Drugs and Behavior Textbook Notes PDF

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Textbook Notes: Chapter 1 

09/26/2014

Athletic, biological, economic, educational, legal, medical, political,

psychological, religious, social/cultural  How are these 10 systems alike? o They influence or are influenced by alcohol and other drug 

use Pharmacology and Drugs:  Pharmacology: the scientific study of drugs concerned with all 

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information about the effects of drugs on living systems Pharmacology is considered a part of biology and allied with physiology and biochemistry Psychopharmacology: the subarea of pharmacology that concerns the effects of drugs on behavior Psychology: the scientific study of behavior Drug: broadly defined as any chemical entity or mixture of entities not required for the maintenance of health but that alters biological function or structure when administered Drug abuse: any use of drug that causes physical, psychological, legal, or social harm to the individual user or to other users affected by the drug user’s behavior. (drug use with negative consequences) A major problem is that the behavior that causes consequences in one community or culture may not cause them in another, or not to the same degree.

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Drug Classification:  By origin: an example is that drugs come from plants such as opiates which come from opium poppy (heroin is often called an opiate drug) Because this classification distinguishes only the source of the drug, a given drug class may include many drugs that have different chemical actions.

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By therapeutic use: according to similarity in how a drug is used to

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treat or modify something in the body (amphetamines are called appetite-suppressant drugs) By site of drug action: pertains to where in the body the drug is causing physical changes (alcohol= depressant because of its depressant action on the CNS)

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By chemical structure: for example…the barbiturates (such as phenobarbital, Amytal, and seconal) are synthetic compounds derived from the chemical structure of barbituric acid, the synthetic compound that forms the chemical base for barbiturate drugs

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By mechanism of action: how a drug produces its drug effects. By street name: this comes from subcultures and the street drug market. (amphetamines are called speed, barbiturates or depressants such as methaqualone are called downers) Drug effects: the action of a drug on the body. Drug effects are measured in different ways Psycoactive: pertaining to effects on mood, thinking, and behavior

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The Drug Experience:  What causes the “drug experience”? o The drug’s chemical action (this was first thought to be the main cause) o Later research showed that the “drug experience” is caused 

by a few different things Three sets of factors: o Pharmological factors:  Drug Dosage: measure of the quantity of drug  

consumed Action on the body of the drug used Route of drug administration: the way that drugs enter

the body o Non pharmological factors: characteristics of the drug user:  Person’s genetic make up- biologically inherited

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differences among people govern their bodies’ reaction to the ingestion of different drugs Gender, age, drug tolerance, and personality An important part of personality is the persons

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Psychological set about a drug Psychological set: an individuals knowledge, attitudes, and expectations, and other thoughts about an object or event, such as a drug

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ometimes the strong belief that a drug will

produce a certain effect will be enough to produce the effect, even though the person has ingested a chemically inactive substance (placebo) o Non pharmological factors: the setting in which a drug is used:  Laws pertaining to drug use in the community where

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the drug is taken The immediate physical environment where the drug is

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used Whether or not people are present at the time of drug

use Alcohol and Drug use in the United States:  National survey study is taken to learn about the country’s drug 

usage habits Surveys include interviewing people of the age 12 or older across the country. Studies generally ensure that those interviewed are as similar as possible to the U.S. population as a whole o This is regarding factors such as gender, age, race, region of

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country, and rural versus urban living environments Taking surveys of the county’s drug use habits is important for the government so they can attempt to control drug use with laws and taxes o Some controversial laws that touch upon the basic constitutional rights of Americans  The right of the government and other public and

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private employers to conduct urine screens or employees as means of controlling drug use in work areas The question of whether intravenous drug users should

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be supplied with clean syringes free of charge as a way of preventing the spread of HIV Whether or not marijuana should be available as a prescription drug or even whether it should be legally

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available to adults for recreational purposes Legal penalties related to selling or using drugs

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Prevalence: the general occurrence of an event, usually expressed in terms of percentage of some population. Another common

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statistic in survey studies is incidence, or the number of first-time occurrences of an even during some period of times Summary of 2011 survey data: NSDUH data suggests that people in the US use a variety of drugs. Alcohol and nicotine use are

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greater than any illicit drug Polydrug use: the same person’s regular use of more than one drug

Special population groups- the label emphasizes that, to understand a

particular group’s drug use, we need to understand its unique history and current circumstances  Special population groups include women (because traditionally women have received far less attention from alcohol and other drug

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researchers than have men), Native Americans, African Americans, the homeless, Hispanics and people who identify their sexual orientation as lesbian, gay or bisexual. International comparison of Drug Use  It is difficult to compare US drug use with other country’s drug

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usage because of the differences in how each country surveys their citizens Epidemiological data on lifetime drug use in specific countries in North America, South America, and Europe provide an opportunity for cross-national comparisons of general population use of alcohol and selected other drugs o Lifetime use of alcohol is defined as used at least 12 times o Lifetime use of other drugs is defined as used at least 5 times o In the survey in 2002, most lifetime use of alcohol and other drugs was done by men. o Cannabis use was the second most prevalently used in every country (the use varies widely around the world but at low levels c fhyyhn o Overall drug use (excluding alcohol and cannabis) was highest

