Exam 1- Drug and Alcohol Education

Morphine is about _________ times more powerful than opium.

10

How many nerve cell connections are in the nervous system?

100 Trillion

When a drug is injected, how long does it take for the drug to reach the brain?

15-30 Seconds

A child's circulatory system contains about how much blood?

3-4 Quarts of Blood

Blood-Brain Barrier

A barrier in the brain that allows only certain substances to penetrate.

Tar Heroin

A black or dark brown heroin grown and processed in Mexico.

Substance-Related Disorders

A category of mental illnesses that includes substance use disorders and substance-induced disorders.

Receptor

A cellular mechanism on a nerve cell that is designed to receive a compatible neurotransmitter.

Distillation

A chemical process that vaporizes the alcohol in fermented beverages and then collects the concentrated distillate. It can raise the percent of alcohol in a beverage from 12% (in wine) to 40% (in brandy).

Congeners

A chemical relative of another drug.

Freebase Nicotine

A chemically altered form of nicotine that makes it more addictive.

Which of the following is NOT true concerning nicotine?

A chew of tobacco puts more not less nicotine into the bloodstream than one smoked cigarette.

Xanthine

A class of alkaloids found in 60 plants. The most prominent xanthine is caffeine.

Downers

A class of drugs that act as depressants, including opiates and opioids, sedative-hypnotics, and alcohol.

All Arounders

A class of drugs that act as psychedelics that can cause illusions, delusions, and hallucinations, e.g., LSD, peyote, and marijuana.

Uppers

A class of drugs that act as stimulants, including cocaine, amphetamines, coffee, and tobacco.

Psycho-Stimulant

A cross classification for drugs like MDMA (ecstasy) because they have characteristics of both stimulants and psychedelics.

Habituation

A definite pattern of drug use with few negative consequences.

ADHD

A disorder of attention and/or hyperactivity commonly fund in elementary school children, predominately in boys.

Euphoria

A feeling of well-being, extreme satiation, and satisfaction.

The natural form of the hallucinogen LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is found in:

A fungus which grows on rye/wheat plants

Hemp

A generic term often used to describe Cannabis plants that are high in fiber content and low in THC content.

Sports Drugs

A group of drugs used to enhance athletic performance including anabolic steriods and stimulants.

Psychiatric Medications

A group of drugs used to handle mental illness; the drugs include antidepressants, antipsychotics, and antianxiety drugs.

Amphetamines

A group of long-lasting nervous system stimulants that include amphetamine and methamphetamine.

Benzodiazepines

A group of minor tranquilizers, such as Klonopin and Xanax, that calm anxiety, relax muscles, and induce sleep.

Catecholamines

A group of neurotransmitters made up of dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine.

Inhalants

A group of volatile liquids and gases that are inhaled fr the psychoactive effects; volatile solvents, volatile nitrites, and anesthetics.

Social/Recreational

A level of drug use where the person seeks and uses a know drug but there is no established pattern.

Methadone

A long-acting synthetic opiate used orally to treat heroin addiction.

Shaman

A medicine man or woman who uses magic, spiritual forces, or drugs to cure illness, speak to the spirits, and control the future.

Ephedrine

A natural extract of the ephedra bush, a basic ingredient for making amphetamine.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

A network of nerve cells that connect the central nervous system with its internal and external environments. It is divided into the autonomic and the somatic systems.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter involved in mood stability, especially depression, anxiety, sleep control, self-esteem, aggression, and sexual activity.

Dopamine 3

A neurotransmitter that coordinates fine motor skills, signals the reward/reinforcement pathway, and can overstimulate the brain's fright center causing paranoia.

Epinephrine

A neurotransmitter that excites the central nervous system (CNS) with strong effects on physical energy.

Anandamide

A neurotransmitter that has an affinity for receptor sites that accommodate the THC in marijuana.

Serotonin

A neurotransmitter that helps control mood stability including depression and anxiety.

Dopamine

A neurotransmitter that stimulates the reward/reinforcement center.

