Definitions/Powerpoints Test 1

Drug (medicine)

Any substance that may prevent or cure disease or enhance physical or mental welfare

Drug (pharmacology)

Any chemical agent that alters biochemical processes of tissues or organisms

Pharmacology

The scientific study of drugs; concerned with how drugs act on biological systems and the body response to the drug

Psychopharmacology

The subarea of pharmacology that concerns the effects of drugs on behavior

Psychoactive drugs

Drugs that affect the central nervous system (mood, thinking, and behavior)

Drug (substance) abuse

Any use of drugs that causes physical, psychological, legal, or social harm to the individual user or to others affected by the drug user’s behavior

Drug (substance) use

Any drug (substance) consumption that is not drug abuse

Drug misuse

Use of a drug for reasons other than what it was prescribed for

What are the classification categories?

Origin, therapeutic use, site of drug action, mechanism of action, street name, chemical structure, overall effect

Stimulants

Heighten mood, increase alertness, and decrease fatigue

What are some examples of stimulants?

Cocaine, methamphetamine, nicotine, caffeine

Depressants

Decrease central nervous system activity

What are some examples of depressants?

Alcohol, Xanax, antianxiety agents

Opiates/Opioids

Pain relief and euphoria

What are some examples of opiates/opioids?

Heroin, morphine, oxycotin, percocet

Hallucinogens/Psychadelics

Alter perceptions and states of consciousness

What are some examples of hallucinogens?

LSD, Ketamine

What are some pharmacological factors that may influence a drug experience?

Chemical properties of a drug and its action on the body, drug dosage, route of administration

What are some characteristics of the person using the drugs that may influence any one drug experience?

Genetic makeup, sex, age, drug tolerance, psychological set about a drug

What about the setting in which the drug is used may influence any one drug experience?

The community laws on drug use, immediate environment, presence or absence of other people

What is the NSDUH?

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health

How old are respondents in the NSDUH?

12 and older

Where are respondents in the NSDUH?

Households in all 50 states and the District of Columbia

Prevalence

The general occurrence of an event, usually expressed in terms of percentage of some population and with respect to a time period

Incidence

The number of first-time occurrences of an event during some time period

According to the NSDUH, approximately what percentage of the population has consumed alcohol in their lifetime?

80%

According to the NSDUH, approximately what percentage of people have consumed alcohol in the past year?

65%

According to the NSDUH, approximately what percentage of the population have consumed alcohol in the past month?

50%

According to the NSDUH, does alcohol use vary across different races?

Yes (white American typically the highest and Asian American typically the lowest)

According to the NSDUH, which age range has reports the highest rates of illicit drug use?

18-25

Polydrug use

Regular use of more than one drug

Which drug is the most frequently used?

Alcohol

Which drug has the 2nd highest prevalence?

Nicotine

What is the most commonly used illicit drug?

Marijuana

What are prevalence differences associated with?

Age, gender, racial/ethnic groups

What is the estimated economic cost of alcohol misuse to society based on “cost-of-illness” studies?

$249 billion

What is the estimated economic cost of tobacco and illicit drug use?

$493 billion

What is calculated in the social costs of drug use?

Unnecessary burden on emergency room resources to treat overdoses, drunk driving fatalities, drug-related crime, etc.

Drug (substance) addiction

Overwhelming involvement with a drug -- getting and using the drug along with a strong tendency to resume use of it after stopping for a period

Psychological dependence

Indicated by the experience of an emotional states of craving a drug -- for either its positive effects or avoidance or reduction of negative effects when not under the influence

Craving

A strong or intense desire to use a drug (considered a psychological experience)

Substance Use Disorder

Current label for psychiatric/psychological disorder that includes aspects of typical definition of addiction including psychological dependence

What do the levels of use take into account?

Amount, frequency, duration, impact of use on individual and others

What is the continuum of substance use?

No Use, Experimental Use, Social/Recreational Use, Habitual/Regular Use, Substance Use Disorder

What were the categories in the DSM-IV of Substance Use Disorders?

Substance abuse (recurrent problems associated with use) and substance dependence (more severe, addiction)

Substance abuse (DSM-IV)

A pattern of harmful use of a psychoactive substance (focused on indirect effects of repeated use; legal problems, unmet obligations, poor judgement, reckless behavior)

Substance dependence (DSM-IV)

A pattern of compulsive behaviors that are related to frequent use of psychoactive substance

How many criteria does someone have to meet to qualify for substance use disorder?

2 out of 11

What are the four categories of the substance use disorders?

Impaired control (4), social impairment (3), risky use (2), and pharmacological (2)

What are the substance use disorder criteria under the impaired control subcategory?

1. Used in larger amounts or over a longer period of time than intended
2. Persistent desire or unsuccessful attempt to cut down or control use
3. Much time spent obtaining, using and recovering from the substance
4. Craving or strong desire/urge to use

What are the substance use disorder criteria under the social impairment subcategory?

