Psych Of Addiction
#39 Amphetamines
-Amphetamines first popularized in the 1930s as decongestants, were used by soldiers on both sides in World War 2 to fight fatigue. -They were used and abused as diet drugs in the 1950s and 1960s, and they played a role in the counterculture movement of the 1960s -Use contributed to the crafting of the comprehensive drug abuse prevention and control act of 1970
#49 Growing Heroin
-Four regions grow most of the world's heroin, particularly the Golden Crescent )Afghanistan, Iran, and Pakistan) -The others are Mexico, Colombia, and the Golden Triangle in Southeast Asia. -Afghanistan grows 90% of the world's illicit opium. Mexican heroin, especially black tar, is used in the western US
#76
A psychoactive drug can be called by its chemical name, trade name, or street name
#74 Abuse and Addiction
Abuse and addiction have altered government policies created new social structures, and hijacked personal priories. -Humankind has always had a desire to alter individual states of consciousness regardless of the potential damage. -Psychoactive drugs and compulsive behaviors overwhelm the brain's ability to re-balance itself.
#41
After a person takes a drug over a long period of time, the body becomes used to the effects, so more is needed to achieve the same high -tolerance develops with all psychoactive drugs; it also alters an individual's hedonic set point for the drug (preferred level of pharmacological effects from a drug)
#66 Alcohol
Alcohol is the number one drug in most of the world. It is responsible for 2.5 million Americans have a drinking problem. Research is focusing on genetic components of susceptibility, neurobiology, pharmacological interventions, and refinement of treatment techniques.
#80
All-arounders include marijuana, LSD, MDMA(ectasy), PCP, mushrooms, and peyote. -Major mental effects are illusions, hallucinations, delusions, and confused sensations. -Physically many psychedelics cause stimulation, but marijuana usually causes relaxation.
#21
An addict's "stop" or satiation switch, which normally turns off the "do it more" message and stops the craving, does not operate correctly
#65 Buprenorphine
Buprenorphine is administered in treatment centers and doctors offices to block craving for heroin and prescription opioid. There are efforts to allow additional drug abuse treatments to be performed in a physicians office as well as drug clinics.
#63 Caffeine
Caffeine was fueled by an explosion of coffee shops, energy drinks filled with caffeine, herbs, amino acids, and vitamins, and khat, a plant stimulant popular in eastern Africa and the Arabian Peninsula
#79
Downers include piates and opiods (heroin and codeine) sedative-hypnotics (benzodiazepines and barbiturates) and alcohol (beer, wine, and distilled liquor). -These drugs depress circulatory, respiratory, and muscular systems. -The stronger opiates and sedative-hypnotics can initially cause euphoria. -Prolonged use can cause health problems and dependence. -Other downers include antihistamines, skeletal muscle relaxants, look-alike sedatives, and bromides.
#3
Drugs are absorbed by:inhalation (including smoking), injection (intravenous, intramuscular, or subcutaneous), mucous membrane absorption (snorting, under the tongue, next to the cheek, rectally, or vaginally), oral ingestion (eating or drinking), and contact absorption (skin patches)
#4
Drugs are distributed through the bloodstream, causing a direct or indirect effect, are ignored, are stored, or are biotransformed.
#77
Drugs can be classified by their effects: uppers (stimulants), downers (depressants), and all arounders (psychedelics) The other psychoactive drug groups can be defined by their purpose; these are inhalants, anabolic steroids and other sports drugs, and psychiatric medications.
#19
Drugs powerfully imprint and activate the feeling satisfaction in the "more" circuit, preventing the "stop" switch from shutting off, so the person continues to use although it is not pleasurable.
#71 Electronic Media
Electronic media is a breeding ground for new addictions such as internet use, video games, texting, and multiplayer games. Social mores and cultural values have yet to influence today's technology.
#5
Eventually, drug molecules reach the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) where they have the greatest effect by passing the blood-brain barrier. -The molecules also pass through the blood-cerebal spinal fluid barrier and through the placental barrier of pregnant women.
#28
Messages are transmitted by nerve cells (up to 1,000 impulses per second)
#6
Metabolism, the body's mechanism for processing, using, and inactivating foreign substances, primarily involves the liver. -the kidneys filter drugs from the blood and excrete them in the urine. -the lings and the skin are also involved in excretion. -Prodrugs are transformed into other active drugs after they enter the body.
#50 Cocaine Trade
Much of the cocaine trade is controlled by the FARC revolutionary armed forces in Colombia, the rest by Colombian crime cartels. -Mexican crime cartels smuggle in most of the supply,65% of which comes across the US-Mexican border
#8
Other factors, such as age, race, health, and gender, help determine how fast a drug is metabolized.
#7
Pharmacokinetic factors such as the bioavailability and the half-life affect the impact of a drug on the body
#64 Prescription Drugs
Prescription drug abuse has reached alarming proportions , especially among adolescents . -Abused drugs, include painkillers (Oxy, Vicodin) and sedative hypnotics. -The use of methadone for pain is causing overdose problems.