Acetylcholine

A neurotransmitter that works at the nerve-muscle interfaces and also affects memory, learning, aggression, alertness, blood pressure, heart rate, sexual behavior, and mental acuity.

Neonate

A newborn baby.

Altered State of Consciousness

A non-ordinary state of perception that ca be caused by psychoactive drugs.

Gin Epidemic

A period in English history (1710-1750) where availability of gin led to widespread public drunkenness and health problems.

Temperance

A philosophy of light-to-moderate drinking that was and is an alternative to abstinence or prohibition.

Depression

A psychiatric disorder characterized in part by a lack of energy.

Psychosis

A psychiatric disorder that grossly distorts a person's thinking nd behavior making it difficult to recognize reality and cope with life; a mental break from reality.

Cannabis

A psychoactive plant that can be used as a source of fiber, oil, or a psychoactive substance.

Stroke

A rupture or blockage of a blood vessel in the brain.

Coca

A shrub whose leaves contain cocaine; the leaves can be chewed for a mild high.

Formication

A side effect of long-term or high-dose cocaine and amphetamine use that feels like hundreds of tiny bugs are crawling under the skin (coke bugs).

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by sudden periods of sleep during the day and sleep paralysis or interrupted sleep at night.

Peyote Cactus

A small cactus found in northern Mexico and the American southwest that contains the hallucinogen mescaline.

The combination of heroin and cocaine is know as:

A speedball.

Ecstasy

A stimulant (MDMA) that is taken to promote closeness and empathy at parties and clubs.

Meth (Crystal Meth)

A street term for methamphetamine, an intense, long lasting stimulant.

Crack

A street term for smokable cocaine; a chemical variation of cocaine that gives an intense reaction when absorbed through the lungs.

Aphrodisiac

A substance that increases sexual desire and/or performance.

Prohibition

A supply reduction prevention technique that prohibits the importation, sale, or use of a drug.

Reward/Control Pathway 3

A survival mechanism that gives a surge of pleasure when a physiological or psychological need is being satisfied.

Methcathinone

A synthetic version of cathinone.

Sinsemilla

A technique for growing high-potency marijuana that consists of keeping female marijuana plants from being pollinated by male plants thus greatly increasing the THC content from a few percent to as high as 30% or more.

Euthymia

A temporary elation; mental peace; less intense than euphoria.

Evolutionary Perspective

A theory that looks at physiological changes in the brain as survival adaptations.

Anergia

A total lack of energy.

Ergot

A toxic fungus found on rye, wheat, and other grasses that contains lysergic acid. It is used in the synthesis of LSD.

Inverse Tolerance (Kindling or Sensitization)

A user becomes more sensitive to the drug's effects as use continues.

AIDS/HIV

A usually fatal disease spread by unsafe sex and IV drug use with contaminated needles.

Hyperthermia

Abnormally high body temperature.

Crack Keratitis

Abrasions of the eye due to the anesthetic effects of cocaine that make the user unaware of damage caused by rubbing the eye too much.

Alveoli

Air sacs in the lungs that absorb oxygen or drugs into the blood.

The most popular psychoactive substance over the millennia has been:

Alcohol

Which of the following is NOT true about cocaine?

All of North America consumes only 40% to 50% of the world's cocaine supply.

The discovery of brain chemicals that acted like psychoactive drugs led to:

All of the above: More understanding of the process of addiction; More understanding of the process of mental illness; New uses of therapeutic drugs to treat addiction and withdrawal states.

The London Gin Epidemic was ultimately brought under control by:

All of the above: Prohibition of the selling or drinking of gin; Heavy regulation on the production of alcohol; Strict regulation of sales and stiff taxes on gin.

Speedball

Also called "Belushi rocks" or "hot rocks," combining freebase cocaine with smokable tar heroin.

Intravenously

Also called IV, when a substance is injected directly into a vein.

Crack 3

Also called rock, a form of smokable cocaine.

Eighteenth Amendment

Also known as the "Prohibition Amendment," it prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol beverages (1920-1933).

