / Peer Group Advertising / Media

Public Health Model Theories Agent-related etiology Drugs cause dependence or addiction Host-related etiology Factors within the person cause drug use Environment-related etiology External factors lead to drug use Multi-factorial – two or more of the above

Influence of Media Advertisements Celebrities Sports Movies