1. Preventing Drug Abuse

2. Facts About Drug Use Drug use is a part of life in the United States
Doctors write countless prescriptions every day
Medicines: legal drugs that help the body fight injury, illness, or disease
Classified as either over-the-counter and prescriptions

3. Classifications of Drugs
Over-the-Counter Drugs
Prescription Drugs
Sold legally in pharmacies and other stores without a doctor’s prescription
Examples:
Pain relievers
Cold and cough remedies
Sleep aids
Can cause harm if the instructions are not followed
Can be obtained only with a written order from a doctor
Can be purchased only at a pharmacy
Require more government control than OTC drugs
Doctor will determine the correct amount that the individual patient needs

4. Illegal Drug Use
An illegal drug is a chemical substance that people of any age may not lawfully manufacture, possess, buy, or sell
The improper use of medicines, either prescription or OTC, is called drug misuse
Taking more than the prescribed amount
Often due to misunderstandings
When a drug is intentionally used improperly or unsafely, it is known is drug abuse

5. Cough Medicine
Proper Use: using the cough medicine per the label instructions to treat a cough
Misuse: mistakenly taking more than is recommended to treat a cough
Abuse: deliberately taking more than is recommended or taking for purposes other than treating a cough

6. Dangers of Drug Misuse and Abuse
Side Effects:
An unwanted physical or mental effect caused by a drug
Can include nausea, dizziness, drowsiness
Tolerance:
The need for more and more of a drug to receive the same effects
Dependence:
Tolerance can lead to drug dependence
A chemical need for the drug and cannot function without it
Withdrawal
Occurs when the person stops taking the drug
Nausea, vomiting, headaches, fever, etc.

7. Drug Interactions Antagonism Synergism
Occurs when each drug’s effect is canceled out or reduced by another
Synergism
Occurs when drugs interact to produce effects greater than those that each drug would produce alone

8. Other Health Risks Hepatitis and HIV Risks to the Fetus and Newborn
Sharing needles can lead to the contamination of blood from another user
Viruses that cause Hepatitis B and C can lead to serious and sometimes fatal liver disease
Risks to the Fetus and Newborn
Drugs can cross the placenta and onto the baby
This can cause birth defects and drug dependency

9. Legal Risks and Other Costs
Penalties for people who produce, possess, or sell illegal drugs include:
Long-term prison sentences
Heavy fines
Permanent criminal record infractions

10. Other Effects of Drug Abuse
Effects on Family and Friends
Effects on Society
Family and friend relationships often become strained
Behavior and personality of the user often changes
A drug abuser may:
Have unpredictable mood swings
Become violent
Withdraw from relationships and responsibilities
Costs of imprisoning thousands of people for drug- related crimes
Medical costs for drug-related illnesses and injuries
Many cases of HIV/AIDS
Premature deaths from drug- related homicides and motor- vehicle crashes
Lost work productivity because of drug dependency

11. Factors Affecting Drug Abuse
Risk factors make it more or less likely that a teen will abuse drugs
They include family factors, social factors, and personal factors

12. Family Factors Poor family relationships
Strained relationships lead to loss of guidance
Teens feel more vulnerable to influence of peers who use drugs
If family members abuse drugs, teens are more likely to as well

13. Social Factors Peer Group: Role Models: Competitive Pressure:
Introduced to drugs by friends and peers
Curiosity, pressure
Role Models:
Celebrities who abuse drugs act as negative role models for teens
“Glamorization” of drugs
Competitive Pressure:
A strong desire to excel at athletics
Painkillers to be able to play through an injury
Steroids to bulk up
More likely to sustain serious injuries that could end their careers

14. Personal Factors
Teens often turn to drugs in order to avoid stressful situations or feelings
Break-ups
Academic or social problems
Illness or death in the family
Drug abuse often adds stress and problems rather than taking them away

15. Protective Factors Protective Factor:
Family factors:
Strong and positive family bonds, parental awareness, clear rules
Social factors:
Bonds with school and community institutions, associating with peers who are drug free
Personal factors:
Commitment to success, understanding that drug abuse is dangerous
Protective Factor:
A factor that reduces a person’s potential for harmful behavior
Having strong protective factors will help an individual stay drug free

16. Commonly Abused Drugs
Unit 7 – Ch

17. Depressants
A depressant is a psychoactive drug that slows brain and body reactions
Most commonly abused depressants
Barbiturates
CNS depressants
Opiates
Alcohol
Depressants slow body functions by decreasing heart and breathing rates and lowering blood pressure

18. Commonly Abused Depressants
Barbiturates
CNS Depressants
Also known as sedative-hypnotics because:
In small doses, they relax
In large doses, they induce sleep
Abusers quickly develop tolerance and dependence
Abusers walk slowly, slur their words, and react more slowly to their environment
Withdrawal can be fatal
A sedative that slows the activity of the central nervous system (CNS)
Used to be called tranquilizers
Slow nerve activity, relax muscle tension, lower alertness, and cause drowsiness
Doctors may prescribe these for:
Anxiety
Sleep disorders
Muscle spasms

19. Opiates
A opiate is any drug made from psychoactive compounds contained in the seed pods of poppy
Can also be produced in a lab
In small doses, they act to dull the senses, relieve pain, and induce sleep
Examples include morphine and codeine
Heroin is a widely abused and highly addictive opiate made from morphine in a laboratory
Heroin abusers appear dazed and disoriented

20. Stimulants
A stimulant is a drug that speeds up the activities of the CNS
They increase heart rate, blood pressure, breathing rate, and alertness
Doctors prescribe stimulants for sleep and behavior disorders such as ADHD
Commonly abused stimulants include:
Amphetamines
Methamphetamines
Cocaine
Nicotine/Tobacco smoke

21. Amphetamines Methamphetamines
Prescription drugs that are sometimes sold illegally as “speed” or “uppers”
Produces feelings of well- being and high energy
Effects wear off quickly and causes depression
The “down” often leads to taking more and more doses
A more powerful form of amphetamines
Sometimes called “crank”, “crystal”, or “ice”
Made from inexpensive OTC ingredients in meth labs
After the “high”, the user may become confused, shaky, anxious, or violent
Users become paranoid and psychotic due to brain damage

22. Cocaine A powerful but short- acting stimulant
Can be sniffed through the nose, smoked into the lungs, or injected directly into the blood
Highly addictive, resulting in a fast development of tolerance and dependence

23. Cocaine
An overdose, caused by even small amounts, can be may result in seizures, heart failure, respiratory failure, and death
Cocaine is turned into crack through a process of “free-basing”
Crack is the strongest form of cocaine and is smoked; effects begin after only 8 seconds

24. Hallucinogens A drug that distorts perception, thought, and mood
They overload the brain with sensory information, causing a disoriented sense of reality
Can produce frightening and unpredictable mood swings
Abusers cannot tell what is real and what is not
Users may experience memory loss and personality changes

25. LSD
Strongest hallucinogen that creates unpredictable effects
Can either stimulate or depress the CNS
Flashbacks, bad trips
Psilocybin
Known as shrooms; a chemical found in a certain type of mushroom
Much like the effects of LSD but not as strong
Similar looking but deadly mushroom is often mistaken for psilocybin
PCP
One of the most dangerous of all drugs; used as an anesthetic or painkiller for large animals
Unintentional injuries, deaths, schizophrenia, mental illness are all common with PCP users
Effects remain long after drug use ends