SUBSTANCE ABUSE



SUBSTANCE ABUSE

[pic]

6th Grade Health

WHAT ARE DRUGS?

Everyday you take many substances into your body. You eat food and drink water. You breathe air. Food, water and air keep your body working the way it should. However, some other substances that can be taken into the body change the way the body works. These substances are called Drugs.

Drugs are substances (other than food, air or water) that when taken into the body produce a change within the body. This change can be a physical change (bodily) and / or a mental change (thinking and judgment).

Certain drugs can be of great value if used properly. If used improperly (drug abuse), they can be very harmful and dangerous.

WHAT IS DRUG ABUSE?

Drug abuse is:

Using any drug for other than medical reasons to affect the mind, body, behavior or feelings.

DRUGS THAT ARE OFTEN ABUSED

Stimulants

Stimulants are drugs that speed up, or “pep up” the Central Nervous System (CNS). Stimulants cause a quick rush of energy. “Crack” (cocaine) and “Speed” (amphetamines) are types of stimulants that are often abused by people.

Other stimulants that are not usually thought of as drugs are nicotine and caffeine. Nicotine is found in tobacco. Caffeine is found in coffee, cocoa and cola drinks. Smoking is a socially accepted habit in this country and is usually not thought of as drug abuse. Even though smoking is socially accepted, we must realize that nicotine is a drug. Coffee, cocoa and cola drinks are considered foods, not drugs. Although caffeine alone is considered a drug, coffee, cocoa and cola drinks are not harmful if taken in moderation.

Depressants

Drugs that slow down the Central Nervous System (CNS) are depressants. Breathing and heart rate can also become slowed down with the use of depressants. Some depressants make a person feel calm and relaxed. These are called tranquilizers. Others can cause drowsiness and bring on sleep. They are called sedatives.

Alcohol is also a depressant. It affects the body much the same way that sedatives do. Alcohol use is a socially accepted habit. Even though alcohol use is socially accepted, we must realize that it is a drug. Abusing depressants can be very dangerous. The dangers of depressant abuse become greater when tranquilizers or sedatives are taken with alcohol.

Narcotics

Narcotics are strong drugs that slow down the heart, the brain and the nerves. Narcotics also stop the brain from sensing pain. Narcotics are classified as Pain Killing Depressants.

Doctors prescribe some narcotics as medicine to relieve severe pain and to make a patient sleepy. One of the strongest narcotics that is used as a medicine is morphine. Heroin is also considered a narcotic. At one time, heroin was used as a medicine to kill pain. Although heroin is no longer used by doctors as a pain killer, it is widely abused in the United States. Abusing narcotics can lead to addiction (drug dependence).

Hallucinogens

Drugs that change the way a person senses the world are called hallucinogens. These drugs change the messages carried by the nerves in the brain. Hallucinogens can change the way things look, sound or feel. For example, they may make the sky look green or they can make a person see things that are not really there. Hallucinogens may make a person loose sense of time. Hallucinogens have very harmful effects on some people. LSD, PCP and Mescaline are examples of hallucinogens that are abused by some people.

Cannabis (Marijuana and Hashish)

Two commonly abused drugs are marijuana and hashish. Both drugs come from the same plant (Cannabis Sativa or Indian Herp Plant). Marijuana and hashish affect different people in different ways. They can also affect the same person in different ways at different times. Sometimes they work like depressants. At other times they act like mild hallucinogens and change the way things look and sound. Sometimes, marijuana and hashish work like stimulants.

These drugs can make a person feel confused and unable to concentrate. When taken for a long time, these drugs may damage a person’s ability to remember things clearly.

Volatile Solvents (Inhalants)

Substances such as paint thinner, model cement and hair spray contain drugs called volatile solvents. Volatile solvents are liquids that give off fumes or gases. Sometimes a person may inhale these fumes by mistake. This may happen if a person is painting inside with no windows open. The fumes pass from a person’s lungs into the blood and change the way the person feels. The person should immediately go outdoors or open a window and breathe fresh air to avoid getting sick.

A person may abuse volatile solvents by breathing in large amounts of the fumes on purpose. Abusing solvents may cause dizziness and headaches. Solvents can make a person’s skin feel as if things are crawling on it. If abused, often, solvents can damage the lungs, heart, brain and liver. The damaged parts of the body may never recover. A person who abuses solvents for a long time may die.

Anabolic Steroids

Anabolic Steroids are drugs that are drugs abused by athletes. Anabolic Steroids make a person bigger, stronger and faster. Anabolic Steroid abuse has been linked to kidney and liver damage, heart disease and sterility.

O. T. C. Drugs (Over the Counter)

O. T. C. Drugs are over the counter drugs. They are purchased at any drug store without a prescription. Cough medicines, “No Doz” and sleeping pills are a few examples of commonly abused O. T. C. Drugs.