5. Recurrent use resulting in failure to fulfill major role obligations
6. Continued use despite persistent/recurrent social or interpersonal problems resulting from use
7. Important social, occupational, or recreational activities given up or reduced

What are the substance use disorder criteria under the risky use subcategory?

8. Recurrent use in physically hazardous situations
9. Continued use despite adverse physical and/or psychological consequences

What are the substance use disorder criteria under the pharmacological subcategory?

10. Tolerance - physiological response that arises with repeated use of a substance


1. More required to obtain same effect
2. Less effect with same amount
11. Withdrawal - symptoms that arise when a regular user decreases intake of substance


1. Drug rebound effect - withdrawal symptoms are opposite of an addictive drug’s action
2. same (or similar) drug taken to avoid/reduce withdrawal symptoms

What are sometimes described as physical dependence?

Tolerance and withdrawal symptoms

How many criteria classify a mild substance use disorder?

2-3

How many criteria classify a moderate substance use disorder?

4-5

How many criteria classify a severe substance use disorder?

6+

What disorders are included in substance-related disorders?

Substance use disorder and substance-induced disorder

Substance intoxication

Substance-specific reversible dysfunctional effects on thoughts, feelings, and behavior that arise from the use of a psychoactive substance

Substance withdrawal

Substance-specific maladaptive behavioral change (with cognitive and physiological change) as a result of cessation or reduction of heavy and prolonged substance use

What mental conditions may be associated with substance-induced disorders?

Delirium, dementia, anxiety disorder, mood disorder, psychotic disorder, sexual dysfunction, sleep disorder

Historically, how were substances used?

Alter perception of reality/consciousness, religious purposes, recreation, reduce distress, reduce pain, forget, enhance senses

When was alcohol first reported to be used?

As early as 6400 BC

What drug is called the joy plant?

Opium poppy

When and where was the opium poppy seen?

Asia Minor; 5000 BC

When was Cannabis sativa first seen?

2700 BC

How was cannabis sativa first used in China?

Brewed as tea

What is the source of cocaine?

Coca leaves

How did people use coca leaves?

Chewed the leaves (we know this because signs were found in Indian burial sites in Central & South America from around 1000 BC)

What drugs were exchanged among Asian, European, and American countries?

coffee, tobacco, opium, hashish, cocaine, hallucinogens, etc.

What drugs were the Native Indians seen to use?

Tobacco, peyote, other psychoactive plants

Who brought alcohol to the US?

Europeans

What were drug laws like in the mid-1800s?

No legislation, few restrictions, could get opium morphine marijuana cocaine at grocery stores/mail order

What is Laudanum?

A mixture of alcohol and opium

What did Patent medicines (19th century “medicines that would cure” a host of illnesses and diseases) often contain?

Opium, morphine, cocaine, and alcohol

What does GOM stand for?

God’s Own Medicine (morphine and opium)

What was used as an all purpose medicine in the 1800s?

Marijuana as a liquid extract of the cannabis sativa plant

What was soldier’s disease in the Civil War?

Morphine addiction

When was cocaine popular?

late 1800s, early 1900s and 1960s through today

When were amphetamines popular?

1930s (to treat depression), WWII, 1960s and 1970s (recreational use and weight loss)

When were minor tranquilizers and inhalants popular?

Beginning in the 1950s to today

When was LSD popular?

1960s

When was heroin popular?

Increasingly in recent years

What are “club drugs”?

MDMA, GHB, methamphetamine, rohypnol, ketamine

When were club drugs popular?

Started with all-night dance/trance parties, now more general use

What are drug laws used for?

A method of establishing formal guidelines, restrictions or prohibit manufacture importation sale and/or possession

Is drug use in the US and other countries a federal crime?

No

When was the San Francisco Ordinance implemented?

1875

What did the San Francisco Ordinance do?

Ban opium dens

When was the Pure Food and Drug Act implemented?

1906

What did the Pure Food and Drug Act do?

Required producers of medicine to indicate on the packaging the amount of drug in a product

Did the Pure Food and Drug Act influence addiction?

It decreased new addiction development but had little effect on current addictions

When was the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act implemented?

1914

What did the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act do?

Attempt to regulate opium traffic; strictly regulate supply of certain drugs (license to market and prescribe, limited amount of opiates in patent meds, treatment centers for opiate addiction)

When was Alcohol Prohibition implemented?

1920

What did Alcohol Prohibition do?

Prohibited production, sale, transportation, and importation of alcohol in US

What was the result of Alcohol Prohibition?

Decreased drinking, death rates from cirrhosis, alcohol-related arrests, admissions to state hospitals for alcoholism

Illegal involvement increased with speakeasies and criminal group involvement in alcohol distribution

When was the 21st Amendment implemented?

1933

What is a description of post-prohibition legislation?

Generally stricter guidelines and penalties for possession and sale of drugs

When was the Federal Bureau of Narcotics (Now FDA) established?

1930