FR

Drug Use


  1. Outline three statistics/facts that stand out to you/caught your attention. 


  • 23% of Ontario students report that they were offered, sold or given a drug at school (219,000 students)

  • 42% of Ontario students surveyed have used an illicit substance in the last year

  • Street youth are eleven times more likely to die of drug overdose or suicide


  1. What is a drug?

any substance (not food) that is taken to alter the body or mind



  1. The three TYPES of drugs are:

Drug

Definition

Over the counter

Purchasable without a need for a prescription

Prescription drugs

A doctor has prescribed it to be taken 


Illegal/Illicit drug

Substances that are illegal and not allowed by law

Difference between types and classification *


  1. Explain each of the following: 


USED - are taken as medicine to treat, prevent, or cure illness (over the counter, prescribed)


MISUSED - when prescription or over-the-counter drugs are taken improperly

ABUSE - is the use of a drug for non-medicinal purposes which results in impaired physical, mental, emotional, or social well being of the user




  1. What is a gateway drug?  

Legal rugs that potentially lead to worse, illicit drugs

Three main gateway drugs: Alcohol, tobacco, marijuana 



  1. Why don’t drugs affect everyone the same way?

They can be affected by:

  • Dose

  • Time

  • How it enters the body

  • Other drugs present in the body

  • Body weight

  • Personality/mood

  • Tolerance




  1. Identify the three CLASSIFICATIONS of drugs and provide three examples for each.

Category

Example


Stimulants (uppers)


Drugs that speed up and excite the nervous system. It makes you feel more alert, energetic, feel good, euphoric.

Helps you stay away, decrease your appetite


Depressants (downers)


Drugs that slow the functions of your nervous system makes you feel less aware and calm.

ROHYPNOL - date rape drug


Hallucinogens


Drugs that distort your senses and one’s awareness of events. Might see and hear things that don’t exist (hallucinate) 




  1. Summarize the following facts about drugs:

Major Drugs

Slang Names

Description

Effects


Stimulants


Amphetamines, ritalin, caffeine, nicotine


Speed, uppers, meth, crank

Drugs causing body systems to speed up

  • Increased heart rate

  • Breatings, blood pressure

  • Decreased appetite

  • Anxiety

  • Heart failure


Cocaine


N/A


Crack, coke, snowflake, white, blow, nose candy, rock


White crystalline power, beige pellets, or crystalline rocks often packaged in small vials

  • Stimulates the nervous system

  • Increased blood pressure and heart rate

  • Seizures

  • Possible cardiac arrest


Opioids


Morphine, oxyContin, percocet, vicodin, codeine, fetanyl


Oxy, vikes, happy pills, percs, kicker


Medications that relieve pain


  • Respiratory depression can lead to hypoxia (lack of oxygen) that can cause psychological and neurological effects, induced coma and brain damage


Fentanyl


N/A

50-100 times more potent than morphine

Used as part of anesthesia to prevent pain

Can be taken intravenously, with a patch, nasally, or as a tablet

  • Nausea

  • Sneezing

  • Nosebleeds

  • Decreased heart rate

  • Impaired judgment

  • Headaches


Inhalants

Glue, nail polish remover, gasoline, etc.

Laughing gas, poppers, rush, etc

Dangerous fumes are concentrated in a bag, on a cloth, etc.


Marijuana


N/A

Pot, grass, weed, ganga, roach, joints, dope, mary jane

Dried leaves, stems and seeds of the cannabis sativa plant

  • Increased heart rate

  • Bloodshot eyes

  • Increased appetite

  • Damage to lungs and circulatory system 

  • Impaired judgment 



  1. How do drugs enter the bloodstream?

Method

Description

Mouth

Drug passes through the walls of the stomach, then into the small intestine to be absorbed into the bloodstream 

Inhaled

Drug enters the bloodstream via blood vessels in the nasal passages

Smoked

Drug passes from the alveoli in the lungs into the capillaries and the bloodstream

Skin

Drug passes through pore into capillaries and the bloodstream

Injected

Drug is injected under the skin (skin popping), deep into a muscle (intramuscular injection), or directly into a vein (mainlining)


  1. What is the difference between popping and mainlining? 


Popping is when the drug is injected under the skin while mainlining is when you directly inject the drug into a vein, causing immediate and stronger effects.