#54 Synthetics
Synthetic Marijuana, synthetic cocaine, and designer drugs are on the market as street chemists try to stay ahead of the law
#9
The nervous system has 100 billion nerve cells and 100 trillion connections -it consists of the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (autnomic and somatic systems) -The autonomic system consists of the sympathetic, parasympathetic, and enteric divisions
#14
The new brain (neocortex) processes information and controls speech, reasoning, creativity, and memories. -The new brain acts while the old brain reacts -Old-brain craving usually overrides new-brain rational thoughts
#13
The old brain (brainstem, cerbellum, and midbrain) controls physiological functions and experiences(emotions/feelings/cravings) and imprints survival memories. -This is the source of drug effects, craving, and other addiction memories
#43
The tolerance to physical effects can develop at a different rate than the tolerance to psychological effects. This can cause serious physical effects such as respiratory depression.
#78
Uppers include cocaine, amphetamine, meth, diet pills, and the plant stimulants, -Major effects are increased energy, feelings of confidence, raised heart rate and blood pressure, and euphoria with stronger stimulants -Overuse can cause jitteriness, anger, depletion of energy, anhedonia (inability to feel pleasure) and paranoia, along with damage to the heart, lungs, and blood vessels.
#47`
Withdrawal is the body's attempt to rebalance itself after cessation of prolonged use of psychoactive drugs. For example, euphoria becomes anxiety or depression, numbness becomes pain, and dryness of mouth becomes sweating.
#51 HIV/AIDs
Worldwide up to 36 million people are living with HIV/AIDS infections -3.2 million Americans are infected with hepatitis C, most from IV drugs with infected needles
#41 Sedative-Hyponics and Tranquilizers
-Began with Bromidesand barbiturates in the 1950s and the 1960s switched to Miltown and benzodiazepines, such as Librium, and Xanax. -Because brain chemical imbalances cause most mental illnesses, psychiatric medications that manipulated brain chemistry---including anti psychotics, anti-anxiety drugs, lithium, and antidepressants---became common in the 1950s and their use has continued to grow -Drugs were also developed to aid in detoxification, abstinence, and recovery.
#38 Marijuana
-Marijuana was first smoked in the US about 1910 -Cannabis was banned in 1937 by the Marijuana Tax act -Spurred by the efforts of newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst and ex-Prohibition law enforcement personal who needed a new cause. -Marijuana became the symbol o the Beat Generation in the 1950s and the Hippie's in 1960s -In the 1970s growers began using the sinsemilla cultivation technique to increase the psychoactive properties of marijuana.
#45 STDs
-STDs and those passed via contaminated needles, especially HIV/AIDs and Hepatitis C, became endemic in the drug-using community. -Besides dirty needles, drug-induced high-risk sexual practices encouraged the spread.
#2: The Five Themes related to use and abuse of psychoactive drugs are...
1)Human beings have a basic need to cope with their environment and enhance their existence 2)Human brain chemistry can be affected by psychoactive drugs, behavioral addictions, and mental illness to induce an altered state of consciousness. 3)The ruling classes, governments, and industry, along with criminal organizations have been involved in growing, manufacturing, distributing, taxing, and prohibiting drugs. 4)Technological advances in refining, synthesizing, and manufacturing drugs have increased the potency of these substances. 5) The development of faster and more-efficient methods of delivering drugs into the body have intensified the effects.
#44
The brain and the body try to biologically adapt to the increased quantities of drugs y changing their chemical balance and the cellular composition of organs such as the liver. This results in physical or tissue dependence. A person's brain and body can become dependent on a drug just to maintain basic functioning.
#83
The comprehensive drug abuse prevention and control act of 1970 was enacted to limit the availability, use, and abuse of psychoactive substances. -Through the drug enforcement administration, the act categorized dangerous substances into five schedules -Schedules 1 and 2 include the major psychoactive drugs (heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and meth, drugs with high abuse potential) and define criminal penalties for possession, intent to sell, and use.
#27
The conflict between acting on what our old brain tells us and the common sense and the morality of our new brain is found in the writings and the beliefs of religions and social systems throughout history. -It takes a powerful conscious effort to override cravings and desires from the old brain's survival instincts
#42
The kinds of tolerance are: dispostitional, pharmacodynamic, behavioral, reverse, acute, select, inverse, and cross-tolerance
#68 Behavioral Addictions
There is growing recognition that behavioral addictions (such as compulsive gambling , eating disorders, compulsive shopping, compulsive sexuality, and TV watching, affect the brain in ways similar to drug addictions.
#62 Treatment
Treatment for meth and ecstasy dependance increased US hospital admissions to 123,000 in 2008. In Asia, the use of ya-ba, a form of meth is growing