The difference between the neurochemistry of amphetamines and cocaine is that:

Amphetamines block the metabolism of catecholamines whereas cocaine does not.

Cocaethylene

An active metabolite produced when cocaine and alcohol are taken together.

Theobromine

An alkaloid from the cacao plant that is similar to caffeine. It is used as a diuretic, heart stimulant, muscle relaxant, and vasodilator.

Adderall®

An amphetamine medication that is used to treat ADHD. It is a dextroamphetamine but it seems to calm down true ADHD patients and organize their thoughts although it is comparatively easy to slip into more compulsive use.

Topical Anesthetic

An anesthetic applied on or directly under the skin or mucous membranes.

Norepinephrine

An excitatory neurotransmitter that has effects on confidence, motivation, and feelings of well-being.

Alkaloid

An extract of plants with pharmacological (often psychoactive) activity, e.g., morphine, cocaine, or nicotine.

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD)

An extremely potent psychedelic (LSD) discovered in 1938 that causes illusions, delusions, hallucinations, and stimulation.

GABA

An inhibitory neurotransmitter involved in 25-40% of all synapses in the brain.

Theriac

An opium-based cure-all that was developed almost 2,000 years ago. It has undergone many changes in formulation but the opium remained.

Mesolimbic Dopaminergic Reward Pathway

Another name for the reward/reinforcement center.

Drugs that bind to receptors and block the effects of neurotransmitters are:

Antagonists

Psychoactive Drug

Any substance that directly alters the normal functioning of the central nervous system. Early psychoactive plants came from one of 4,000 plants and fungi.

Psychiatric medications:

Are used to rebalance irregular brain chemistry.

ADHD 3

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a psychiatric disorder characterized by inattention, impulsivity, and hyperactivity that begins in childhood and may extend into adulthood.

Abstinence

Avoiding any use of a psychoactive drug.

The sub group of sedative-hypnotics that came to dominate the prescription market because they were safer than barbiturates are called:

Benzodiazepines

Tissue Dependence

Biological changes in the body due to prolonged use of drugs.

The main barrier that drugs have to cross to affect the body is the:

Blood-Brain Barrier

Nerve Cells (Neurons)

Building blocks of the nervous system, each containing four essential parts: dendrites, the cell body, the axon, and terminals.

Crack Thumb

Calluses and burns that develop on the thumb (and hands) caused by repetitive use of butane lighters used to heat up crack pipes.

What is the name of the metabolite produced when alcohol and cocaine are used together?

Cocaethylene

Freebase

Cocaine that can be smoked as opposed to cocaine hydrochloride that is snorted or injected.

CAT Scan

Computerized axial tomography x-ray scan.

Substance-Induced Disorders

Conditions caused by use of specific drugs: intoxication, withdrawal, and certain mental disorders.

Which of the following routes of administration acts the slowest upon the brain?

Contact Transdermal Absorption

In levels of use terminology, abuse means:

Continued use of the drug despite negative consequences.

Drug Courts

Courts that offer alternatives to incarceration for drug offenses by first and occasionally second-time offenders.

Ice is to methamphetamine as _______ is to cocaine.

Crack

Which of the following is a function of the new brain?

Creativity

Which of the following is NOT part of the cocaine withdrawal syndrome?

Decreased appetite.

Which is NOT a type of tolerance?

Delayed Tolerance

Drug effects on the individual have been intensified due to:

Development of more efficient and faster ways of putting drugs into the body.

One of the earliest Americans to write about the health dangers of drinking and to recommend temperance was:

Dr. Benjamin Rush

Contact Absorption

Drug absorption through the skin.

Club Drugs

Drugs used at music parties, often called "raves," that include MDMA or ecstasy, ketamine, GHB, and nitrous oxide.

Which of the following has the most caffeine content?

Espresso coffee (4 oz. demitasse) (See Table 3-2 on p. 3.37).

Which is not true about tobacco?