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in the united states and lowest in Mexico Negative Consequences of Alcohol and Drug Use:  “Cost-of-illness”: one way of looking at negative consequences

o the purpose of these studies is to quantify in dollars what society “pays” for its members incurring specific illnesses o focusing on economic factors does not mea no psychological 

costs are associated with the illness Two major “illness” distinctions that have been studied in detail are

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alcohol abuse and other drug abuse In research, “drug abuse” concerns the use of illegal drugs and the

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nonprescription use of drugs typically used for therapeutic purposes (nicotine is not included) The costs of both alcohol and drug abuse come from a range of sources: illness, death, medical expenses, and crime o Crime costs being significant for drug use ***some examples of costs are: hospital emergency room resources, suffering of a family who’s young member was shot

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trying to obtain drugs, those born with fetal alcohol syndrome Defining Harmful Drug Use: Use of the DSM:  The positive aspect of using this is that using the same symptoms to diagnose a patient makes it easy for two doctors to understand

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each other The American Psychiatric Association (APA) uses a DSM o Systems are revised because of ongoing research that provides new information about different disorders (the newest one being the DSM-5) o DSM-5 has a new section called “substance-related” disorders o Important to take notice of between DSM-4 and DSM-5  The same criteria are applied in defining dependence and abuse for all drugs and drug classes that people

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tend to use for nonmedical reasons  Prior editions of the DSM distinguished between dependence and abuse, but this distinction was not made in DSM-5 due to research findings since the last major DSM was published Criteria 1-9 focus on “compulsive drug use” or drug addiction

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Addiction: overwhelming involvement with using a drug, getting an adequate supply of it, and having a strong tendency to resume use of it after stopping for a period Drug addiction usually means the individual’s life centers on drug use also causes neglect in other aspects of life individuals with addictions also have an inability to stop or to reduce drug use for any length of time this means “loss of control” The last two criteria introduce 2 terms: withdrawal and tolerance At least 2 of the 11 criteria must be met for the diagnoses of substance use disorder Psychological Dependence: the emotional state of craving a drug either for its positive effect or to avoid negative effects associated with its abuse

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Craving: a term that has been variously defined in reference to drug use; typically a strong or intense desire to use a drug for its positive effect or to avoid negative effects that has to do with the drug abuse

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In the DSM- 5, drug use would mean any consumption of alcohol or other drugs and related events that do not meet the criteria for “use disorder” Drug Tolerance, Withdrawal, and Drug-Taking Behavior:  Tolerance: increased amounts of a drug needed to achieve intoxication, or a diminished drug effect with continued use of the same amount of a drug

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Withdrawal: definable illness that occurs with a cessation or decrease in use of a drug after the body has adjusted to the presence of a drug to such a degree that it cannot function without the drug

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Syndrome (abstinence syndrome): a number of symptoms that occur together and characterize a specific illness or disease o The severity of those symptoms may change with the characteristics of the user and their history of use of that drug o Psychological symptoms such as anxiety, depression and craving for drugs are often part of withdrawal syndromes

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“sensitization” hypothesis: one result of repeated use of a drug in interaction with environmental factors is changes in the brain neural pathways that may heighten the reward value of that drug drugs effects become more appealing to an individual people use different drugs for different reasons most drugs, even though have different pharmacological effects have been seen to be used for similar reasons (feeling better when depressed, enhanced sex, getting intoxicated, helping to relax, helping to sleep) people use drugs for the effect that they expect to get from the specific drug

Textbook Notes: Chapter 2 

09/26/2014

Drugs have been used for a variety of reasons in different cultures:

religious purposes, recreation, altering states of consciousness, obtaining relief from pain or distress  Fermentation: combustive process in which yeasts interact with the

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sugars in plants such as grapes, grains, and fruits to produce an enzyme that converts the sugar into alcohol Opium poppy: a plant cultivated for centuries, primarily in Eurasia,

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for opium—a narcotic that acts as a central nervous system depressant Cannabis sativa: Indian hemp plant popularly known as marijuana; its resin, flowering tops, leaves, and stem contain the plant’s

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psychoactive substances Hashish: drug produced from the resin that covers the flowers of the cannabis hemp plant. The resin generally contains a greater

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concentration of the drug’s psychoactive properties Prohibition: the legislative forbidding of the sale of a substance, as

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in the alcohol Prohibition era in the united states, 1920-1933 Opium Wars between Britain and China (1839-1858) 2 treaties:

Treaty of Nankin (Britain took control of Hong Kong (until 1997)) and Treaty of Teatsin (Britain still had control over China but China could impose strong taxes) Drug Use in the United States:  Narcotic: a central nervous system depressant that contains 

sedative and pain-relieving compounds Peyote: a cactus plant, the top of which (a “button”) is dried and

