B1.3 The Use and Abuse of Drugs Flashcards
What are drugs?
Substances that interfere with the chemical reactions occurring in the body - sometimes for the better, sometimes not
What can the chemical changes caused by drugs lead to? What happens if the drug isn’t taken?
The body becoming dependent on the drug (addicted) and if the drug isn’t taken, an addict can suffer withdrawal symptoms
What are the three different types of drugs?
Medicinal, recreational and performance-enhancing drugs
What are medicinal drugs used for? How can you get them?
They are medically useful, like antibiotics. Some need a prescription because they can be dangerous if misused, but others don’t need a prescription
What are recreational drugs used for?
For fun
What are performance-enhancing drugs used for?
To improve a person’s performance in sport
What are examples of performance-enhancing drugs? How do they help? (2)
Anabolic steroids - increase muscle size making the athlete stronger
Stimulants - increase heart rate so glucose + oxygen are transported to muscles faster giving them more energy
What negative health effects do performance-enhancing drugs have?
Steroids can cause high blood pressure and stimulants can cause an irregular heartbeat
Are performance-enhancing drugs illegal?
Some are, some are prescription-only, but all are banned in sports
What ethical problems are there with performance-enhancing drugs? (3)
Unfair advantage, athletes may be unaware of the health risks and whereas athletes from wealthier countries can afford them, poorer countries can’t
What ethical arguments for performance-enhancing drugs? (3)
It’s the athletes body, they can do what they want, drug-free sport isn’t fair anyway, different have better training facilities so drugs make it fairer and it avoids athletes being punished from taking a drug which they were not aware of
What process does a drug need to go through in order to be released to the public? (5)
Laboratory testing - Testing on cells and tissues, live animal testing
Clinical trials - Placebos and blind/double-blind trials
When testing a drug, what happens in the first step in laboratory testing?
The drug is tested on human cells and tissues, this doesn’t test how the drug affects the whole body
When testing a drug, what happens in the second step in laboratory testing?
The drug is tested on live animals, to see how harmful it is and what the best dosage is - in Britain, the drug must be tested on at least 2 mammals
What ethical problems are there in the second step of testing a drug in a lab? (2) Why is it still done?
People think it is cruel to test drugs on animals and others think it’s pointless as animals are so different from humans - but it is the safest way to test a drug
When testing a drug, what happens in the first step of the clinical trials?
The clinical trials, the drugs are tested on healthy human volunteers to test if they have any harmful side effects, it starts a low dosage and slowly increases
When testing a drug, what happens in the second/third of the clinical trials?
After the clinical trial, the drug is tested on a sufferer of the illness - the optimum dose is found
When testing a drug, what happens in the fourth step of the clinical trials?
Placebos, a group of patients are given the drug, another is given a fake version of the drug which doesn’t actually do anything, this is to test if the drug actually has benefits or if it is useless
When testing a drug, what happens in the fifth step of the clinical trials?
Clinical trials are blind, the patient doesn’t know if they are getting the drug or a placebo - clinical trials are often double-blind which means neither the doctor or patient knows if it is a placebo or not, this is to assure that the doctor isn’t influenced by their knowledge
What is the importance of testing a drug?
A drug needs to be tested thoroughly to know if they are safe or not.
Can you give an example where a drug wasn’t tested properly?
Thalidomide was originally intended to be a sleeping pill, but it was found effective in relieving morning sickness in preg’ women - this use wasn’t tested properly and it was later found the babies were born with birth defects e.g. no arms
What is difference between illegal ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ drugs?
Hard drugs are usually more addictive and harmful than soft drugs - but these are not scientific descriptions
What can recreational drugs cause?
Heroin, E and tree can all cause heart and circulatory system problems
Why do people take recreational drugs? (4)
Relaxation, stress relief, enjoyment, inspiration
What is the progression of soft drugs to hard drugs?
Weed is a ‘stepping stone’ - it creates effects which create a desire to try harder drugs
Weed is a ‘gateway drug’ - it brings people into contact with drug dealers
Genetics - some people are more like to take drugs
What examples are there of legal recreational drugs?
Nicotine, alcohol and caffeine
What effects does smoking have on a person’s health? (3)
Disease of the heart, blood vessels and lungs, cancer and it’s very addictive so it’s hard to stop
What effects does alcohol have on a person’s health? (3)
Affects the nervous system and slows down the body’s reactions, liver disease and brain damage, addictive and you can get drunk which results in poor coordination and unconsciousness
What results do legal recreational drugs have on society? (3)
NHS spends lots of money on helping people with lung disease, same with alcohol, but alcohol is regularly associated with crime
