Lecture 4: alcohol, cocaine and tobacco Flashcards
How long have people been consuming and producing alcohol for?
Since BC ppl have been consuming ethanol and alcohol. People have also been producing alcohol for a long time (fermenting grass)
What age group is alcohol consumption relatively common among?
Young people (49% in ages 15-17/18) (83% in ages 17/18-24) (85% from age 25-34)
Where does alcohol rank for all age groups In the top 5 substances used in Canada?
Number 1
underage drinking in Canada
Youth from grade 7-12, 45% of youths in Canada have consumed alcohol in the past year, they drink less than adults. There is a small decline in this
Post-secondary drinking In Canada Based on a convenience sample collected in 2016 from 43,780 students in post secondary institutions
69.3 of students reported any use of alcohol within the last 30 days preceding the survey (70.2 of females and 68.1 of males)
Risky drinking: 35% reported 5 or more drinks in a sitting (38.8 of males and 33.5% of females)
Not representative of all post-secondary students in Canada
What is The cost of substance abuse in Canada?
Substance use can impact our healthcare and justice system both directly and indirectly. It indirectly affects productivity, It directly sucks resources from our healthcare system, It directly effects the criminal justice system. (total cost 39.8 billion)
Alcohol (463$ per capita) and tobacco (541$ per capita) are more common because they are legal
What was the aim of the study about drug use linked to individual and other harms
Provide better guidance to policy makers in health, policing and social care on the harms that drugs cause
What was the method of the study about drug use linked to individual and other harms
People attending ACMD identified 16 harm criteria
9 relate to the harms that a drug produces in the individual and 7 relate to the harms to other locally and internationally. Rated 20 representative drugs on a 0-100 point scale. Participants as a group scored each drug on each harm criterion in an open discussion. Also assessed the relative importance of the criteria within each cluster and across clusters. Alcohol causes more harm to others in comparison to others, it also causes a lot of harm to individuals
What is the category “physical harm to the individual” made up of?
Drug specific mortality: How lethal is the drug?
Drug related mortality: engaging in a behaviour that is related to the consumption (drinking and driving)
Drug specific damage: a direct consequence of consuming the drug
Drug related damage
What is the category “Psychological harm to the individual Category” made up of?
Dependence, Drug specific impairment of mental functioning: psychosis, Drug related impairment of mental functioning: losing a job
What is the category “social harm to the individual” made up of?
Loss of tangibles, Loss of relationships
What is the category “Physical and psychological harm to others” made up of
Injury
What is the category “social” made up of?
Crime
Environmental damage
Family adversities
International damage (drugs are an international enterprise- smuggling, trafficking)
Economic cost (substance use has a large financial cost on society)
Community
What substance use ranks the highest in Canada?
Alcohol use or dependence ranks the highest amongst substance use disorders in canada (18.1% or a third of our population)
Why do people consume alcohol?
Positive reinforcement (I.e., to get a high), Negative reinforcement (i.e., depression - to forget painful memories or anxiety) Social (i.e., celebrate), Conformity