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What was a factor in drugs becoming more dangerous?

Move away from plant-based drugs and to man-made drugs (synthetic drugs)

Which drug type is most dangerous?

Synthetic drugs

Which drug can cause seizures and is often found in fentanyl samples?

Xylazine

Since 2015, which drug has decreased in seizures but increased in overdosages?

Cocaine

What is a drug?

Any substance, natural or artificial, aside from food, that by its chemical nature alters structure/function in a living organism

What four ways can toxicity be observed?

Physiological and behavioral

acute and chronic

What are examples of acute physiological toxicity and chronic physiological toxicity?

Acute: overdose

Chronic: lung cancer

What are examples of chronic behavioral toxicity and acute behavioral toxicity?

Chronic: poor lifestyle, bad relationships

Acute: drunk driving

What were the three main concerns of the government concerning drug use?

Toxicity (can drugs be harmful?)

Dependence (can drugs be habit-forming?)
Criminalization (can drugs cause crime?)

What are the three stages through which dependence for a drug forms?

1. Social Use - completely in control, not yet a habit

2. Regulated Relapse - continuing to use drug yet still in control, prefrontal cortex is in control

3. Compulsive Relapse - drug use is a habit, prefrontal cortex is no longer in control and nucleus accumbens takes over

How does the DSMIV define drug dependence?

Through two disorders: substance abuse and substance dependence

How does the DSMV define substance dependence and substance abuse?

Substance dependence: state in which an individual uses a drug so consistently that it is difficult to stop

Substance abuse: using substances in a manner, amount, or situation that it causes social, occupational, physiological, or physical problems

What are the difference between the DSMIV and DSMV’s qualifications for dependence? What did the DSMV add/remove?

DSMIV: needed one symptom over a year

DSMV: needed two symptoms over a year - eliminated “problems with law enforcement” as a criteria

What were the 4 different arguments for drugs causing crime? Why were they wrong/right?

1. drug use changes a person’s personality - NO, personality indicators precede drug use

2. ppl under influence commit crimes - NO, little evidence other than alcohol being linked to crime

3. drug use itself is a crime - NO, not a valid argument

4. crimes are committed to obtain drugs/get money for drugs - YES

Who historically distributed drugs originally? What is this an example of?

Mobs

organized crime

Who took over drug dealing after the fall of mobs?

Gangs

Who starts turf wars? Why?

Footsoldiers (aka those in lowest standing)

want to make an impression and move up

Are gangs profitable? How do they function?

Gangs are not profitable for anyone other than those at the top

Function like a pyramid where those at the top do the least work and make the most money and those on the bottom do the most work and make the least money

Why do gangs generally form? Why do they sell drugs?

Gangs form for protection

Sell drugs to fund for gangs

Who began to take over after gangs? what happened to gangs?

Cliques

government went after gang leaders

Can the students at Harper High School be neutral to the cliques?

No, the area that they live determines which clique they are affiliated with

In the Harper High School Podcast when Boogie is explaining why TGC formed, he mentions how being recruited into a gang would have actually spared Terrence Green’s life. Think about what “survival” means to kids growing up in these neighborhoods and what skills they develop to do so.  What are 2 skills discussed in the podcast, and how are these skills similar to or different to growing up in a middle class neighborhood?

Situational awareness + trauma management

For the most part, those living in middle class neighborhoods will not have to worry about their surroundings to the level that those in harper high do.

Anyone can experience trauma, but those at Harper High school have all been forced to adapt to situations and push through situations they shouldn’t have to.

Will the two survival skills from the previous question help or hinder these students as adults? Explain how.

Both, being situationally aware and able to react quickly to situations is certainly a useful skill, but may prevent them from feeling secure and from being able to process trauma in the future.

At one point in the show Principal Sanders says that only 10% of the students in the gangs are involved in drug use or distribution.  How does the climate of these gangs, and the previous role of the gangster disciples’ large drug distribution network indirectly impact these students?

Most students have to affiliate with cliques for safety from the 10%.

Despite students not currently using drugs, how does growing up in this climate and a low SES environment impact future opportunities for these students?

PTSD and low financial standing may inhibit them in the future.

Which 2 cartels are in every US state? How are they ran?

Sinaloa and jalisco cartels

Sinaloa ran by 4 organizations

Jalisco by one person

Where do cartels get drugs from? What is historically grown here?

China/middle east

heroin

What are the two kinds of drug legislation in the US?

Regulation of legal drugs

criminalization of other drugs

Which 3 key pieces of legislation inform current drug laws?

