Drugs and Drug Use

What Is A Drug? Drug any substance that alters the chemical reactions (homeostasis) of the body Medicinal drugs Help fix illness or deal with symptoms of illness (pain, mood swings, etc.) Aspirin, morphine, antibiotics… Recreational drugs Alter you moods for pleasure/work Often illegal due to being highly addictive Alcohol, nicotine, heroine… 3 Types: Depressant inhibit nerves Stimulant enhance nerves/body Hallucinogen alter nerves to cause visions

Why Are Drugs Dangerous? Formation of addiction: First time effect of drug is very strong and mostly positive (euphoria) 2) Building a habit drug becomes part of your lifestyle; body creates tolerance (alter set point) so more drug is needed to get same effect 3) Addiction body now depended on drug and mood is horrible when not on drug (dependent) 4) Withdrawal symptoms body slow to reset set point to normal; negative feelings and sickness drive person back to drug

Good Drugs Antibiotics chemicals that bind to bacteria and pathogens Kill bacteria Break homeostasis Break cell wall/cell membrane Stop growth/ mark it for white blood cells Produced first time we get sick so the next time our body can kill the pathogen faster Medicinal antibiotics help our immune system kill pathogen faster Narrow-spectrum few species Broad-spectrum many species Why can’t these work on viruses? Viruses are not cells/not alive

So-So Drugs All medicinal drugs, if used properly, can help a person All mood-altering drugs can become additive Depends more on person than drug Pain-killers chemicals that slow down impulses and inhibit pain signals so the body does not feel pain Based on opiates (opium) Morphine, Aspirin, valium… Without pain-killers modern medicine would be very limited Painful surgeries Painful recovery after injury

Bad (Legal) Drugs Drugs with mostly no medical benefits but are accepted socially/legally Alcohol Ethanol made from fermentation of glucose Small molecule; quickly absorbed into body and spreads through blood Broken down by enzyme in liver (alcohol dehydrogenase) Depressant slows down nerve impulses Low: Remove inhibitions Med: Lose fine motor control, memory loss, and deep sleep High: Brain damage, coma, and death

Alcohol and You Effects of alcohol: Long Term Effects: BAC blood alcohol concentration 20-50 relaxed 50-80 euphoria 80-120 impaired (tipsy) 120-260 drunk 260-400 very drunk (blackout) >400 coma/death (alcohol poisoning) Long Term Effects: Cirrhosis damaged liver can’t function Brain/heart damage Alcoholic dependent on alcohol/ socially difficult person to deal with

Bad (Legal) Drugs Nicotine Cigarettes = Poison Found in tobacco plants (pesticide); inhaled through cigarettes Absorbed into blood through alveoli and travel to brain Stimulant that raises blood pressure, heart rate, and activates synapse (addictive) Cigarettes = Poison Tar cooled smoke turns into thick black globs that block gas exchange; cannot be removed by cilia Carbon Monoxide (CO) permanently binds to hemoglobin, reducing blood O2 by 10% Carcinogens chemical that cause DNA to mutate and become cancer

Don’t Smoke!! Long Term Effects: Bronchitis tar causes extra mucus in lungs (phlegm); bacteria live happy but make you sick and cough a lot Emphysema alveoli weaken and burst; decreases gas exchange Heart disease CO and lowered gas exchange mean heart pumps harder to more O2; smoke also thickens arteries so might get CHD Lung cancer 90% of lung cancer is those who smoke; carcinogens cause tumors (mass of cells) to spread in lungs

Bad (Legal-ish) Drugs Marijuana Dried leaves of cannabis plants Inhaled through marijuana cigarettes and absorbed into blood Depressant that slows down synapse transmission THC inhibit receptors of hippocampus (brain region) Effects of Marijuana: Short-term memory loss Slowing of time Slow coordination Paranoia Dry mouth/hunger Numbness

Is Marijuana Bad? Long Term Effects: Lung tissue damage due to inhaling smoke Lowered immune system from THC Cancer; some carcinogens in cigarette Not addictive (body doesn’t depend on it) but can be an addictive life style Negative affects less than alcohol/nicotine, which are legal drugs Called “Gateway Drug”; being illegal it may lead to other illegal drugs that do lots of harm

Bad (Totally Illegal) Drugs Highly addictive mood altering and hallucination drugs Heroin Made from morphine (opiate) Smoked, injected, sniffed Inject risks veins collapsing from tissue damage Powerful depressant that numbs pain receptors Puts set point to low for pain that not having drug becomes painful AND the body builds a tolerance so more and more heroine is needed

Don’t Do Heroine Long term effects: Rehabilitation: Constant need for “fix” (more heroine) Expensive and illegal drug turns many to crime Social outcasts Tissue damage at inject site Nausea, hallucinations, and sweating if drug is absent for too long (withdrawal) Rehabilitation: Giving up heroine “cold turkey” is almost impossible Methadone, drug similar to heroin but less damaging, can be given in shrinking amounts until “clean”

More Bad (Illegal) Drugs Cocaine: Power extract from the Erythroxylum coca bush Snorted, injected, or smoked; extremely stimulant that can cause death on the first use Floods brain with neurotransmitters leading to happy feelings and a “rush” LSD: Accidently discovered in the 1930’s Eaten or injected; hallucinogen that causes euphoria, enhanced colors, and visions Ecstasy: Accidently discovered in 1912 Eaten; hallucinogen that causes euphoria, enhanced colors, and perception

Drugs and Perception Nicotine Meth Cocaine Bryan Saunders Cocaine Artist drew 25 self portraits after taking 25 different drugs See if you can match the drug to the art Nicotine Morphine Marijuana Cocaine Meth Marijuana Morphine Nicotine Mushrooms Meth Cocaine Mushrooms