Even though tobacco was a common plant in Europe before Columbus came to the Americas, no one had ever thought of smoking it.

When a substance originates outside the body, it is:

Exogenous

Environmental Influences

Factors that foster addiction including abuse, stress, family relationships, and peer pressure.

True or False: . Although marijuana was used extensively by those in the 1960s "hippie movement" and at the "Summer of Love" in 1967, amphetamines and methamphetamines were not popular yet, so were not used.

False

True or False: Although Cannabis was used in ancient times as a source for fiber and oil, for its edible seeds, and as a medicine, it was not used for its stupefying and hallucinogenic properties.

False

True or False: Inhalants most often cause central nervous system stimulation leading to excitement.

False

True or False: The chewing of coca leaves in South America was mostly among the common people since the nobility thought it was a dirty habit.

False

True or False: The most addicting drug is alcohol.

False

True or False: The neurotransmitter most responsible for stimulating the reward/reinforcement center is GABA.

False

True or False: Today's marijuana is less potent than the marijuana smoked in the 1960s.

False

True or False: When there is internal conflict, the new brain will usually override the old brain.

False

True or False: Crack cocaine is not only stronger than powdered cocaine, it is an entirely different molecule, so it acts on different neurotransmitters.

False. Crack cocaine acts the same in the brain; it is the route of administration (i.e., smoking) that is different.

True or False: Amphetamines are dangerous but fortunately over-the-counter diet pills are completely safe.

False. Over-the-counter stimulants can be dangerous, including OTC diet pills.

Atherosclerosis

Fat and plaque deposits on the lining of blood vessels caused by high blood pressure, stress, smoking, and cocaine or methamphetamine use. It is often the cause of heart attacks, heart failure, and heart disease.

Which of the following is NOT a stimulant?

GHB is a sedative.

Which will NOT cause a sober mouse to become an alcoholic mouse?

Genes

Chapter 2: Heredity, Environment, Psychoactive Drugs Overview

HOW PSYCHOACTIVE DRUGS AFFECT PEOPLE: This chapter first examines how drugs get to the brain and the ways in which they affect brain chemistry. Drugs can be inhaled, injected, absorbed through mucous membranes, swallowed, or absorbed through the skin. Drugs are then distributed through the circulatory system until they reach the brain where they will have their greatest effect. The drugs are then metabolized, principally by the liver, and then excreted from the body in the urine, through exhaled breath, or through sweat. The nervous system consists of the peripheral nervous system (autonomic and somatic) and the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord). Using evolutionary terminology, psychoactive drugs affect both the old (primitive) brain and the new brain (mostly the prefrontal cortex). The key circuit of the brain that drugs affect is the reward/reinforcement pathway, especially the nucleus accumbens and the amygdala. Drugs cause their effects by mimicking or modifying neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, GABA). Problems occur because the stop switch that shuts off the craving becomes dysfunctional. Drugs affect the nervous system at the cellular level, particularly the synaptic gap. An individual's drug tolerance, tissue dependence, withdrawal, and metabolism determine additional effects. New research indicates "stay-stopped" switches in the brain that leads to slips and relapses making it difficult for many to remain in continuous abstinence from addictive substances. FROM EXPERIMENTATION TO ADDICTION: Besides the desired effects of drugs, such as getting high, self-medicating, creating energy, relieving pain, zoning out, or altering consciousness, undesirable side effects occur, some of them minor, some major, and some fatal. The level of drug use abstinence, experimentation, social/recreational use, habituation, abuse, and addiction depends not only on the amount, frequency, and duration of drug use but on a person's susceptibility to addiction as determined by heredity and environment. Compulsive behaviors, such as gambling and compulsive eating, also affect brain chemistry. All these factors cause alterations in brain chemistry that can affect a person for a few hours, a few days, or even a lifetime. Many of these alterations can be seen with the assistance of new imaging techniques such as SPECT, CAT, MRI, fMRI, and PET brain scans. Animal experiments show that they react to the same drugs in much the same way as human beings. Compulsion curves that illustrate the contributions of heredity, environment, and the use of psychoactive drugs or the practice of compulsive behaviors to addiction are useful when trying to design methods of treatment that will lead to recovery.

