Chapter 5 : Variations of consciousness(4)

Question 1

What are sedatives?

Answer 1

Sedatives are sleep-inducing drugs that tend to decrease central nervous system (CNS) activation and behavioral activity.

Question 2

What sedatives are the most widely used historically and what have people turned to now?

Answer 2

Historically, the most widely abused sedatives have been the barbiturates.

People have now turned to the benzodiazepine sedative.

Question 3

What are the effects of taking sedatives?

Answer 3

The desired effect is a euphoria similar to that produced by drinking large amounts of alcohol.

Feelings of tension or dejection are replaced by a relaxed, pleasant state of intoxication, accompanied by loosened
inhibitions.

Question 4

What are stimulants?

Answer 4

Stimulants are drugs that tend to increase central nervous system activation and behavioral activity.

Question 5

What are the ranges of stimulant drugs?

Answer 5

Stimulants range from mild, widely available drugs such as caffeine and nicotine, to stronger, carefully regulated ones such as cocaine. + amphetamines

Question 6

How is cocaine and amphetamines derived?

Answer 6

Cocaine is a natural substance that comes from the coca shrub.

In contrast, amphetamines are synthesized in a pharmaceutical laboratory.

Question 7

What are the effects of cocaine and amphetamines?

Answer 7

Cocaine and amphetamines have fairly similar effects, except that cocaine produces a briefer high.

Stimulants produce a euphoria very different from that created by opioids or sedatives. They produce a buoyant, elated, energetic “I can conquer the world!” feeling accompanied by increased alertness

Question 8

What are the side effects of cocaine and amphetamines?

Answer 8

Side effects of stimulants vary with dosage and potency but may include restlessness, anxiety, and insomnia.

In larger doses, the side effects may include heart problems, psychosis, and even sudden death.

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Question 9

What is free-basing?

Answer 9

“Freebasing” is a chemical treatment used to extract nearly pure cocaine from ordinary street cocaine.

Question 10

What is crack?

Answer 10

“Crack” is the most widely distributed by-product of the freebasing process, consisting of chips of pure cocaine that are usually smoked.

Question 11

How are amphetamines sold and adminstered?

Answer 11

Amphetamines are increasingly sold as a crystalline powder, called “crank,” that can be snorted or injected intravenously.

Drug dealers are also beginning to market a smokable form of methamphetamine called “ice” or “crystal meth.”

Question 12

Which stimulants have been used to treat children with ADHD?

Answer 12

Adderall and Ritalin

Question 13

What are hallucinogens?

Answer 13

Hallucinogens are a diverse group of drugs that have powerful effects on mental and emotional functioning, marked most prominently by distortions in sensory and perceptual experience.

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Question 14

What are the drugs that are classified as hallucinogens?

Answer 14

The principal hallucinogens are LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), mescaline, ketamine, and psilocybin.

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Question 15

What effects do hallucinogens produce?

Answer 15

Hallucinogens produce euphoria, increased sensory awareness, and a distorted sense of time.

In some users, they lead to profound, dreamlike, “mystical” feelings that are difficult to describe.

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Question 16

What is cannabis and what are the drugs derived from it?

Answer 16

Cannabis is the hemp plant from which marijuana, hashish, and THC are derived.

Question 17

What are marijuana and hashish? How are they adminstered?

Answer 17

Marijuana is a mixture of dried leaves, flowers, stems, and seeds taken from the plant.

Hashish comes from the plant’s resin.

Smoking is the usual route of ingestion for both marijuana and hashish.

Question 18

What chemical ingredient is responsible for the mood-altering properties of marijuana?

Answer 18

THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), one of the main active chemical ingredients in cannabis, is the one responsible for the
mood-altering properties in marijuana

Question 19

What is the desired effect of cannabis drugs?

Answer 19

The desired effects of the drug are
a mild, relaxed euphoria and enhanced sensory awareness.

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Question 20

What are the unintended side effects of cannabis drugs?

Answer 20

Unintended effects may include anxiety; sluggish mental functioning; impaired reaction time, thinking, and memory; and possibly psychosis.

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Question 21

What are the side effects of alcohol?

Answer 21

Common side effects include impairments in mental and motor functioning, mood swings, and quarrelsome

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Question 21

What are the effects of alcohol?

Answer 21

When people drink heavily, the central effect is a relaxed euphoria that temporarily boosts self-esteem, as problems seem to melt away and inhibitions diminish.

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Question 22

What is MDMA?

Answer 22

MDMA (“ecstasy,” “molly”) is a compound drug related to both amphetamines and hallucinogens, especially mescaline.
.

Question 23

What drug is sometimes referred to as a psychedelic amphetamine?

Answer 23

MDMA

Question 24

What kind of effect does MDMA provide?

Answer 24

MDMA produces a short-lived high that typically lasts a few hours or more.

Users report that physical sensations are heightened, they feel warm, friendly,
euphoric, sensual, insightful, and empathetic, but alert and energetic

[CS]

Question 25

What is tolerance?

Answer 25

Tolerance refers to a progressive decrease in a person’s responsiveness to a drug.

Question 26

What are the neurotransmitters affected by amphetamines?

Answer 26

Norepinephrine and dopamine.

Question 27

What neurotransmitter is affected by MDMA?

Answer 27

large amounts of the neurotransmitter serotonin being released.

Question 28

What neural pathway is affected by virtually all abused drugs?

Answer 28

Mesolimbic dopamine pathway also called the reward pathway.