Transcript Drugs - Robbinsville Schools

Drugs
Medicines
 Medicines
 Drugs that are used to treat or prevent disease or
other conditions
 Drugs
 Substances other than food that change the
structure or function of the body or mind
 All medicines are drugs but not all drugs are
medicines
Medicines Continued
 Sorted into 4 categories
 Help prevent disease
 Vaccines
 Antitoxins
 Fight pathogens, or infectious agents that cause
disease
 Antiviral
 Antifungal
 Relieve pain
 analgesics
 Help maintain or restore health and regulate body’s
systems
 Allergy medicines, body-regulating medicines, antidepressant
and antipsychotic medicines, cancer treatment
Body
 Side effects
 Reactions to medicine other than the one intended
 Additive interaction
 Medicines work together in a positive way
 Muscle relaxer and anti-inflammatory prescribed together
to treat joint pain
 Synergistic effect
 Interaction of 2 or more medicines that results in a greater
effect than when the medicines are taken alone
 One medicine increases the strength of another
 Antagonistic effect
 Effect of one medicine is canceled or reduced when
taken with another medicine
Problems
 Tolerance
 Condition in which the body becomes used to the
effect of a medicine
 Body then requires larger doses to get same effect
 “reverse tolerance”
 Body requires less of a substance to get the same
effect
 Withdrawal
 Occurs when a person stops using a medicine that
they became dependent on
 Symptoms:
 Nervousness, insomnia, headaches, vomiting, chills, cramps
Medicine Safety
 Prescription
 Doctor’s written instructions
 Dispensed by licensed pharmacist
 Over the Counter
 Buy without a prescription
 FDA considers safe without medical supervision
 What FDA does when it approves a medicine
 Safe when used as directed
 Medicine is effective in treating condition in which it
is prescribed
Misuse
 Giving prescription medicine to someone who it
was not prescribed for or taking someone else's
medicine
 Too much or too little for a longer or shorter
period other than prescribed
 Discontinuing use without talking to doctor
 Mixing medicines
Substance Abuse
 Any unnecessary or improper use of chemical
substances for nonmedical purposes
 Overuse or multiple use of a drug
 Illegal drug
 Use of a drug in combination with alcohol or
other drugs
Substance Abuse Continued
 Illegal drugs
 Street drugs
 Chemical substances that people of any age may
not lawfully manufacture, possess, buy or sell
 Illicit drug use
 Use or sale of any substance that is illegal or
otherwise not permitted
 Includes selling of prescription drugs on the street
Influencing Factors
 Peer pressure
 Family members
 Role models
 Media messages
 Perceptions
 Almost 80% of 13 year olds had never used drugs
(2003)
How Drugs get Taken
 Swallowing
 Inhaling
 Injection
Effects of Drugs
 Depends upon:
 Kind of drug
 How much
 How often
 How quickly to the brain
 What other drugs, foods or substances are taken
 Body size
 Body shape
 Chemistry
Brain and Drugs
 Drugs contain chemicals that tap into the brain’s
communication system and disrupt the way
nerve cells normally send, receive, and process
information.
 There are at least two ways that drugs cause this
disruption:
 by imitating the brain’s natural chemical messengers
 by overstimulating the “reward circuit” of the brain.
Brain and Drugs Continued
 Drugs affect the ‘reward’ section of the brain.
 This area of the brain controls emotion, the
body’s ability to feel pleasure, motivation, and
the body’s ability to move.
 The reward section of the brain produces
dopamine, which creates those pleasurable
feelings.
Brain and Drugs
 Almost all drugs have dopamine in them.
 When someone uses drugs, they flood their
system and their brain with an excessive amount
of dopamine.
 That ‘high’ feeling and the feeling of euphoria
that drug users get are from all of the pleasurable
feelings from so much dopamine in their system.
Brain and Drugs
 When a person continues using drugs, the brain
gets the signal to produce less dopamine.
 The brain also sends out signals to reduce the
amount of dopamine receptors in the body’s
‘reward’ system.
 The result of this is that effect of dopamine on the
body’s reward system is lessened.
 A drug user has to keep using drugs to keep their
dopamine level to a level that the body would
normally produce.
 When they want to get that euphoric high, the
drug user has to increase the amount of drugs
they take.
Health Consequences
 Physical
 Overdosing
 Can harm brain, heart, lungs and other vital organs
 Increase risk of HIV and hepatitis B with injections
 Mental/Emotional
 Cloud reasoning and thinking
 Lose control of behavior
 May no longer recall positive beliefs, values and
ideals
 Social
 Expelled or suspended from school
 Legal consequences
Other Consequences
 Individual
 Tolerance, dependence, addiction
 Legal
 Crime of illicit drug use
 Family and Friends
 Babies and Children
 Spontaneously aborted or born with birth defects
 Can be born with HIV
 May be physically dependent and show withdrawal
symptoms at birth
 Costs to Society
 Similar to alcohol
Legal Consequences
 Criminal Homicide
 Person dies as a result of using a drug given by
someone else
 Drug-Free School Zones
 Sentenced and fine up to $100,000
 In General:
 Driving privileges at least 6 months, manufacturing
drugs, distributing drugs confiscation of car with
controlled dangerous substance
Warning Signs of Drug Use
 Drunk or high regularly –
often hung over
 Lies about drugs they’re
taking – constantly talks
about drugs
 Stops participating in
activities
 Changes eating or sleeping
habits
 Gets in trouble
 Withdrawn
 Red eyes
 “blackouts”
 Difficulty concentrating
 Unnecessary risks
Getting Help
 Admit there is a problem
 Individual counseling, group support or rehab
centers
 Identify sources in your area to help – drug
counselors, treatment center and support groups
 Talk to person when they are sober
 Listen to responses
 Offer to go with them to counselor or support group
Getting Help Continued
 Treatment Centers
 Outpatient drug-free treatment
 Do not include medications
 Group or individual counseling
 Short-Term Treatment
 Residential, medication and outpatient therapies
Getting Help Continued
 Maintenance Treatment
 Heroin addicts
 Usually includes medication therapy
 Therapeutic Communities
 Long history of drug abuse
 Structured programs usually lasting from 6-12 months