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When is a drug a drug

Lecture notes

What is a drug 

  • “Substances that change a person’s mental or physical state” - Department of health 

  • Psychoactive drugs are substances that, when taken in or administered into one’s system, affect mental processes, eg perception, consciousness, cognition or mood and emotions 

  • Drugs v medicine - drugs change the way your functioning medicine helps to clarify the way you’re functioning 

Drugs use in Australia 

  • 12 month prevalence:

    • Alcohol: 77% 

    • Cannabis: 11.6% 

    • Cocaine: 4.2% 

    • Pharmaceuticals (non-medical purposes): 4.2% 

    • Ecstasy: 3% 

    • Hallucinogens: 1.6% 

    • Inhalants: 1.4% 

    • Meth/amphetamines: 1.3% 

  • Distinction to be made between “legal”, “illegal”, and “illicit” substances

    • Legal: Barring restrictions, legal for use 

    • Illegal: Under no circumstances are they legal for use 

    • Illicit: Context dependent (e.g., misuse of otherwise legal drugs) 

Why do people use drugs

  • Curiosity of experimentation

  • Relaxation 

  • Enjoyment/excitement 

  • Boredom 

  • Peer pressure 

  • Reduce stress 

  • Avoidance of pain 

  • Coping 

Factors affecting drug choice 

  1. Availability - Alcohol and cannabis are easy to obtain as well as pharmaceuticals 

  2. Price - Most illegal substances are inexpensive to make but cost is high to compensate for the risk associated with making it 

  3. Purity - Strength of active ingredient (drop in ecstasy in 2010) 

  4. Effect - Changing the neurotransmission in the brain 

Drug categories

  1. Depressants - Slow down the messages travelling between brain and body 

    • Alcohol

    • Benzodiazepines

    • Cannabis

    • GHB

    • Ketamine 

    • Opioids

  2. Stimulants - Speed up the messages travelling between body and brain 

    • Amphetamines 

    • Caffeine 

    • Cocaine

    • Ecstasy 

    • Nicotine 

  3. Hallucinogens - Change your sense of reality 

    • Cannabis 

    • Ketamine

    • LSD

    • Psilocybin (shrooms) 

    • PCP

Summary

  • Drugs affect physical and psychological states 

  • Drug use is increasingly common in Australia 

  • Individuals use drugs for different reasons and many factors affect drug use and choice 

  • Drugs affect the brain by disrupting neurotransmission 

  • Drugs can be categorised according to their effect 

Notes from readings and videos

Drug categories reading 

  • Drugs that are similar chemically often have similar impacts and risks 

  • An individual who is addicted to one a drug is more likely to abuse and become addicted to a chemically similar drug 

  • Most people classify drugs by how they impact the mind and body 

  • Most countries have a legal classification system for drugs tat can determine the circumstances in which it is legal, various requirements for it and any legal penalties associated with use of it

Drug classifications based on chemical makeup 

  • Alcohol 

    • Most widely abused substance across most of the world

    • Creates feelings of euphoria and lowers inhibitions, but it also severely impairs judgement, perception and reaction times 

    • Is a central nervous system depressant but it causes severe long term damage to the liver 

  • Opioids

    • Either derived from the drug opium or chemicals designed to mimic it 

    • Work by interacting with neurotransmitters in the brain and blocking the signals that they are sending 

    • Serve as powerful painkillers but also can cause feelings of intense pleasure, leading to addiction

    • Well known ones include 

      • Heroin 

      • Fentanyl 

      • Oxycodone

  • Benzodiazepines

    • A class of drugs that function by interacting with the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid-A

    • Prescribe to treat a variety of psychiatric and sleep conditions ut are commonly abused

    • Examples include

      • Atvian

      • Valium

      • Xanax

  • Cannabinoids

    • A class of drugs that are chemically similar to tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)

    • Create feelings of elation known as a high, but they also negatively impact mental and physical functioning 

    • Are they most widely abused drugs after alcohol 

    • Although considered less addictive than other drug classifications, cannabinoids can seriously damage a person’s mental and physical health 

    • Examples 

      • Marijuana 

      • Hashish

  • Barbiturates 

    • Barbiturates on the central nervous system by slowing down its functioning

    • Derivatives of the chemical barbituric acid 

    • Historically popular for the treatment of psychiatric and sleep disorders and they are still used for anaesthesia and treatment of a number of conditions such as epilepsy and headaches

    • Are highly addictive and also present a very high overdose risk as they cause many body systems to shut down 

    • Examples 

      • Amytal 

      • Luminal 

      • Pentobarbital