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ingested for its hallucinogenic properties Morphine: a derivative of opium best known as a potent pain-

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relieving medication Patent medicine: products that were sold, most often in the 19th century, as medicines that would cure a host of illnesses and

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diseases Amphetamines: central nervous system stimulants that act like

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naturally occurring adrenaline Native Americans showed Columbus and Europeans tobacco and

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peyote Europeans showed Native Americans alcoholic beverages

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In the 19th century: few restrictions were placed on drugs o Drugs such as opium, morphine, marijuana, heroin, and cocaine were easy to obtain without a prescription o Opium was sold legally at low prices o Opium, morphine, and cocaine could be obtained in a variety of patent medicines readily available in stores (example: Mrs.

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Wilsons’ Soothing Syrup) o Opium was used in liquid from in mixtures such as laudanum used for calming and quieting crying babies Most narcotic use was legal throughout this period  opum and morphine were called “God’s Own Medicine” Morphine was facilitated by the introduction of the hypodermic needle in the late 1840’s Civil war morphine addiction was called the “soldier’s disease” The smoking of Opium in the United States was introduced in the mid 1800’s by Chinese laborers, especially on the west coast In the 1800’s, physicians used a liquid extract of Cannabis as a general all purpose medication non-medical use much larger in the 1920’s probably in part due to prohibition Because of the prevalence of marijuana in the United States organizations such as the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) and the Drug Policy Alliance focus on

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decriminalizing and legitimizing marijuana sale and use The first state to legalize medical marijuana California (1996); in

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2013 medical marijuana was legal in 18 states Cocaine was used widely in various “tonics” and patent medicines in the late 1900’s but in 1914 was brought under strict legal controls and penalties use was limited until 1960’s crack cocaine was

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found in large cities in the 1980’s Amphetamines used to treat depression in the 1930’s; also given

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to soldiers during WWII in the belief that the drug would enhance alertness Restrictions on availability of amphetamines through medical outlets such as physician prescriptions were made as concern about the dangers came about

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In the 1960s/1970s amphetamines were overprescribed for weight control caused it to be widely available on the streets

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Solvent: a substance, usually a liquid or gas, that contains one or

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more intoxicating components; glue, gasoline and nonstick-frying pan sprays In the 1950’s minor tranquilizers and solvent inhaling 1960’s LSD and Ecstasy o LSD was banned in 1967 and is now used in “rave” culture o Ecstasy is now referred as “club drugs” Heroin 1890’s used in both the lower and higher socioeconomic groups o Vietnam War U.S. soldiers used it a lot o It is now popular again because of its low price and easy

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availability “Bath Salts”: a psychoactive “designer drug” that is synthesized

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from various amphetamine-like chemicals and can be inhales, swallowed, smoked, or ingested Synthetic marijuana: psychoactive “designer drug” comprised of

natural plants that are sprayed with synthetic chemicals that mimic the effects of cannabis when consumed Development of Drug Laws:  Actual drug use is not a crime under federal law, nor is it a crime to 

be a drug addict or an alcoholic Drug laws for the most part have had limited effectiveness in reducing overall illicit drug availability and use o The more restrictive the laws, the less effective they seem to be in the long run o The only time these laws seem to be more effective is when

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drug use or abuse is particularly unpopular The San Francisco Ordinance:  This was the only law that had any effect in on drug use in the 19 th 

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century *** Chinese men brought opium along with them when they came to work on the railroads out west “opium dens” where people would smoke opium after work in the city Opium dens were banned but smoking opium was not

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Larger opium dens were closed but many more smaller ones

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opened up This law was mostly big because it set a precedent for setting drug

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laws in states Opium importation was banned in 1909

Pure Food and Drug Act:  Passed in 1906was designed to control opiate addiction  Legislated that producers of medicines must indicate on the packaging the amount of drug contained in their products focused mostly on the opiates opium, morphine, and heroine but also stated that the accurate labeling of products that contained alcohol, 

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MAY have served to decrease the number of new addicts Harrison Narcotics Tax Act:  1914Hague Convention of 1912 Signed by US so they had to 

regulate opium traffic Strictly regulated but did not ban the legal supply of certain drugs (mostly opiates) marketing and prescribing these drugs required

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licensing The question was whether or not physicians were prescribing due to

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a treatment plan or maintaining the addicts addiction Counter productive shifted opium and morphine addicts to heroin

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because it became easier to obtain The act did not restrict manufacturers of patent medicines, with the

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marijuana and cocaine be done It didn’t ban opiates so didn’t do much for the already addicts

exception that their preparations could “not contain more than two grains of opium, or more than one fourth of a grain of morphine, or more than one eight of a gram of heroin in one avoirdupois ounce” Inaccurately included cocaine as a narcotic Lead to treatment centers for addicts in larger cities only open for

a few years Alcohol Prohibition:  Enacted in 192...