1. Chapter 7 Making Decisions About Drug Use
Personal Health
Chapter 7
Making Decisions About Drug Use

2. Drugs Most Fortune 500 companies use pre-employment during testing.
Drug use remains a significant problem for both college students and the general population.
Alcohol is the most important problem drug for most college students.
Table 7.1

3. Prevention: The Best Solution
The best way to avoid immense costs of drug abuse is simply reduce the demand.
Three levels of prevention:
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
Primary – means reaching people who have not yet used drugs reducing heir desire to try drugs

4. Prevention: The Best Solution
Secondary – targets those who are beginning to experiment with drugs and uses detection, screening, intervention and treatment of early drug abuse to help avoid further drug use
Tertiary – targets drug-dependent people; uses specialized, intensive help that includes rehab and maintenance

5. Effects of Drugs on the Central Nervous System
Neuron – a nerve cell
Dendrite – the portion of a neuron that receives electrical stimuli from adjacent neurons; neurons typically have several such branches or extensions
Axon – the portion of a neuron that conducts electrical impulses to the dendrites f adjacent neurons; neurons typically have one axon

6. Effects of Drugs on the Central Nervous System
Synapse – the location at which an electrical impulse from one neuron is transmitted to an adjacent neuron; also referred to as a synaptic junction
Neurotransmitters – chemical messengers that transfer electrical impulses across the synapses between nerve cells
Drugs work by changing the way the neurotransmitters work.

7. Addictive Behavior
Experts in human behavior view drug use and abuse as just one of the many forms of addictive behavior.
Addictive behavior includes addictions to shopping, eating, gambling, sex, television, video games, internet use, or work, as well s addictions to alcohol or other drugs.

8. Addictive Behavior
The process of addiction: exposure, compulsion, loss of control
Exposure – the initial exposure that temporarily replaces an unpleasant feeling or sensation; this initial pleasure gradually becomes a focal point in the person’s life

9. Addictive Behavior
Compulsion – increasingly more energy, time and money are spent pursuing the drug use or behavior; during the compulsion phase a person’s ‘normal’ life often degenerates while they search for increased pleasures from the drug or the behavior

10. Addictive Behavior
Loss of control – addicted people lose their ability to control their behavior despite overwhelming negative consequences; they continue to behave in ways that make their lives worse
Intervention and treatment
Codependence

11. Drug Terminology
Drug – an substance, natural or artificial, other than food, that by its chemical or physical nature alters structure or function in the living organism
Psychoactive drug – any substance capable of altering feelings, moods, or perceptions
Dependence – a general term that refers to the need to continue using a drug for psychological or physical reasons or both

12. Drug Terminology
Addiction – compulsive, uncontrollable dependence on a substance, habit, or practice to such a degree that cessation causes severe emotional or physiological reactions
Withdrawal illness – an uncomfortable, perhaps toxic response of the body as it attempts to maintain homeostasis in the absence of a drug; also called abstinence syndrome

13. Drug Terminology
Tolerance – an acquired reaction to a drug in which the continued intake of the same dose has diminished effects
Cross-tolerance – transfer of tolerance from one drug to another within the same general category
Misuse – the inappropriate use of legal drugs intended to be medications
Abuse – any use of a legal or illegal drug in a way that is detrimental to health or well-being

14. Dynamics of Drug Abuse
Many factors influence drug-taking behavior including individual factors, immediate environmental factors, and societal factors
Individual factors:
Genetic disposition
Personality traits, attitudes, & beliefs
Interpersonal skills & self-esteem
Unmet developmental needs

15. Dynamics of Drug Abuse Environmental factors: Societal factors:
Home & family
School peers
Community
Societal factors:
Youth subculture
Modeling and advertising
The self-care movement

16. Combination Drug Effects Terms
Gateway drug – an easily obtainable legal or illegal drug that represents a user’s first experience with a mind-altering drug; this drug can serve as the ‘gateway’ to the use of other drugs
Modeling – the influence others have on us by example of their own behavior
Synergist effect – a heightened, exaggerated effect produced by the concurrent use of two or more drugs

17. Combination Drug Effects Terms
Addictive effect – the combined (but not exaggerated) effect produced by the concurrent use of 2 or more drugs
Potential effect – a phenomenon whereby the use of one drug intensifies the effect of a second drug
Club drug – one of a variety of psychoactive drugs typically used at raves, bars and dance clubs
Antagonistic effect – produced when one drug reduces or offsets the effects of a second drug

18. Drug Classifications
Stimulants – psychoactive drugs that stimulate the function of the central nervous system
Caffeine
Ephedra
Amphetamines
Methamphetamines
Ritalin
Cocaine
Energy drinks

19. Drug Classifications
Depressants - category of drugs that sedate the user by slowing CNS function; they produce tolerance and strong psychological and physical addiction in users
Barbiturates
Tranquilizers

20. Drug Classifications
Hallucinogens – psychoactive drugs capable of producing hallucinations
LSD
Designer drugs – FDA Schedule I
Phencyclidine (PCP)
Cannabis
Table 7.3 – Effects of marijuana

21. Drug Classifications
Narcotics – opiates; psychoactive drugs derived from the oriental poppy plant, narcotics relieve pain and induce sleep
Inhalants – psychoactive drugs that enter the body through inhalation

22. Society’s Response to Drug Use
Most adults see drug use as a clear danger to society.
Certain groups have concentrated their efforts on education, others on enforcement, and others on the development of laws and public policy.
Some believe that limiting the youths exposure to gateway drugs may help slow down the move to other addictive drugs.

23. Society’s Response to Drug Use
Still others support legalizing all drugs and making government agencies responsible for drug regulation and control, like with alcohol.
Drug testing has become on of the more popular prevention tools.
Employers, professional athletics, college athletics and high schools.
So what works the best?

24. College and Community Support Services for Drug Dependence
What services are available on college campuses?
What services are available in the community?
What are the different treatment options that are used?
Who pays for these treatments and services?