Chapter 2

Heredity, Environment, Psychoactive Drugs

Academic Model

In this model, addiction occurs when the body adapts to the toxic effects of drugs at the biochemical level.

IV Drug Use

Injecting a drug into a vein.

Arrhythmias

Irregularity of heartbeat (loss of rhythm) that can be lethal.

Which of the following is true of cocaine hydrochloride?

It is 200 times more powerful by weight than the coca leaf.

Which is NOT a genetic research technique?

Liver Biopsies

Addiction

Loss of control over drug use and continued use despite negative consequences.

MRI

Magnetic resonance imaging scan.

Reuptake Ports

Mechanisms on the tips of neurons that reabsorb neurotransmitters.

Patent Medicines 3

Medicines that promoted cures for almost everything and contained psychoactive substances including opium, Cannabis, cocaine, and alcohol.

Patent Medicines

Medicines that were very popular in the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s that promised cures for almost any aliment. They often contain opium, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol.

Hexing Herbs

Members of the nightshade family of plants that contain the psychoactive chemicals atropine and scopolamine.

Neurotransmitters

Microscopic bits of messenger chemicals that transmit messages from one cell to another.

Mucosal Tissue

Moist tissues that absorb drugs on contact.

Within the neuron, what is stored in vesicles?

Neurotransmitters

Norepinephrine/Epinephrine

Neurotransmitters that provide energy for the body.

Behavioral Addictions

Nondrug addictions such as compulsive gabling, eating disorders, and sexual addiction that have many of the same signs and symptoms as drug addiction.

Experimentation

Occasional use of a drug to satisfy curiosity only limited negative consequences.

Pure Food and Drug Act

One of the first (1906) laws that prohibited interstate commerce in misbranded food and drugs and required accurate labeling.

Which of the following is not a stimulant (an "upper")?

Opium

Endorphins/Enkephalin

Pain control neurotransmitters developed inside the body.

Old Brain

Part of the brain in all animals that experiences basic emotions and craving and imprints survival memories

Reward/Control Pathway

Part of the old brain that encourages a human being to remember and repeat an action that promotes survival.

Autonomic Nervous System

Part of the peripheral nervous system that controls involuntary internal functions such as circulation.

Somatic Nervous System

Part of the peripheral nervous system that transmits sensory information to the skin, muscles, and joints.

Nucleus Accumbens

Part of the reward reinforcement center that is a powerful reinforcer.

On/Off Switches

Parts of the brain that trigger craving and stop craving.

Substance Use Disorder

Patterns of drug use especially substance dependence and substance abuse.

Which is NOT a type of withdrawal?

Pharmacodynamic Withdrawal

Which of the following plants do not contain caffeine?

Poppy and hemp

PET Scan

Positron emission tomography scan.

Chapter 1

Psychoactive Drugs: History and Classification

Antagonists

Psychoactive drugs that block neurotransmitters.

Agonists

Psychoactive drugs that mimic or facilitate the effects of neurotransmitters.

Sublingual Use

Putting a drug under the tongue so it will be absorbed by mucous membranes.

Tachycardia

Rapid beating of the heart.

The mechanism that accepts neurotransmitters is a:

Receptor

Dependence 3

Reliance on a substance or compulsive behavior, the psychiatric term for addiction

A common drug used at parties now, GHB (gamma-hydroxybutyrate), is classified as a:

Sedative (Downer)

Which of the following is NOT a side effect of long-term abuse of cocaine?

Severe weight gain (Note: cocaine is an anorexic that diminishes not stimulates appetite).

SPECT Scan

Single photon emission computerized tomography scan.

Which statement about cocaine is NOT true?

Smoking any drug gets to the brain faster than injecting it.

Insufflation

Snorting a drug through the nose to be absorbed by mucous membranes.

Vesicles

Storage sac in nerve cells that hold neurotransmitters.

