TALK ABOUT: DRUGS

Why do students use drugs?– How do they make you feel?– What do they make you do?

What are other ways to achieve the same effects?

Things to Talk About

WHY DO STUDENTS

USE DRUGS?

Do you use drugs to:– Relax– Forget– Avoid feeling overwhelmed– Combat anxiousness– Help you sleep– Have fun– Experiment

Why Do Students Use Drugs?

What are the underlying causes?– Stress– Depression– Social Pressure– Boredom

Why Do Students Use Drugs?

MARIJUANA

What is it?– The dried flowers of the herb Cannabis– Cannabis flowers contain psychoactive

compounds called cannabinoids including THC

How is it used?– Throughout history marijuana was used

as a folk ailment, treating everything from depression to pain

Marijuana

Desired Effects:– Mild euphoria, relaxation, time distortion,

and intensified sensory perception

Unwanted Effects:– Impaired short term memory– irritated lungs and build up of

carcinogenic tars– increased heart rate– dilation of blood vessels in the eye

Marijuana

HALLUCINOGENS

What are they?– Hallucinogenic drugs include LSD, psilocybin

mushrooms, peyote, and ayahuasca – They activate serotonin receptors in the brain,

which affect memory and perception

How are they used?– Peyote, ayahuasca, and mushrooms were

central to indigenous America religious ceremonies

– LSD associated with counterculture since the 1960s

Hallucinogens

Desired Effects:– profoundly distorted perception of reality

Unwanted Effects:– profoundly distorted perception of reality– anxiety and potentially dangerous

unpredictable behavior

Hallucinogens

ECSTASY

What is it?– Ecstasy is the street name for drugs

whose psychoactive element is MDMA– MDMA was synthesized and patented by

Merck Pharmaceuticals in 1912

How is it used?– Today, the use of ecstasy is often

associated with rave culture

Ecstasy

Desired Effects:– euphoria, increased sociability, and

intensified sensory perception

Unwanted Effects:– anxiety – depression– overdose and death

Ecstasy

"SMART" DRUGS

What are they?– Ritalin and Adderall

• Prescription stimulants developed to treat ADHD

– Provigil • Originally developed to treat narcolepsy

How are they used?– Used without a prescription as cognitive

enhancers (often to improve academic performance)

"Smart" Drugs

Desired Effects– Extreme focus and sleeplessness

Unwanted effects– Nervousness, decreased appetite,

headaches– Can also lead to dependence

"Smart" Drugs

COCAINE

What is it?– chemical compound derived from coca

leaves

How is it used?– cocaine was originally developed as a

pharmaceutical stimulant and anesthetic– recreationally cocaine is used for its

stimulating effects

Cocaine

Desired Effects:

– euphoria, increased energy, suppressed appetite

Unwanted effects:

– dependence, heart damage, kidney damage, ulcers, lung and nose damage

– Overdose and death

Cocaine

OPIATES

What is it?– Derived from the flowers of opium poppies

How is it used?– Opium has been used as a sedative and

painkiller throughout the world– Although heroin is outlawed in the US,

other opiate painkillers remain legal, and are prescribed to this day

Opiates

Desired effects:– Pain relief, feelings of intense pleasure and well-

being

Unwanted effects:– Highly physically addictive, with serious physical

symptoms accompanying withdrawal– Decreased heart rate, blood pressure, and

slowed breathing– Nausea and vomiting– Overdose and death

Opiates

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

What are the underlying causes of drug abuse?

What alternatives to drug use can provide similar positive outcomes without negative side-effects?

Things to Think About

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