Why People Abuse Drugs

People abuse drugs for different reasons. Listed below are several common reasons why people abuse drugs.

❖ To go along with the crowd

❖ Peer Pressure

❖ To act “cool” or sophisticated

❖ To act grown-up

❖ Curiosity

❖ To escape tension, stress and problems

❖ To keep awake and relieve fatigue

❖ To fall asleep and / or relax

❖ To acquire a feeling of confidence

❖ To loose weight

❖ To improve athletic performance

❖ Addiction (dependence)

Effects of Drug Abuse

Drug abuse can be very dangerous and harmful to a person’s health. Drug abuse can often lead to drug dependence (drug addiction).

Drug dependence is a person’s physical or psychological need to take a drug or drugs.

Taking the drug or drugs gives the person a false sense of well-being.

There are two kinds of drug dependence. With physical dependence, the person’s body needs the drug. Each time the effects of the drug wear off, the person feels a sickness called withdrawal. Taking more of the drug makes the sickness go away. To avoid the pain of withdrawal, the person continues to take the drug.

With psychological dependence, a person thinks he or she needs the drug. People with psychological dependence cannot stop thinking about the drug. Each time the drug wears off, they want to feel its effects again.

Some drugs cause physical dependence. Others cause psychological dependence. Many drugs cause both types of dependence at the same time. Both kinds of drug dependence can be difficult to break.

Example

A man started smoking cigarettes, he thought he could stop smoking them at any time, but instead he started smoking cigarettes more often. He found himself wanting cigarettes all the time. Now he smokes a cigarette every few minutes. He has become dependent on the drug in cigarettes.

People bodies can also build a tolerance to or get used to certain drugs.

When a person develops a tolerance to a drug, larger amounts of the drug are needed for the person to feel the effect of the drug.

The drug abuser’s body will eventually build tolerance to the larger amounts of the drug. The drug abuser will continue to take even larger amounts of the drug to feel it’s effect.

Example

A woman depends on sleeping pills to help her fall asleep. At first, she needed only one pill to fall asleep. Her body soon built up a tolerance to the sleeping pills, and she needed two pills to make her sleepy. Now, even tow pills have no effect on her. She started taking three pills every night.

As tolerance builds up, a person takes larger and larger amounts of the drug.

An amount of drug large enough to cause harm to the body is an overdose.

An overdose can cause discomfort, pain or even death. The effects of an overdose depend on the drug and on the person. A safe amount of a drug for one person may be an overdose for another person. The same amount of a drug can be safe at one time and unsafe at another time.

Other Effects of Drug Abuse

Bodily Damage:

Brain, lung, kidney, and liver damage are some examples of bodily damage that can occur as a result of constant drug abuse.

Coma

Drug abuse can cause certain diseases (cancer, heart disease, AIDS, cirrhosis of the liver, emphysema)

Your safety and the safety of others can be endangered

Birth defects can occur due to drug abuse

Unauthorized possession and use of certain drugs is illegal

Drug abuse might stop someone from reaching their goals in life

Drug abuse has been responsible for the break-up of many families

Malnutrition

Club Drugs

Ecstasy: E, X, XTC, GHB: Liquid Ecstasy, Liquid X, , Grevous Bodily Harm, Georgia Home Boy.

Ketamine: K, Special K, Ket, Vitamin K, Kit Kat.

Rohypnol: Roofies, R-2.

Club drugs affect your brain. The term “club drug” refers to a wide variety of drugs often used at “raves” (all night dance parties), nightclubs and concerts. Club drugs can damage the neurons in your brain, impairing your senses, memory, judgment and coordination.

Club drugs affect your body. Different club drugs have different effects on your body. Some common effects include loss of muscle and motor control, blurred vision, and seizures. Club drugs like ecstasy are stimulants that increase your heart rate and blood pressure and can lead to heart or kidney failure. Other club drugs, like GHB, are depressants that can cause drowsiness, unconsciousness, or breathing problems.

Club drugs affect your self-control. Club drugs like GHB and Rohypnol are used in “date rape” and other assaults because they are sedatives that can make you unconscious and immobilize you. Rohypnol can cause a kind of amnesia – users may not remember what they said or did while under the effects of the drug.

Club drugs are not always what they seem. Because club drugs are illegal and often produced in makeshift laboratories, it is impossible to know exactly what chemicals were used to produce them. How strong or dangerous any illegal drug is varies each time.

Club drugs can kill you. Higher doses of club drugs can cause severe breathing problems, coma, or even death.

How can you tell if someone is using club drugs?

➢ Problems remembering things they recently said or did

➢ Loss of coordination, dizziness, fainting

➢ Depression

➢ Confusion

➢ Sleep problems

➢ Chills or Sweating

➢ Slurred speech

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download