1906 Food and Drug Act

1914 Harrison Act

18th Amendment (1920)

What is a narcotic?

Drug that dulls senses and pain

What is schedule 1?

No current legal medical use and high risk for dependence (WORST)

Schedule 2?

Restrictive medical use, high dependence risk

3?

accepted legal medical use, medium risk

4?

accepted legal medical use, limited risk

5?

over the counter availability, legal without prescription

What 5 things is drug action dependent on?

1. route of administration

2. absorption/distribution

3. binding

4. inactivation

5. excretion

what are the 4 different routes of administration of drugs?

oral, absorption, inhalation, and injection

What is oral administration? where is it absorbed? What effects it? Give an example

ingesting drug through the mouth by swallowing or drinking, absorbed in the stomach/intestines

effect depends on metabolism, pH in stomach, tolerance

alcohol

What is absorption? is it fast or slow? Examples?

Absorption through mucous membrane, can be absorbed by the capillaries in the nose, eyes, mouth, butt

quicker than ingestion but slower than inhilation

Eye drops, snorting, dissolving pills on the tongue

Inhalation - how? speed? Example?

inhale through the mouth and absorbed by capillaries in the lungs

one of the fastest routes of administration

smoking

What is injection? What are the four different ways?

Injecting drug into body

1. Intravenous (IV) - directly into vein, fastest

2. Intramuscular (IM) - directly into muscle, slower

3. intraperitoneal injection (IP) - directly into intraperitoneal cavity, used predominantly in veterinary medicine and chemo

4. subcutaneous injection (SC) - slow and steady absorption, “skin popping”

Out of the four, in what order do they go fastest → slowest

intravenous → inhalation → intranasal → oral

What does absorption depend upon?

Concentration, age/secks/body size

How is absorption drug dose described by?

Metric system

mg of drug/kg of body weight

How are drugs described?

in terms of dose

T or F: Concentration in the body does NOT = total amount?

True

How does water content in the body affect drugs in the body? How do women and men’s fat to water content compare?

More water dilutes

women have a greater fat to water ratio

What is a dose response curve?

graph of the magnitude of the effect of a drug depending on the amount of drug

What is the dose response curve used for?

Choosing dose, shows optimal effects at certain doses

What is an ED50?

Effective dose 50 that produces desired effect in 50% of people

TD50?

Toxic dose 50 that is toxic for 50% of people

LD50

Lethal dose 50 that is lethal for 50% of people

TI

Therapeutic index - measure of the drug’s margin of safety

TI = td50/ed50

What does low/high TI mean?

Low TI = greater risk of toxicity

High TI= lesser risk of toxicity

How do we name drugs (Chemical)?

Chemical Name - chemical formula

How do we name drugs (Generic)?

Generic name - descriptive name

(Example: all topical anesthetics end with -caine)

How do we name drugs (Trade)?

Trade name - proprietary or brand name

What does absorption depend on? (3 things)

Concentration, age/gender/body size, and diffusion across membrane

What is important to diffusion across membrane?

Blood-brain barrier and placental barrier

What is the blood-brain barrier?

Semi-permeable barrier in the brain capillaries that allow certain substances to cross into the brain.

What is a typical capillary?

Spaces between endothelial cells in capillary, part of blood-brain barrier.

What limits what goes through the capillaries in the blood-brain barrier and covers spaces (endothelial cells)?

Glial cells.

What does the blood-brain barrier allow to pass through?

Small molecules, lipid soluble molecules.

What cannot pass through the blood-brain barrier?

Water soluble molecules.

What is a lipid soluble molecule?

Dissolves in fat/can be stored in fat, need to be careful about how much is taken.

What is a water soluble?

Dissolves in water if not used, passes through body.

What does the blood-brain barrier determine and what does this depend on? (think abt heroin vs morphine)

How effective a drug is depending on how lipid soluble it is.

What is the placental barrier (in relation to diffusion)?

Same as blood-brain barrier, but allows more water soluble molecules to pass.

What are the 2 major cell types in the nervous system and what are they responsible for?

1) Neurons - neural communication

2) Glia - form blood-brain barrier

What are the parts of a neuron?

Dendrites, Cell body (soma), nucleus, axon, myelin sheath, and terminal buttons.

What is the synapse and how do signals travel?

Junction/space between neurons, typically chemical signal travels from the terminal buttons to the dendrites or soma of the other neuron.

Where is NT (neurotransmitter) released from?

pre-synaptic terminal