Chapter 13 Drugs HTH 100

What types of prescription drugs are most commonly abused on college campuses?

-painkillers (ex: OxyContin and Vicodin) -stimulant drugs such as Adderall and Ritalin

What is a psychoactive drug?

A drug which alters a person's experiences or consciousness

How does the use of marijuana affect driving abilities?

Alertness, the ability to concentrate, coordination & react quickly; similar to a "drunk driver".

Which type of stimulant drugs can be used legally as bronchodilators, for weight loss, to combat drowsiness, and to treat patients with ADHD?

Amphetamines

Which category of drugs are the most widely-prescribed CNS depressants, often used to treat anxiety or panic attacks?

Anti-anxiety drugs (tranquilizers)

Which category of CNS depressants such as Amytal, Nembutol, and Seconal were used more commonly in the past as sleep aids?

Barbiturates

What stimulant designer drugs - often marked "not for human consumption" but are ingested, injected, smoked, or snorted - are marketed under names such as Ivory Snow, Snow Leopard, Vanilla Sky, Purple Wave, and Hurricane Charlie?

Bath salts

Drugs such as Xanax, Valium, Ativan, Klonopin, and Quaaludes belong to which category of CNS depressants?

Benzodiazepines

Be able to recognize both "pro" and "con" arguments for the legalization of recreational marijuana.

CONS- Marijuana is not a harmless drug - May encourage more abuse and drug dependence - Alcohol and tobacco already major causes of death & disease - More $$ spent on drug treatment programs PROS- Safer than alcohol or tobacco / not a primary cause of death - Nationwide Prohibition of alcohol in early 1900's was a big failure - Doesn't cause aggression/domestic violence - Legitimate medical uses - $$ spent on enforcement could be redirected; government can tax marijuana to increase revenue

What is a "pill mill," and in what region(s) of our country might you currently find the largest number of them?

Doctors writing unnecessary/false prescriptions to make extra money - appalachia

What effects do CNS stimulants typically produce in the body or behavior?

Drugs that increase nervous and/or muscular activity in sympathetic nervous system - similar to the fight or flight reaction

What are the hormones produced by the body that mimic the effects of opioid drugs?

Endorphins

What are some examples of harm reduction strategies that are utilized in dealing with the illicit drug problem?

Focus on helping addicts, Medicalization, decriminalization, drug exchange programs

Which drug in the opioid category (that is most commonly administered by IV injection but can also be snorted or smoked) is produced in powder or "black tar" form, and is 3 times more potent than the drug mentioned above?

Heroine - H, junk, smack

What types of treatment options are available to treat drug addiction?

Hospitalization, residential programs, halfway house, self-help groups, peer counseling

Which 2 routes of administration of a drug allow the substance to reach the brain in the shortest time?

Inhalation and injection is the quickest

Be able to identify the unique effects of psychedelic drugs when ingested.

Intensify and distort visual and auditory perceptions and produce hallucinations

Which of the psychedelic drugs experienced probably its biggest period of popularity in the 1960's, often used by musicians and other artists with the goal of "expanding their minds" - and also their artistic inspiration - hopefully without resulting in a "bad trip"?

LSD

Which drug is the most widely used illicit drug in the United States?

Marijuana

What 2 main drugs of abuse are derived from cannabis sativa, a variety of hemp plant?

Marijuana - pot/weed hashish

Which illegal drug, typically cooked in "labs" and smoked, snorted, injected, or orally ingested, is currently considered the most addictive and dangerous stimulant?

Methamphetamine's

Which of the psychedelic drugs is commonly known as "Angel Dust" and causes disturbances in body perception accompanied by irrational behavior, delusions, hallucinations, or possibly death at higher doses?

PCP

What are some of the reported patient benefits for the use of medical marijuana, and what is the name (or abbreviation) of the active ingredient most commonly responsible for those effects?

Pain relief, reduce nausea, stimulate appetite, reduce seizures

Be able to identify several inhalants that are often abused, particularly by "the younger generation."

Paint thinner, gasoline, glue, and spray can propellant, markers

What are some quite obvious symptoms of meth use in the abuser's appearance?

Pale, scabs on the skin, tooth decay and loss

What personal factors tend to discourage drug abuse by college students?

Parental attitudes and behavior, religion and spirituality, student engagement, college athletics, healthy social network

Be able to identify several personal factors that increase the risk of drug abuse by college students.

Positive expectations, genetics and family history, substance use in high school, mental health problems, sorority and fraternity membership, stress

What are some pros/cons for methadone treatment for dependency on heroin or other opioids?

Pros: less likely to engage in criminal activities to support their habits Cons: merely substitutes one addiction for another

What product in common cold remedies is commonly used (and whose purchase is often restricted or regulated) in the production of methamphetamine?

Pseudoephedrine

Name the 2 club drugs that are considered CNS depressants. What other common nickname describes one of the best known negative outcomes that often follow unknown ingestion of these drugs?

Roofies and GHB - date rape drugs

What effects do CNS depressants produce in the body or behavior?

Sedation, relaxation of tense muscles

The slide show we watched in class from the UCLA professor showed various spikes in brain levels of that specific neurotransmitter following what 2 types of activity besides drug use?

Sex and eating

Twenty-nine states plus the District of Columbia have legalized marijuana for medical use; several states allow recreational use as well. Where does the federal government stand on this issue?

Still against federal law to grow, sell, or possess

Oxycontin, Percocet, Vicodin, Percodan and Demerol are all examples of what "sub-category" of legal prescription drugs that are now often used illicitly?

Synthetic opioids

The level of which active ingredient determines the degree of effect that marijuana will have on the user?

Tetrahydrocannabinol -THC

Which stimulant drug can be administered by snorting powder, through intravenous injection, by free-basing, or by smoking the rock crystal form?

cocaine

Which specific neurotransmitter in the brain is chiefly involved in the Pleasure/Reward pathway common to all psychoactive drugs?

dopamine

Also known as psychedelics, drugs such as LSD, PCP, and MDMA belong to which category of psychoactive drugs?

hallucinations

Now that law enforcement is cracking down harder on those pill mills, what drug in the same general category have many users switched to, resulting in much larger number of overdose events than has been seen in many years for that drug?

heroin

What are the physical/psychological effects of ingesting this club drug"?

increased empathy, euphoria, and heightened sensations.

What is K2 or "Spice"?

is a mixture of herbs, spices or shredded plant material that is typically sprayed with synthetic compounds known as cannabinoids that are chemically similar to THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana.

What veterinary tranquilizer, nicknamed "Special K," is also used illicitly as a recreational drug?

ketamine

Which club drug, also known as "ecstasy" or "Molly" can actually be categorized in this category or as a CNS stimulant, as it has properties of both?

mdma

What drug in the opioid category first received widespread use in the Civil War and is still used today, especially for treatment of chronic pain, and/or to make the patient more comfortable during palliative care?

morphine

Be able to name several negative social and economic effects of illicit drug use in the U.S. that encourage the "War on Drugs" efforts to continue.

negative social and economic effects of illicit drug use in the U.S. that encourage the "War on Drugs" efforts to continue Millions of arrests, tens of thousands of deaths, hundreds of thousands of ER visits, children born to drug-using mothers

Drugs in the opioid category include natural and synthetic derivatives of the____________ plant, and have been used medically for relief of pain and as antidiarrheal agents, anesthetics, and cough suppressants.

opium

Which prescription drug is often referred to as "Hillbilly Heroin," and how why did it get that nickname?

oxycontin - because it occurs in the Appalachians