PS333 EXAM 1

person centered language

Language that describes a person as a person first rather than defining them by a disorder or behavior. In substance-use contexts, this means saying “person with a substance use disorder” rather than “addict” or “drug abuser.”

Stigmatizing language

Words or labels that reinforce negative attitudes, shame, stereotypes, or social stigma surrounding mental health and substance use. Stigmatizing language can reduce willingness to seek treatment and may negatively affect the quality of treatment received.

Substance use disorder

A mental health condition affecting the brain and behavior that results in difficulty controlling the use of substances such as drugs, alcohol, or medications.

behavioral component of SUD

SUD involves impaired ability to control substance use, making behavior increasingly difficult to regulate despite potential negative consequences.

brain component of SUD

frames SUD as affecting the brain and behavior, emphasizing that problematic substance use is not simply a matter of poor character or lack of willpower.

recreational substance use

Substance use that begins for pleasure/fun rather than specifically for treating a medical condition.

medical substance use

Substance use that begins because a substance is prescribed or used therapeutically, such as medication for pain or anxiety.

use to SUD

Substance use can begin recreationally or medically. For some individuals, biological, psychological, and/or cultural risk factors contribute to progression from use to SUD (and availabili/access).

Psychoactive substance/drug

A compound that affects thoughts, mood, perception, behavior, and sometimes consciousness.

Drug

A non-nutritional substance that alters physiology and/or behavior. The lecture distinguishes recreational use from therapeutic use.

Licit drug

A legal drug. Examples from the lecture include alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, and many prescription medications.

illicit drug

An illegal drug. Examples from the lecture include heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine.

sumerians and opium

Ancient Sumerians in Mesopotamia valued the opium poppy, referring to it as hul gil, translated in the lecture as “joy plant.”

ancient use of alcohol

Alcohol production and consumption have extremely ancient origins. The lecture presents evidence of beer brewing around 10,000 BCE and an ancient Egyptian record of alcohol production around 3500 BCE.

ancient chinese psychoactive substances

Ancient Chinese populations used substances including tea and ephedra. Cannabis was also used in ancient China for medicine, ritual, and recreation.

peyote

Some Indigenous peoples of the Americas used this cactus, whose psychoactive component is mescaline, in spiritual and ritual contexts.

scopolamine

A psychoactive compound found in plants of the nightshade family, including henbane. The lecture identifies scopolamine as a muscarinic antagonist.

muscarinic antagonist

A substance that blocks muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Because muscarinic receptors are part of the cholinergic system, blocking them alters normal acetylcholine-mediated neural signaling.

henbane

A nightshade-family plant containing scopolamine. The lecture connects it to historical viking psychoactive use.

Amanita muscaria

A psychoactive mushroom associated in the lecture with Viking “berserker” traditions.

muscimol

A compound found in Amanita muscaria that acts as a GABA receptor agonist.

GABA receptor agonist

A substance that activates receptors normally responding to GABA, the brain's major inhibitory neurotransmitter. Activation generally increases inhibitory neural signaling.

ibotenic acid

A psychoactive compound in Amanita muscaria identified in the lecture as an NMDA receptor agonist.

NMDA receptor agonist

A substance that activates NMDA receptors, a subtype of glutamate receptor involved in excitatory neurotransmission and important processes such as synaptic plasticity and learning.

Berserker rage

The lecture describes Viking warriors as possibly ingesting certain plants/mushrooms to produce a frenzied or trance-like aggressive state before battle. The proposed substances include henbane and Amanita muscaria.

behavioral pharmacology

The scientific study of relationships between drugs/substances and behavior. emerged around the early nineteenth century (1800s) began formally investigating the relationship between a specific substance and its psychological effects.

Isolation of psychoactive compounds

A major development in pharmacology was isolating active compounds from plants or distilling/synthesizing substances, allowing scientists to study specific compounds rather than entire plants.

experimental psychopharmacology

The experimental study of how drugs affect behavior and psychological processes.

1826

Date of publication of the first book in modern experimental psychopharmacology and the first book devoted solely to drugs and animal behavior.

United States Pharmacopeia

A book establishing legal standards for drugs in the United States. The lecture dates the USP to 1820.

Cocaine

Became widely popularized in the late nineteenth century and was sold medically and in beverages. originates from the coca plant.