Another word for putting powdered cocaine under the tongue is:

Sublingual

The gap between neurotransmitters is the:

Synapse

Which of the following is a part of a neuron?

Terminals

Dionysus and Bacchus

The Roman and Greek versions of the god of wine and ecstasy.

Which congressional act (that became the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) prohibited the manufacture and sale of any alcoholic beverage with above 0.5% alcohol?

The Volstead Act

Cathinone

The active stimulant alkaloid ingredient, along with cathine, in the plant stimulant khat.

Tolerance

The adaptation of the body to accommodate larger and larger amounts of a drug.

Tolerance 3

The body adapts to the drug over time so that it takes more of the drug to get the same effect.

Withdrawal

The body's attempt to rebalance itself after cessation of prolonged use of a psychoactive drug.

Metabolism

The body's mechanism for processing, using, and inactivating a drug or food in the body.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

The brain and spinal cord that contains 100 billion nerve cells and 100 trillion connections.

Trade Name

The commercial name for drugs such as Vicodin® or Prozac®.

Controlled Substances Act of 1970

The comprehensive drug control act passed to reduce the growing availability and use of psychoactive drugs that occurred in the 1960s in the United States.

Drug Abuse

The continued use of a drug despite negative conseuences.

Alcoholics Anonymous

The first 12-step, self-help, alcoholism recovery group founded in 1934 by Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith.

DRD2 A1 Allele Gene

The first gene discovered that signals a tendency to alcoholism (and other addictions).

Chapter 1: Psychoactive Drugs: History and Classification Overview

The first part of this chapter provides a historical survey of the pharmacologic and political influences on the use of psychoactive substances and compulsive behaviors in all civilizations. The second part presents a system for classifying these psychoactive substances along with major legislation impacting use of drugs and treatment of addictions. HISTORY Throughout the last 10,000 years, humans have used psychoactive drugs to alter their perception of reality for a variety of reasons. By studying the history of drug use and abuse, a number of historical themes become apparent. 1. There is a basic need of human beings 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 businesses have always been involved in trying to control the drug trade, often using it as a source of revenue through trade and taxes. 4. Technological advances in refining, synthesizing, and manufacturing psychoactive drugs have increased their potency and abuse liability. 5. Users and researchers have discovered new ways of taking drugs so they reach the brain faster, thus increasing their abuse liability. For example, opium was used originally for medicinal and spiritual purposes. As people found that opium had mental effects because of the way it manipulated the brain's own natural chemicals especially endorphins, the body's own painkillers, they used it to change their mental/emotional state. When people learned to smoke it, when it became a lucrative source of income for governments and trading companies, when it was refined to the stronger morphine and heroin, when the hypodermic needle was able to put it directly into the bloodstream, then legal, social, and health problems multiplied. The discovery of various psychoactive plants (opium poppy, coca bush, coffee bean, Cannabis, and tobacco plants) in the past and the subsequent synthesis of hundreds of other psychoactive substances, has led to a medicine chest full drugs, some useful and some desirable but all causing problems when abused. In the twenty-first century alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, cocaine, opioids (especially prescription drugs), crystal methamphetamine, and ecstasy are the most widely used. Their popularity goes through cycles; cocaine in the 1880s, the 1910s and '20s, and the 1970s to '80s; opiates, beginning thousands of years ago and continuing through numerous cycles to the present. By studying these cycles and the themes of drug use throughout history, we can understand the enormous influence of psychoactive drugs on the development of civilizations. CLASSIFICATION: Psychoactive drugs include those substances that affect the central nervous system. This book classifies drugs according to their effects: stimulants (uppers), depressants (downers), and psychedelics (all arounders). Other groups of drugs include inhalants, sports drugs (e.g., anabolic steroids), and psychiatric medications such as Haldol® and Prozac®. Also included are compulsive behaviors (e.g., gambling, eating disorders, etc.) that can be acted out in an addictive manner. The Controlled Substance Abuse Act of 1970 created a legal/political framework for the classification of psychoactive drugs of abuse. The Addiction Equity Act of 2008 provides validation that addiction is biomedical disorder and not a moral failing or a matter of weak willpower.

