Legal and Illegal drugs Flashcards
What are medicines?
Drugs that are used to treat or prevent disease.
What are drugs?
Substances other than food that change the structure or function of the body or mind.
What four things do medicines do?
- Help prevent disease
- Fights pathogens
- Relieve pain
- Promote health
What are two types of preventive medicines?
- Vaccines
- Antitoxins
What is a vaccine?
Preparation introduced to the body to stimulate an immune response (antibodies).
What are antitoxins?
Blood fluids that contain antibodies.
What is a pathogen? Which medicines do you take for pathogens?
A pathogen is a disease causing agent. These can be treated with Antibiotics (penicillin, etc.)
What are analgesics?
Pain relievers (aspirin, morphine, codeine).
What do people who are sensitive to aspirin take?
- Acetaminophen (tylenol)
- Ibuprofen (Advil)
What are four medicines that promote health?
- Allergy meds
- Anti-depressants
- Body regulators
- Cancer treatments
What are three negative effects of medicine on the body?
- Side effects: reactions to medicine other than the one intended
- Tolerance: body becomes used to medicine (doesn’t work)
- Withdrawal: chemical dependence
What does FDA stand for?
Food and Drug Administration
What does the FDA do?
Approves all medicines and drugs (safety).
What are the two types of pharmaceutical medicines? (classification wise)
- Prescription medicine: approval of doctor
- Over-the-counter medicines: no prescription needed
What are opioids?
Medications prescribed by doctors to treat persistent or sever pain.
What are opioids used for?
Chronic headaches, backaches, and recovering from surgery
What are the three most common forms of opioids? What are some brand names?
Morphine, codeine, and fentanyl. Some brand names are Vicodin, Percocet, and OxyContin.
What is the most serious public health epidemic in the USA today?
Drug overdoses. (over 1 million deaths in the last 10 years. 75% within the last 2
What are four medicine misuses that should be avoided?
- Taking someone else’s prescription
- Taking too much or too little
- Stopping before all pills are gone
- Mixing medicines
What is substance or drug abuse?
Any unnecessary or improper use of chemical substances for nonmedical perposes
What are illegal drugs?
AKA street drugs are illegal chemical substances that people may manufacture, possess, buy, or sell.
What are anabolic-androgenic steroids?
Synthetic substances that are similar to the male sex hormone testosterone.
What does anabolic mean?
Muscle building
What does androgenic mean?
Increased male characteristics
What are anabolic-androgenic steroids used for?
Used to increase muscle and athletic performance (illegal without prescription)
What are four factors that influence teen illegal drug use?
- peer pressure
- Family
- Role models
- Media
List the three health consequences of drug abuse.
- Physical
- Mental
- Social
What are the physical concequences of drug abuse? (3)
Hepatitis, HIV, and Overdose (OD)
What are the mental concequences of drug abuse?
It alters the brain causing loss of control and reasoning and can lead to mental illness.
What are three social consequences of drug abuse? (3)
Effects relationships, leads to crime, and suicide.
What are the four steps of the addiction cycle?
- Tolerance: body needs more
- Psychological dependence: person believes they need the drug to feel good
- Physiological dependence: person has a chemical need for the drug
- Addiction
List the six major drug categories.
- Marijuana (cannabis)
- Inhalants
- Stimulants
- Depressants
- Narcotics
- Hallucinogens
Is marijuana legal is the USA?
It is legal in some states for medical reasons.
What is the most widely used illegal drug?
Marijuana
Why is marijuana known as a gateway drug?
It often leads to the use of other addictive drugs.
What are five risks of marijuana use?
- Raises dopamine levels
- Contains cancer causing chemicals
- Interferes with the immune system causing more infections
- Paranoia: irrational suspiciousness or distrust of others
- Can cause short-term memory loss
What are the physical risks of marijuana to the reproductive system?
- Males: lowers sperm count and testosterone levels
- Females: increases levels of testosterone
- Both resulting in infertility
What are inhalants?
Substances whose fumes are sniffed and inhaled to alter the mind.
What is the negative effect of inhalants?
Permanent nervous system and brain damage (kills brain cells). May lead to death.
What are stimulants?
Drugs that speed up the central nervous system.
What are five common stimulants?
- Caffeine
- Nicotine
- Cocaine
- Amphetamines
- Methamphetamine
What is euphoria?
A feeling of intense well being or elation
What is crack cocaine?
A concentrated form that is very dangerous (one of the deadliest drugs).
What are amphetamines used for?
Reduce fatigue, drowsiness, and suppress appetite.
What are amphetamines illegally used for?
To keep alert, improve athletic performance, and lose weight.
What is methamphetamines used for?
(Meth) is used in treating diseases such as Parkinson’s disease and obesity.
What are depressants?
Drugs that tend to slow down the central nervous system.
What is the most common depressant?
Alcohol
What are 2 types of sedative medication?
- Barbiturates: induce sleep
- Tranquilizers: relieve anxiety, muscle spasms, sleepiness, and nervousness
What is rohypnol?
“date rate drug” - strong tranquilizer
What are narcotics?
Drugs that are obtainable only by prescription and are used to relieve pain (opioids)
What is heroin?
highly addictive narcotic that is processed from morphine.
What are hallucinogens?
Drugs that alter moods, thoughts, and sense perceptions (vision, hearing, smell, and touch). They have no medical use.
What is PCP?
One of the most dangerous drugs of all.
What is LSD?
A strong hallucinogen.
What are designer drugs?
Synthetic substances meant to imitate the effects of hallucinogens and other drugs (example: ecstasy)