Vin mariani

A French wine containing coca-leaf extract. The ethanol in the wine acted as a solvent that extracted cocaine from the leaves.

Coca-cola

1885 by John Pemberton, a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia, made original formula in his backyard. Recipe contained cocaine in the form of an extract of the coca leaf and the kola nut (caffeine).

Sigmund Freud

Father of psychology, had a serious cocaine use disorder.

1898

The year bayer pharmaceutical company began an aggressive marketing campaign to sell its commercial preparation of Heroin

Heroin as a wonder drug

promoted as non addicting, therefore an excellent treatment for morphine and cocaine addiction. Bronchitis tuberculosis and other cough inducing illnesses were also treated with this

1906

Year the American Medical Association approved Heroin for general use and recommended that it be used in place of morphine

Harrison Narcotics Tax Act 1914

Regulated and taxed the production, importation, and distribution of opiates and coca products. Attempted to impose a tax on the use, but the effect was that these ‘narcotics’ just required a prescription

Prohibition of alcohol 1920-1933

Nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages

Prohibition of cigarettes

1921, only in 14 states

Gin act 1736

tax imposed by the english government as a reaction to the “gin craze” of the early 1700s when inexpensive gin was easily available, leading to dramatic increases in alcohol consumption. Ineffective, overturned in 1743

British east india company

established a monopoly on opium cultivation in india in the 1700s, sold opium in china to purchase silks and teas. China prohibited opium in 1762, leading to the opium wars with this country

Controlled substances act

1970, federally regulates controlled substances, divides CS into five categories or “schedules”

Schedule 1

High potential for misuse and currently have no accepted medical use. The only schedule that cannot be prescribed. (heroin, LSD)

Schedule 2

May lead to severe psychological or physical dependence, with relatively high potential for misuse. Have medical value and can be prescribed. (morphine, meth, cocaine)

Schedule 3

May lead to moderate or low physical dependence or psychological dependence. can be prescribed. (anabolic steroids, aspirin, tylenol)

Schedule 4

May lead to limited physical dependence or psychological dependence compared with schedule 3 drugs, can be prescribed. (valium and xanax)

Schedule 5

Have the lowest potential for misuse. May lead to limited physical or psychological dependence compared with schedule 4 drugs. (cough medicine, antidiarrheal medications)

Nixon’s War on Drugs

Drug control policies more than quadrupled the national prison population since 1980. Biden pardoned thousands of people convicted of marijuana possession in 2022.

40.3 million

number of people in 2020 ages 12 and older that had a substance use disorder. 12% of the US

True

Cigarette use has been continuously declining over the years (T/F)

True

Nicotine “vaping” increasing exponentially, especially among high school students (T/F)

True

Alcohol use has been declining in the US, especially among young people. Went up during COVID 19 (T/F)

24

Current number of states recreational cannabis use is legal in

True

Recreational cannabis use is increasing concomitantly with state legalization in the US among most, but not all age groups (largest in 18-25). (T/F)

True

Methamphetamine is making a resurgence in the U.S. (T/F)

Fatal drug overdoses (fentanol)

The number 1 cause of accidental/injury deaths in the U.S.

Narcan (naloxone)

recently became available without a prescription nationwide.

Harm reduction

A strategy that focuses on limiting the dangers of drugs vs. getting users to abstain from use. Shunned by policymakers as too radical, but many have reconsidered their opposition in response to opioid overdose deaths.

harm reduction opposition

While strategies have been empirically shown to save lives, critics believe that it leads to too much public drug use and should therefore be phased out.

1990, 2010, 2013

1st, 2nd, and 3rd waves of opioid overdose deaths. (prescriptions > heroin > synthetic opioids)

April 2021

Opioid Epidemic, drug overdose deaths topped 100,000 in a 12-month period. 30% increase from the previous year.

Oxycotin and vicodin

Common prescription opioids. historically prescribed for pain management

Psychomotor stimulants

Reason for the 4th wave of the opioid epidemic.

2018

Opioid overdose deaths decreased in 2024 & 2025 for the first time since

Sackler lawsuit resolutions

November 2023, Perdue agreed to pay $6 billion in settlements; in exchange, the

Sackler family would be protected from civil lawsuits linked to the opioid crisis.

