Transcript What is a drug?

Prison staff and harm reduction
Core module session 1
Training Criminal Justice Professionals
in Harm Reduction Services for Vulnerable Groups
funded by the
European Commissions
Directorate General for Health and Consumers
Session 1
Activity:
True and false
statements
on
drugs
Overview on drugs
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Activity
Activity:
True
and
false
statements
on
drugs
True and false statements on drugs
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Lecture on drugs
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What is a drug?
WHO definition:
"..any substance that, when taken into a living
organism, may modify its perception, mood,
cognition behaviour or motor function.“
(WHO,1993)
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Why do people take drugs?
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How are drugs taken?
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Swallowed (e.g. in the form of pills or liquids
like alcohol)
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Inhaled (e.g. smoking tobacco or marihuana)
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Snorted (e.g. cocaine)
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Injected (e.g. heroin)
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Effects of drugs
The effect a particular drug has depends on various
factors like:
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What kind of drug is used
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The amount used
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The way the drug is used (e.g. taken orally, smoked etc.)
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Personal characteristics like sex, weight, age and
psychological state
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The social setting in which the drugs are used
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Previous experience with the drug
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Drug dependence
Symptoms of drug dependence
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Strong desire and sense of compulsion to take the
drug(s)
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Difficulties in controlling substance-taking behaviour
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Withdrawal symptoms upon cessation
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Development of a “tolerance”
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Highest priority of drug use
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Persistent use despite other harmful consequences
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Drug withdrawal
Withdrawal symptoms include:
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Chills
Nausea
Diarrhoea
Muscle cramps
Mood swings
Psychoses
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Underlying factors of drug use
 Drug dependence is a complex behavioural disorder
that is influenced by biological, psychological and
sociological factors
 Drug dependence is a chronic relapsing disease
 Psychiatric diseases often underlie drug use
 Over 50% of those with a substance use disorder are found to
have a co-occurring mental health disorder
(Regier et al., 1990)
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Alcohol I.
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Most commonly used drug in the world
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Effects: talkativeness, reduced inhibition,
amnesia, semi- and unconsciousness, fatal
overdoses
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Chronic heavy consumption can lead to negative
and fatal health consequences (e.g. liver
cirrhosis)
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Alcohol II.
 Critical is a regular consumption of
 more than 40 grams of pure alcohol per day for men
(=1 litre of beer)
 more than 20 grams of pure alcohol per day for
women (=half a litre of beer)
(WHO, 2000)
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Tobacco
 Belongs to the most widely used drugs in the
world
 Desired effects: increased arousal and
attentiveness, suppressed appetite
 Associated with a wide range of health problems
(diseases of the breathing system, heart diseases
and cancer)
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Cannabis
 Third most popular drug in developed countries
 Usually smoked or taken orally
 Consumed in the form of marihuana or hashish
 Possible effects: euphoria, relaxation,
perceptual distortion, increased appetite,
cognitive and psychomotor impairment, anxiety
and paranoia
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Amphetamines and
Methamphetamines
 Belong to the central nervous system stimulants
 Street names: “speed”, “crystal”, “ice”
 Either orally ingested, snorted, smoked or injected
 Symptoms include: increased breathing and heart
rate, raised blood pressure, dilated pupils
 Adverse effects: irregular heartbeat, loss of
coordination, collapse
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Ecstasy
 Belongs to the central nervous stimulants
 Usually orally ingested (rarely snorted, smoked or
injected)
 Desired effects: euphoria, increased sensory
awareness
 Adverse effects: irregular heartbeat, loss of
coordination, collapse, body overheating
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Cocaine
 Belongs to the central nervous system stimulants
 Cocaine is usually snorted; crack (a highly potent
derivative of cocaine) is smoked
 Effects: severe mood swings including euphoria,
dysphoria and in extreme cases cocaine
psychosis and heart problems
 Cocaine is highly addictive
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LSD and other hallucinogens
 “Magic mushrooms”, LSD
 Mind altering, psychedelic drug
 Desired effects: perceptual distortion of time and
place, visual hallucinations and synaesthesia
(sounds are seen, colours are heard)
 Adverse effects: dizziness, disorientation, anxiety,
depression and flashbacks
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Benzodiazepines
 Belong to the sedative-hypnotics
 In low doses help against anxiety; in high doses
effect sedation and sleep
 Legal prescription drug (Valium) appearing on the
illegal market
 Benzodiazepines are swallowed or injected
 Alcohol increases their effect
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Opioids
 Opioids are central nervous system depressants
 Therapeutically used as pain killer
 Heroin is a relatively potent opioid, quickly
passing the blood-brain barrier
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Heroin I.
 Either injected, snorted or smoked
 Desired effects: drowsiness, euphoria, reduced
anxiety and/ or pain
 Adverse effects: lowered breathing, sedation,
dependence and overdoses
 Associated to far more accidental overdoses and
fatal poisonings than any other scheduled
substance
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Heroin II.
 Heroin dependence is a chronic, relapsing
disease
 Causes strong psychic and physical withdrawal
symptoms
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Poly-drug use
 “The use of more than one drug or type of drug at
the same time or sequentially”
 Health risks of poly-drug use differ depending on
the combination of drugs
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