Drugs and Behavior Exam 1

Question 1

Ways of looking at the subject of Drugs and Behavior

Answer 1

We can focus on specific substances that alter our feelings, thoughts, perceptions of the world and behavior.

Or we can focus on the circumstances that lead to drug taking behavior.

Question 2

What is a drug?

Answer 2

A drug is a chemical substance that can alter the structure or functioning of the body in some way. Basically, it fucks your shit up.

Question 3

What is a psychoactive drug?

Answer 3

A psychoactive drug is a drug that influences the functioning of the brain, hence it influences our behavior and experience. Basically, it REALLY fucks your shit up.

Question 4

Licit vs. Illicit drugs

Answer 4

Licit drugs are legal, like marijuana in Denver or salvia in 2009, pre-Miley incident.

Illicit drugs are illegal substances, like whatever was in Justin Bieber’s house last week.

Question 5

Instrumental Drug Use

Answer 5

The person is taking the drug with a specific, socially-approved goal in mind, like taking a painkiller after a surgery.

Question 6

Recreational Drug Use

Answer 6

The person is taking the drug for the sole purpose of it’s psychoactive properties, like getting high.

Question 7

Drug Abuse vs. Drug Misuse

Answer 7

Drug Abuse - drug-taking behavior that results in some form of physical, mental or social impairment.

Drug Misuse - drug-taking behavior in which a prescription or non-prescription drug is used inappropriately.

Question 8

Ebers Papyrus

Answer 8

From 1500 B.C., this was an Egyptian document that had more than 800 “prescriptions” for common diseases.

Question 9

Drugs in the 19th century (1800s)

Answer 9

Morphine was identified as the major active drug in opium and medicines were beginning to be patented. Common ingredients in medicines were opium, cocaine and alcohol. The government had a “laissez-faire” or hands-off atitude about drug policiies. Also psychoactive drugs were wicked popular.

Question 10

How can we measure drug use in USA populations?

Answer 10

We use surveys! The Monitoring the Future survey and National Survey on Drug Use and Health (lifetime prevalence) are very helpful. These surveys found that on average, 38-40% of high school seniors have used an illicit drug at least once.

Question 11

Top reasons for drug use in young people

Answer 11

Peer pressure (65%)
Experimentation (54%)
Obtain Pleasure (49%)
To Relax (41%)
Escapism
To combat deleterious consequences from addiction (to not go through withdrawal).

Question 12

Risk Factors vs. Protective Factors

Answer 12

Risk factors are factors taht increase the likelihood of involvement in drugs. (Ex. irregular school attendance, membership in deviant subculture, getting in trouble in general, poor relationship with rents)

Protective factors are factors taht decrease the likelihood of involvement with drugs and reduce the impact of any risk factor. (Ex. positive home environment, education, positive attitudes and beliefs)

Question 13

Developmental Assests

Answer 13

Protective factors taht can prevent drug use and other high risk behaviors, like living in a caring neighborhood, having parents involved in school, having healthy school boundaries, etc.

Question 14

Examples of Club Drugs

Answer 14

MDMA (Molly, E, X)
Gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB)
Ketamine (Special K)
Meth

Question 15

How do drugs affect you?

Answer 15

They affect your psychological state and your physiological state.

Question 16

Drug Toxicity & Drug Dose

Answer 16

Drug Toxicity is the drug’s harmful effects.

A dose is the quanitity of a drug that is taken into the body, typically measured in milligrams.

Question 17

Acute Toxicity

Answer 17

This can be measured in terms of either a drug’s therapeutic index or its margin of safety, each of which can be computed from it’s effective dose response and lethal dose response curves.

Ex. acute toxicity can be an accidental lethal overdose of heroin, or overmedication of prescription or OTC drugs.

Question 18

How can we plot the effect of drugs on behavioral changes?

Answer 18

Dose Response Curve

Question 19

Effective Dose vs. Lethal Dose

Answer 19

Effective Dose (ED) is the minial dose of a drug necessary to get you high in a given percentage of the population.

Lethal Dose (LD) is the minimal dose of a drug capable of producing death in a given perceptange of the population.