June of 2024, the Supreme Court rejected this settlement that shielded the Sackler family from civil suits.

January 2025, a $7.4 billion settlement was reached, and the new agreement does

not grant the Sacklers immunity from future civil lawsuits…

Dope

Slang for a euphoria-producing drug (usually cocaine, opioids or cannabis);
from the Dutch, doop, meaning sauce (not short for dopamine)

Purdue Pharma

manufactures the prescription painkiller OxyContin, alleging that the (Sackler) family controlled company misled patients about the dangers of the opioid drug.

Code name

A name given by pharmaceutical companies to promising new drugs. (SCH 23390)

chemical name

provides a complete description of a particular molecule according to the rules of organic chemistry (only used by chemists in lab)

generic name

name of the compound that indicates its legal, official, or nonproprietary name listed in the USP. Non-capitalized (acetaminophen)

brand/trade name

Name given by the manufacturer when marketed. Always capitalized (Tylenol)

Pharmacodynamics (PD)

The effect of drugs on the body. Concerns the drug dose and how the drug acts on the receptor for the drug (mechanism of action/how does it work).

Pharmacokinetics (PK)

The effect of the body on drugs. The time course of drug Absorption, Distribution, Metabolism, and Excretion (ADME).

Drug receptor interactions

In PD. Most drugs and neurotransmitters remain outside the cell and bind to receptors or transporters on the exterior cell surface. Some drugs (e.g. steroid hormones) are lipophilic (fat loving) and enter the cell to act on intracellular receptors that cause changes in gene expression within the nucleus

Dose response curves (DRC)

Describe receptor activity to get a full picture of a drug’s effects at a range of doses. Plots the physiological or behavioral effect of the drug across a range of doses.

• At low doses, the drug effect is slight
  because few receptors are occupied

• As the dose increases, more and
  more receptors become occupied,
  and there’s a greater biobehavioral
  response

• Potency: Left/Right

• Efficacy: Up/Down

range of doses

The x-axis on a dose response curve. Usually given in relation to body weight, typically mg/kg

effect of the drug

The y-axis on a dose response curve

S

Shape of a classic DRC

ED50

median effective dose—the concentration at which 50% of the maximal effect of the drug is observed. It is assumed that 50% of receptors are occupied at this concentration.

Potency

Refers to the drug’s strength. How much of a drug is needed to achieve the desired therapeutic effect.

Higher potency

Leftward shifts in the DRC. (stronger effect at a lower dose)

Lower Potency

Rightward shifts in the DRC (weaker effect at a higher dose)

Efficacy

The ability of a drug to produce the maximal desired effect, regardless of dose. (does it work or not)

TD50

The medium toxic dose in 50% of subjects testing (human and animal testing)

LD50

The median lethal dose is lethal in 50% of subjects tested (determined in animal models)

Therapeutic Index (TI)

LD50/ED50 (Higher = Safer)

Drug Antagonism

One drug diminishes the effect of another drug

Additive Effect

One drug increases the effect of another drug

Potentiation/Synergism

Combining drugs increases the potency beyond simple additivity

Absorption

How does a drug get into the blood?

• Injection

• Inhalation

• Diffusion through membranes (skin, tongue)

• Orally

Different constraints on how the drugs enter and effect implications

Distribution

Where does a drug go in the body?

Metabolism

How are drugs altered/broken down?

Excretion

How does the drug leave the body?

Membranes

Lipids. Depending on the route of administration a drug may need to pass through several of these before it reaches the brain. Make up the linings of the gastric system, skin cells, muscle and fat cells, or mucosal lining of the lungs, and form walls of the blood vessels.

Effects of a drug

depend on how quickly and efficiently it can pass through cell membranes

lipophilic/hydrophobic

molecules are uncharged and non polar, and can easily pass through membranes (lipid-soluble). Most psychoactive drugs fall in this category

Hydrophilic molecules

polar and/or charged, and do not pass through membranes (lipid-insoluble), unless they’re very small

Capillaries

Substances enter and leave the bloodstream by passing through these. Lipid-soluble drugs diffuse through the walls. Lipid insoluble diffuse through pores.

Bioavailability

The proportion of a drug consumed that actually reaches the bloodstream. The extent to which a substance/drug becomes completely available to its intended biological destination(s)