1. Chapter 1: An Overview 1. Know the six questions that must be answered when analyzing a drug question. 2. State four general principles about psychoactive drugs. 3. Every drug experience is a mixture of what three ingredients? 4. How does the U.S. collects data to measure the extent of drug use/abuse?

2. Overview cont’d. 5. State two factors that generally do not correlate with alcohol and drug use. 6. State the consistent psychosocial factors that are related to drug use for students who report the least drinking and drug use. 7. List the top 3 risk factors for Junior High school student with regard to substance abuse 8. Know that once someone starts an excessive use of a drug, that the drug can reinforce the behavior of substance abuse.

3. The Six Questions 1. Who 2. What 3. When & where 4. Why 5. How 6. How Much

4. Who? Because age, gender, race, physical characteristics all affect the drug “experience,” we need to specifically know what these are for the individual who is taking the drug. For example, we are more concerned about a 13 yr. old drinking than a 40 yr. old drinking because their bodies are still developing.

5. What? In the U.S., we are a poly-drug using society so it is critical that we ask what specific drug OR drugs they person is taking. For example, many people take drugs-in- combination without knowing it such as prescription medication and alcohol and we want to know that for the drug interactions.

6. When and Where? The situation, time and place that a person takes the drug will probably affect whether we think there is abuse of the drug. For example, if you drink alcohol in an acceptable social situation, you probably don’t have a problem. Also, the non- specific effects of the drug depend on the social situations.

7. Why? It is important to know what is motivating a person to take a drug. For example, if they are taking a drug to escape reality or to take away emotional pain, they are very likely to have a drug problem. If they are taking a prescription drug or an OTC medicine for its intended use, they probably don’t have a drug problem.

8. How? The “route of administration” - how the drug enters the body is critical to the drug experience and can speed addiction. For example, cocaine chewed at high- altitude is NOT the same as injected at sea level.

9. How Much? The amount or dosage that is taken can not only determine addiction it can also determine the effect the drug has on the body. The drug-dose response curve that tells us that too little of a drug might not have any effect and too much can be an overdose. For example, one aspirin is probably not enough to take away your headache. Two is a “normal” dose and 14 is an overdose.