Psychological Dependence

The formation of thoughts and emotions that create a mental dependence on a drug.

Anhedonia

The inability to feel pleasure.

Kidneys

The key excretory organs that filter waste from the blood and into urine.

Liver

The key metabolic organ that breaks down and processes the chemical structure of drugs.

Satiation Point

The level of satisfaction that stops craving.

Behavioral/Environmental Model

The model says that environmental factors can change brain chemistry.

Myanmar

The modern name for Burma in Southeast Asia, one of the main growing areas for the opium poppy.

New Brain

The neocortex or outer brain that allows us to speak, reason, create, and remember.

Imprinting

The neural process of writing an emotional memory of euphoria or pain relief on the brain.

Sigmund Freud

The nineteenth century father of modern psychiatry who popularized cocaine, partly through his book Uber Coca.

Crack Lung

The pain, breathing problems, and fever that resemble pneumonia.

Satiation Center

The part of the brain that tells us when we are satisfied.

Excretion

The process of eliminating drugs and their metabolites from the body.

Drug Distribution

The process of getting a drug from its site of absorption to the rest of the body.

Heredity

The process whereby physical and behavioral traits are passed by genes from one generation to another.

Self-Limiting

The results of the action of the drug itself limits the amount that will be absorbed into the bloodstream.

Street Names

The slang or street name for a drug such as crack or meth.

Synaptic Gap

The space between the terminal of one cell and the adjoining cell.

Chemical Name

The technical name for drugs such as methylenedioxyamphetamine.

Twin Studies

The use of identical twins raised in the same or in different environments to study the influence of heredity on addiction.

Medical Marijuana

The use of marijuana for medical purposes rather than for the high it causes.

Which is NOT true regarding the cardiovascular effects of cocaine use?

There are no cocaine receptors on the heart itself.

Addictive Disease Model

This medical model maintains that addiction is most influenced by heredity.

Diathesis-Stress Theory of Addiction

This theory says that genetic and environmental predisposition to substance abuse aggravated by drug use can cause addiction.

Constricting

Tightening or closing down as opposed to dilating.

Capillaries

Tiny blood vessels lining the intestinal walls and mucous membranes that can absorb drugs.

Mucous Membranes

Tissues lining the nose gums, cheeks, etc., where drugs can be absorbed.

Which is a NOT a desired effect of psychoactive drugs?

To increase depression.

Which of the following has NOT been a use for amphetamines?

To relax muscles.

The T in SPECT scans stands for what?

Tomography

True or False: ADHD is often treated with amphetamine like drugs.

True

True or False: All stimulants increase the chemical and electrical activity in the central nervous system.

True

True or False: It is estimated that one person dies from secondhand smoke (mostly from cardiovascular disease) for every eight smoker deaths.

True

True or False: MDMA (ecstasy) and LSD act like stimulants as well as hallucinogens.

True

True or False: Many of the abnormalities in the newborns of drug users have more to do with the mother's lifestyle than the drug itself.

True

True or False: Organic solvents can be toxic to cells and organs.

True

True or False: Overall illicit drug use has declined since its peak in 1979 and 1980.

True

True or False: Psychoactive drugs cannot create sensations or feelings that don't have a natural counterpart in the body.

True

True or False: Snorting cocaine is a self-limiting method of using cocaine.

True

True or False: The drug wars in Mexico have claimed about 35,000 lives in recent years.

True

True or False: The most important reason that people continue to smoke is an intense desire to maintain a certain nicotine level in the blood and brain to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

True

True or False: The nucleus accumbens is found in the old brain.

True

True or False: The physical and mental effects of cocaine and amphetamines are very similar.

True

True or False: The use of needles to inject street drugs has been one major cause of the spread of the HIV virus that leads to AIDS.

True

True or False: Tolerance to amphetamines is pronounced.

