Transcript Marijuana and Drug Ed Strategies – Ralph Cantor

SFUSD
Marijuana &
Drug Education Strategies
December 9, 2009
Getting kids to think
Goals of drug education
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Think more deeply about the issues
Make a more informed decision
Have a positive influence on their behavior
Know that adults care and will respond
Identify kids needing help
Delay initial usage or retard usage
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•Two Issues to remember
w/ the adolescent brain
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Adolescent Brain
Adult Brain
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The Developing Adolescent Brain
Pruning & Mylenation
• Use it or Lose it
• Hard Wiring
How do we reach them?
How people learn
Heart
Emotions
Thought
Prior Experience
and Knowledge
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Process
Establish credibility
(Authenticity & Knowledge)
Create a resilient learning environment
(expectations, caring, and participation)
Present a non-judgmental approach
Stimulate discussion and serious thought,
weaving in information
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Develop Credibility
•Authenticity
Have you smoked weed?
•Nonjudgmental
What’s so bad about weed?
My bias
I’m against usage before 18 because of the
immediate threats to health and welfare;
disruption of the natural ecology of the brain;
interference with learning the developmental
tasks of dealing with boredom; stress, good
times; school success; social skills and identity
I will not teach through these biases but I will
share these judgments if asked
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Discuss in groups
What are your biases,
judgments, and
thoughts about
marijuana
Tetrahydrocannibinol
• Hippies 1-3% THC Cannabis Sativa
cost $5-$10/ounce
• Vietnam 5-10% THC Cannabis
Indica cost $5-$10/ gram
• Sensimilla 10-15% THC Grown
without seeds
• Purple 15-20% THC Northern
California Horticulture (Indoors)
The Brain and Cannabinoid Sites
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Nucleus Accumbens
Hippocampus
Cerebellum
Amygdi
Or how we trick the brain
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Sketch the synaptic space
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www.drugabuse.gov
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www.drugabuse.gov
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www.drugabuse.gov
The power of Dopamine
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Loss of dopamine
Dulling of pleasure center
Training the brain
Genetics
Difference between dopamine
and Serotonin
• Wizard of Oz
Dopamine vs. Serotonin
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Dopamine produces a feeling of pleasure
Serotonin produces a feeling of well being
Difference between pleasure and happiness
Developing skills, interest, relationships,
meaning (“getting a life”)
• Wizard of Oz
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Reward System
The reward system is
responsible for seeking
natural rewards that have
survival value
seeking food, water, sex,
and nurturing
reward
Dopamine is this system’s
primary neurotransmitter
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Hippocampus, say what?
• Retrieves relevant information
• Stores new info it deems relevant
Hippocampus
• Gateway between short term and long term
memory
• Draws information from long term memory
• Discriminates relevant new information
• Trashes unimportant information
• Stores new information in long term memory
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Amygdala (uh mig' dull uh)
• Assigns emotional
relevance to our
experiences and emotional
connectedness to others.
• Feeling of familiarity
• Novel events awaken
interest.
• Regulation of fear
• Feeling of awe…wow
• Suckling
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Dumb Down Effect
• After smoking the student sense of novelty diminished. Not
excited by a new idea in class.
“School is boring. Nothing interesting happens here. I can’t
wait to get out of class and smoke a joint.”
• Athlete, day after, amygdala is sluggish, unable to respond
quick enough to new move of opponent. One half step can
make a difference. He/she has lost their edge and maybe the
game.
• Airline pilots
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Cerebellum
• Controls internal and external
coordination
The Lungs
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THC and resin
Damage to cilia
Viewing the bronchi
Marijuana/tobacco connection
Blunts
The power of nicotine and endorphins
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Aftermath of THC
Next day after smoking Marijuana
• Calming followed by
• Irritability
• Fascination by
• Boredom
• Sensory enhancement by
• Feeling flat
• Loss of short term memory
• Lingering lack of clarity, can cloud a persons view of the real world.
• Awe by
• Spiritual depletion
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Pleasure Scale
NORMAL RANGE
Anhedonia
Dysphoria
Bored
Pleasure
Interested
“I feel negative”
Euphoria
“I feel good”
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How well does the drug
work?
Risk of addiction
How well does the drug work
Positive and Negative Reinforcement
If, in addition to producing pleasure
(positive reinforcement), a drug is more
addicting, if it relieves negative states:
boredom, anxiety, depression or stress
(negative reinforcement).
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From first use to dependence
 First use to “FEEL GOOD”
 Some continue to
compulsively use because
of the reinforcing effects
(e.g., to “FEEL NORMAL”)
 Changes occur in the
“reward system” that
promote continued use
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Concerns with Marijuana
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Upsets balance and chemistry of the brain
Learning impaired
Ultimately producing opposite results
Gateway to cigarettes
Developing adolescent brain Prefrontal Cortex,
Pruning and Neuroadaptation
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The Message
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Non-Use is as Normal as Experimental Use
It’s not donuts – it changes brain chemistry
Use = Risk
Risk is not Evenly Distributed
Addiction is Real
Quality of Life can be diminished even without
developing addiction
• Motivations for Initial vs. Continuing Use are always
different
• Educate with integrity, knowledge and clarity
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Groups of Three
•What information
particularly seemed
useful
(process and content)
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Contact Information
Ralph Cantor
510-653-9410
[email protected]