Download Decision Making: Drugs - Colorado Springs School District 11

DECISION MAKING:
DRUGS
DECISION MAKING PROCESS
1. Identify the decision being made.
 2. Determine and examine information.
 3. Find possible alternatives
 4. Weight the consequences of each decision
 5. Choose the best option and act on it
 6. Examine the results
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ALCOHOL
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Alcohol is a depressant drug
Acts on the brain as an anesthetic, putting it “to
sleep”.
 Slow the heart and lowers blood pressure
 Reduces inhibitions, self-control, and judgement
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ALCOHOL USE

The consumption of alcohol for social or religious
purposes without demonstrating the
characteristics of alcohol abuse or alcoholism
ALCOHOL ABUSE
Continues use of alcohol despite the development
of social, legal, or health problems
 It is important to note that any alcohol use by
underage youth is considered to be alcohol abuse

CHARACTERISTICS OF ALCOHOL ABUSE
Failing to fulfill major work, school, or home
responsibilities
 Drinking in situations that are potentially
dangerous, such as driving a car or operating
heavy machinery
 Experiencing repeated alcohol-related legal
problems, such as being arrested for driving
while intoxicated.
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CONSEQUENCES

Alcohol is associated with a number of serious
social ills
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Car accidents
On the job accidents
Domestic abuse
Date rape
Assault
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In the US alcohol is a significant factor in
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68% of manslaughter cases
62% of assault offenders
54% of murders
48% of robberies
44% of burglaries
ALCOHOLISM
A chorionic disease involving a strong need to
drink, in the inability to stop drinking, the
occurrence of withdrawal symptoms, and
tolerance.
 Often progressive

CHARACTERISTICS OF ALCOHOLISM
Cravings (a strong compulsion to drink)
 Impaired control over drinking use and abuse
despite consequences
 Failure to acknowledge the problem
 Tolerance or need for larger amounts of alcohol to
feel intoxicated
 Physical dependence symptoms

Shakes
 Sweating
 Anger
 Headaches

ALCOHOL USE VS ALCOHOL ABUSE

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=alcohol+use
+vs+abuse+video&mid=3D6A4CB307F0B3DCAC
773D6A4CB307F0B3DCAC77&view=detail&FO
RM=VIRE6&adlt=strict
ALCOHOL USE BY PREGNANT WOMEN
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Alcohol consumed by a pregnant woman passes
from her bloodstream into her unborn baby’s
bloodstream
Babies may suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome if
mother consumes alcohol while pregnant
Mental handicaps
 Slower physical growth

BINGE DRINKING
5 or more drinks on a single occasion for men
generally within 2/3 hours
 4 or more drinks on a single occasion for women
within 2/3 hours.

DRINKING GAMES
2 dangers:
 1. losing track of how much alcohol has been
consumed
 2. become part of a “normal” drinking pattern

ALCOHOL POISONING

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A condition in which a toxic amount of alcohol
has been drunk, especially in short amount of
time.
Symptoms:
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Vomiting
Mental confusion, stuper, coma
Seizures
Slow breathing
Irregular breathing
Hypothermia
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Call 911 if any of these symptoms are present
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SAM SPADY
http://pauljohnsonfilms.com/film_spady_view.
 php
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2 GLASSES DOESN’T ALWAYS EQUAL 2
DRINKS

A red cup full of beer is a lot different than a red
cup full of alcohol spiked party punch.
ALCOHOL AFFECTS EVERYONE
DIFFERENTLY
Gender
 Weight
 Food consumption
 Speed of consumption

TOBACCO
In consumption it most commonly appears in the forms
of smoking, chewing, snuffing, or dipping tobacco.
 Because of the addictive properties of nicotine,
tolerance and dependence develop.
 Up to 1/3 of the population use tobacco products.

The World Health Organization estimates that
tobacco caused 5.4 million deaths in 2004 and 100
million deaths over the course of the 20th
century.
 Smoking rates in the United States have dropped
by half from 1965 to 2006, falling from 42% to
20.8% in adults

SMOKING
Smoking accounts for at least 30 percent of all
cancer deaths and 87 percent of lung cancer
deaths.
 Smokers are up to 60 percent more likely to
develop stomach cancer than nonsmokers.
 Chemicals can even seep from the bloodstream
into your bone marrow, where developing white
blood cells can be affected, raising a smokers
odds of getting leukemia.

DRUGS

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Drug Abuse: illegal or excessive drug use:
deliberate use of an illegal drug or of too much of
a prescribed drug
There are 4 stages of Drug Use
STAGE 1: MISUSE
Misuse: Misuse is characterized as infrequent
use for the purpose of intoxication.
 The misuser’s are those who do not have a
pattern of weekend or weekday use, but use on
social occasions such as Dances, work functions,
“Spring Break”, weddings, Supper Bowl Sunday,
“420″, Halloween, Graduation, New Year’s, Etc.
 If consequences occur for these individuals
because of their drug use, they quit.
 They don’t try to manipulate drug tests, or lie to
cover up their use, they just simply quit.
 These individuals do not yet have an emotional
relationship to intoxication.

STAGE 2: SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Substance Abuse: Substance Abuse is
characterized by a pattern of use such as
weekends or during the week.
 It is also using despite negative consequences.
 Using despite negative consequences is the result
of a pathological relationship to intoxication. The
pathological relationship is an emotional illness.

