What Do
YOU
Know About
DRUGS
Methamphetamine
What is Meth?
•An abbreviation for methamphetamine
•A drug that stimulates the central nervous
system
•Causing it to release more dopamine, a
neurotransmitter that gives someone a feeling
of satisfaction.
How is meth abused?
•Methamphetamine is a white, odorless, bittertasting crystalline powder
•It easily dissolves in water or alcohol
•Is taken orally, intranasally (snorting the
powder), by needle injection, or by smoking.
How does Meth affect the brain?
•Methamphetamine increases the release and
blocks the reuptake of the brain chemical (or
neurotransmitter) dopamine, leading to high
levels of the chemical in the brain.
•Dopamine is involved in reward, motivation,
the experience of pleasure, and motor function.
• Methamphetamine’s ability to release
dopamine rapidly in reward regions of the
brain
• It produces the intense euphoria, or “rush,”
that many users feel after snorting,
smoking, or injecting the drug.
NOT
EVEN
ONCE.
Cocaine
What is Coke?
• Cocaine is a naturally derived CNS (central
nervous system) stimulant extracted and
refined from the Coca plant grown primarily
in the Andean region of South America.
• Cocaine is typically a white-ish powder with
a bitter, numbing taste.
How is Coke abused?
• Coke in hydrochloride salt form may be
injected; swallowed; applied to oral, vaginal,
or even rectal mucous membranes; or mixed
with liquor.
• Coke is most commonly used by snorting or
sniffing.
How does Coke affect the Brain?
• Cocaine attaches to the same transporter
binding sites as dopamine.
• This means that, when cocaine is introduced,
dopamine cannot bind to the dopamine
transporter and is stranded in the synapses.
• Thus, cocaine's blocking action leads to an
increase of dopamine levels in the synapses
that, scientists believe, normally produce
feelings of pleasure.
Ecstasy
What is X?
• Ecstasy is a synthetic, hallucinogenic drug.
• It goes by a number of names including E,
X and MDMA.
• Ecstasy is in the amphetamine family and
is commonly used as a party drug.
• In the US, ecstasy is a Schedule I drug,
meaning that it has no current acceptable
medical use in the United States.
• It was given that ranking in 1998.
• MDMA was introduced in the USA in the
60s and was legally widely used to treat
various psychiatric disorders.
• However, rather than cure any disorder, it
made most patients worse and its use as a
therapeutic agent was abandoned soon after.
• The drug became widely known for its
psychedelic effects in the 1980s and its use
for this purpose has increased over the past 3
decades.
• Today, it is the number one Club Drug
abused among college students.
How is X Abused?
• Ecstasy is usually taken by mouth in a pill,
tablet, or capsule.
• These pills come in different colors and
sizes.
• They are sometimes inserted into the anus
(known as "shafting" or "shelving").
• Injecting ecstasy has increased in recent
years.
• A typical dose has an onset of about 20 to 60
minutes.
• Users feel a euphoric effect that will last
about 3 to 5 hours but the effects may last
for up to 1-2 days.
How does X affect the brain?
• X affects the brain by increasing the
activity of at least three neurotransmitters:
serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine.
• Like amphetamines, X causes these
neurotransmitters to be released from their
storage sites in neurons resulting in
increased neurotransmitter activity.
Heroin
What is Heroin?
• Heroin is a highly addictive and rapidly
acting opiate (a drug that is derived from
opium).
• Specifically, heroin is produced from
morphine, which is a principal component of
opium.
• Opium is a naturally occurring substance
that is extracted from the seedpod of the
opium poppy.
How is Heroin abused?
• Heroin can be injected, snorted/sniffed, or
smoked—routes of administration that
rapidly deliver the drug to the brain.
• Injecting is the use of a needle to administer
the drug directly into the bloodstream.
• Snorting is the process of inhaling heroin
powder through the nose, where it is absorbed
into the bloodstream through the nasal
tissues.
• Smoking involves inhaling heroin smoke
into the lungs.
• All three methods of administering heroin
can lead to addiction and other severe health
problems.
How does Heroin affect the brain?
• Heroin enters the brain, where it is converted
to morphine and binds to receptors known as
opioid receptors.
• These receptors are located in many areas of
the brain (and in the body), especially those
involved in the perception of pain and in
reward.
• Opioid receptors are also located in the brain
stem—important for automatic processes
critical for life, such as breathing
(respiration), blood pressure, and arousal.
• Heroin overdoses frequently involve a
suppression of respiration.
Prescription
Drugs
What is Prescription Drug Abuse?
• Prescription drug abuse is when someone
takes a medication that was prescribed for
someone else or takes their own prescription
in a manner or dosage other than what was
prescribed.
• Abuse can include taking Opioids (such as
the pain relievers OxyContin and Vicodin),
central nervous system depressants (e.g.,
Xanax, Valium), and stimulants (e.g.,
Concerta, Adderall) are the most commonly
abused prescription drugs.
How are Prescription Drugs abused?
• It depends—some people take other people’s
drugs for their intended purposes (to relieve
pain, to stay awake, or to fall asleep).
• Others take them to get high, often at larger
doses than prescribed, or by a different route
of administration.
• Most prescription drugs come in pill or
capsule form.
• Sometimes, drug users break or crush the
pill or capsule, then swallow the drug, sniff
it, or “cook” it—turn it to liquid—and then
inject it.
What’s wrong with abusing
Prescription Drugs?
• Virtually every medication presents some
risk of undesirable side effects, sometimes
even serious ones.
• Doctors consider the potential benefits and
risks to each patient before prescribing
medications.
• They understand that drugs affect the body
in many ways and take into account things
like the drug’s form and dose, its possible
side effects, and the potential for addiction
or withdrawal.
• For example, doctors know how to change the
dose of a painkiller to prevent withdrawal
symptoms.
• People who abuse drugs might not
understand how these factors may affect
them or that prescription drugs do more than
cause a high, help them stay awake, help
them relax, or relieve pain.