True

Sumeria and Mesopotamia

Two of the earliest civilizations in the Middle East where psychoactive drug use first occurred.

OxyContin® & Vicodin®

Two prescription opioids that are often abused by drug users and addicts.

Opium Wars

Two wars in the 1800s, mostly between England and China, that were fought for the right to sell opium in China.

Chapter 3

Uppers

Chapter 3: Uppers Overview

Uppers are stimulants that initially increase energy and alertness. These are the world's most widely used psychoactive drugs. Some give an intense rush while others are only mildly stimulating. These drugs vary from cocaine and amphetamines (strong stimulants) to caffeine and nicotine (weaker ones). Stimulants also include drugs used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, diet pills, and plant stimulants such as khat, betel nut, ephedra, and yohimbe. New illicit stimulants include MDPV, mephedrone and other cathinones sold deceptively as "bath salts". All stimulants can cause severe health problems when they are abused. It is the rapid development of tolerance and the disrupting effect on brain chemistry that encourage abuse and addiction. This chapter surveys the various stimulants, their history, effects and side effects, and the social context of their use. Cocaine and amphetamines are the strongest stimulants, they release excess neurotransmitters, principally epinephrine, norepinephrine, and dopamine (the catecholamine neurotransmitters). At lower doses, stimulation, confidence, aggressiveness, lack of hunger or thirst, faster heart rates, raised blood pressure, and alertness are the desired effects. At high doses or with prolonged use, neurotransmitter depletion, exhaustion, paranoia, psychosis, dehydration, unhealthy weight loss, and uncontrolled heart rates are common. The method of use can increase the abuse potential; smoking cocaine in its freebase chemical form known as "crack" is more addicting than snorting the drug. Amphetamine congeners are used mainly to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and Amphetamine congeners are drugs that are related to amphetamines but are not as strong. The most well known is methylphenidate, used to treat attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorders. There is much controversy over their use. Amphetamines such as Adderall are also used to treat ADHD. The other well-known amphetamine congeners are also used as diet pills such as dexfenfluramine, pemoline, and phentermine. Use of a combination of congeners known as fen-phen has diminished due to damaging side effects such as heart problems. Worldwide, plant stimulants such as betel nuts and khat are used recreationally as often as coffee or cigarettes are used in the United States. Khat is popular in eastern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Arabia. Betel nuts have been used for more than two millennia; anywhere from 200 to 450 million people use betel nuts. Other plant and synthetic stimulants like ephedra, yohimbe, cathinone and pseudoephedrine have similar effects as methamphetamine. Worldwide, plant stimulants such as betel nuts and khat are used recreationally as often as coffee or cigarettes are used in the United States. Khat is popular in eastern Africa, the Middle East, and southern Arabia. Betel nuts have been used for more than two millennia; anywhere from 200 to 450 million people use betel nuts. Other plant and synthetic stimulants like ephedra, yohimbe, cathinone and pseudoephedrine have similar effects as methamphetamine. The most problematic stimulant is still tobacco, which kills 440,000 Americans each year wither directly or through secondhand smoke. The addicting ingredient in tobacco is nicotine. Nicotine in tobacco was manipulated in the 1950's by major tobacco companies be released as nicotine freebase to make it more addictive. Smokers keep smoking to maintain their blood- nicotine level. It first stimulates and then relaxes the user. Nicotine and other tobacco additives or smoking byproducts are toxic to each and every organ of the human body. Its use is linked to respiratory, cardiovascular disease and cancers. Laws controlling the use, lawsuits against the tobacco companies, and an increasing public awareness of the dangers have cut cigarette use in half in this country. Unfortunately, worldwide, smoking rates are almost twice that of the United States.

Which of the following is true of crack cocaine?

Users are able to get a much higher dose into their brain over a shorter period of time than with powdered cocaine.

Intramuscularly

Using a needle to inject a substance into a muscle.

Subcutaneously

Using a needle to inject a substance under the skin.

The most widely abused prescription opiate is:

Vicodin®