Week Two - Reading

Question 1

Psychoactive drugs can produce two major groups of harm?

Answer 1

• toxicity: usually an immediate effect of the drug when the blood-level concentration rises rapidly.
• dependence: a delayed effect that is linked to most of the long-term harms associated with use of psychoactive drugs.

Question 2

Define depressants:

Answer 2

Depressants are drugs that slow down the activity of the brain. Some examples of depressants are alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, and heroin. In small doses, they produce relaxation or drowsiness. In larger doses depressants cause a loss of consciousness similar to deep sleep.

Question 3

Define stimulants:

Answer 3

Stimulant drug increase the body’s state of arousal. They accelerate activity in the nervous system. Examples of stimulants are amphetamines and cocaine. in small doses they increase awareness and concentration while decreasing fatigue. As the dose increases they can cause excessive activity. Large doses death.

Question 4

Define hallucinogens:

Answer 4

These drugs often share with depressants and stimulations certain actions that include varying degrees of depression or stimulation. One of their specific functions is to distort perception so that external events can be misinterpreted by the brain.

Question 5

What two stages does the body go through to process a drug?

Answer 5

1. pharmacokinetics (what the body does to the drug)

2. pharmacodynamics (what the drug does to the body).

Question 6

Define the pharmacokinetics process:

Answer 6

Pharmacokinetics deals with the way in which the drug is delivered to the body:

• absorption
• distribution
• biotransformation
• excretion

Question 7

Define pharmacodynamics:

Answer 7

Refers to the way in which drugs act and the relationship between the blood concentration of the drug and its effect on the body; it can effect the body in six ways:

1. drug action
2. drugs as reinforcers
3. tolerance
4. dependence
5. cross-dependence
6. drug withdrawal.

Question 8

Define drug action:

Answer 8

many drugs produce effects by acting on a specific part of the body, called a receptor. Receptors receive messages in a chemical form, and are then capable of altering the rate at which a bodily function occurs.

Question 9

Define psychoactive drugs as reinforcers:

Answer 9

One characteristic is that psychoactive drugs leads to dependence is the capacity of the drug to act a reinforcer. Some drugs are powerful reinforcers in contrast to weak ones.

Question 10

Define drug tolerance:

Answer 10

Drug tolerance takes one of two forms. The first results from changes in the pharmacokinetic properties of the drug such that there is a reduction in concentration of the drug at the sites of drug action.

Second: pharmacodynamic tolerance. After prolonged use, adaptive changes may occur in the body that reduce the effect on the body of a given concentration of the drug. Thus the body is able to tolerate.

Question 11

Define drug dependence:

Answer 11

When someone gives the use of a drug a much higher priority than other behaviours that once had high value, this is a sign that they are dependent on the drug. It exists in degrees and varies in intensity. It has social, psychological, and physical aspects.

Question 12

Define cross-dependence:

Answer 12

The ability of one drug to suppress the manifestations of physical dependence produced by another and to maintain the physical dependence state is referred to as ‘cross-dependence’.

Question 13

Define drug withdrawal

Answer 13

Withdrawal symptoms are characterised by ‘rebound’ effects. Symptoms occur that are the opposite of those that occurred when the drug was used.