STAGE 3:THE EMOTIONAL ILLNESS
The drug use distorts the user’s emotions.
 Values change: As the relationship to intoxication
increases, it becomes more important than work,
family, school, straight friends, sports or other
activities
 The user protects their relationship to
intoxication from anyone or system that tries to
intervene.

THE FINAL STAGE OF USE IS ADDICTION.
The symptoms of addiction are: preoccupation,
using despite negative consequences and loss of
control.
Preoccupation occurs when the user is
preoccupied with getting drugs, paying for drugs,
and protecting drugs.
 Using despite consequences occurs when a person
experiences a consequence from their chemical
use and they continue to use despite that.
 Addiction is a Progressive Disease which only
gets worse over time
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MARIJUANA
How is Marijuana Abused?
 Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint)
or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which
are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and
refilled with a mixture of marijuana and tobacco.
This mode of delivery combines marijuana's
active ingredients with nicotine and other
harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed
in food or brewed as a tea. As a more
concentrated, resinous form, it is called hashish;
and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil. Marijuana
smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually
sweet-and-sour odor.
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MARIJUANA
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How does it effect the brain?
When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly
passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which
carries the chemical to the brain and other organs
throughout the body.
marijuana intoxication can cause distorted
perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty
with thinking and problem solving, and
problems with learning and memory.
Research has shown that, in chronic users,
marijuana's adverse impact on learning and memory
can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of
the drug wear off.
ADDICTION?
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Estimates from research suggest that about 9
percent of users become addicted to marijuana;
this number increases among those who start
young (to about 17 percent) and among daily
users (25-50 percent).
URINE TESTS
Most researchers agree that urine tests for
marijuana can detect the presence of the drug in
the body for up to 13 days.
 However, there is anecdotal evidence that the
length of time that marijuana remains in the
body is affected by how often the person smokes,
how much he smokes and how long he has been
smoking. Regular smokers have reported positive
drug test results after 45 days since last use and
heavy smokers have reported positive tests 90
days after quitting.
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MEDICAL USE?
http://medicalmarijuana.procon.org/view.resource
.php?resourceID=000881
 16 states (including Colorado have legalized
marijuana for medical use).
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HALLUCINOGENS
The term hallucinogen refers to a variety of
substances capable of inducing profound altered
states of consciousness. Also known as
phantastica, psychedelics, entheogens, and
psychointegrators, these substances have a long
history of use in societies throughout the world.
 Under the influence of hallucinogens, people see
images, hear sounds, and feel sensations that
seem real but are not. Some hallucinogens also
produce rapid, intense emotional swings.
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The “major” hallucinogens are LSD, mescaline,
psilocybin (found in “magic mushrooms”), and the
tryptamine derivatives (found in ayahuasca).
These substances alter sensory perception and
produce changes in a person’s body image and
awareness of space and time, but they do not
cloud consciousness and have little impact upon
memory.
LSD
LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide) is one of the
most potent mood-changing chemicals. It was
discovered in 1938 and is manufactured from
lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus
that grows on rye and other grains.
 sold in tablets, capsules, and, occasionally, liquid
form; thus, it is usually taken orally.
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PEYOTE
Peyote is a small, spineless cactus in which the
principal active ingredient is mescaline. This
plant has been used by natives in northern
Mexico and the southwestern United States as a
part of religious ceremonies. Mescaline can also
be produced through chemical synthesis.
 The top of the peyote cactus, also referred to as
the crown, consists of disc-shaped buttons that
are cut from the roots and dried. These buttons
are generally chewed or soaked in water to
produce an intoxicating liquid.
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PSILOCYBIN
Psilocybin (4-phosphoryloxy-N,Ndimethyltryptamine) is obtained from certain
types of mushrooms that are indigenous to
tropical and subtropical regions of South
America, Mexico, and the United States. These
mushrooms typically contain less than 0.5
percent psilocybin plus trace amounts of psilocin,
another hallucinogenic substance.
 white crystalline powder that is readily soluble in
water or alcohol.
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PCP
PCP (phencyclidine) was developed in the 1950s
as an intravenous anesthetic. Its use has since
been discontinued due to serious adverse effects.
 white crystalline powder that is readily soluble in
water or alcohol.
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WHAT HAPPENS?
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At high doses, blood pressure, pulse rate, and
respiration drop. This may be accompanied by
nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking
up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of
balance, and dizziness. PCP abusers are often
brought to emergency rooms because of overdose
or because of the drug’s severe untoward
psychological effects. While intoxicated, PCP
abusers may become violent or suicidal and are
therefore dangerous to themselves and others.
COCAINE
Short-term:
 Cocaine is a powerful nervous system stimulant.
Its effects can last from 15–30 minutes to an
hour, depending on the route of administration.
 Cocaine increases alertness, feelings of well-being
and euphoria, energy and motor activity, feelings
of competence and sexuality. Athletic
performance may be enhanced in sports where
sustained attention and endurance is required.
Anxiety, paranoia and restlessness are also
frequent.
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COCAINE: LONG TERM
With excessive dosage, tremors, convulsions and
increased body temperature are observed
 Chronic cocaine intake causes brain cells to adapt
functionally to strong imbalances of transmitter
levels in order to compensate extremes.
 Cocaine dependence (or addiction) is
psychological dependency on the regular use of
cocaine. Cocaine dependency may result in
physiological damage, lethargy, psychosis,
depression, akathisia, and fatal overdose
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METH

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/
JUVENILE DRUG USE
http://www.adsgc.org/subabuse.htm
1. Experimentation
2. Regular Use
3. Risky Use
4.Dependence
5. Addiction
