Law and Body Chapter 3,4,5

In Chapters 3,4, and 5 I learned about how different types of drugs can effect the body, regardless if they are regulated or not.  In chapter 3, we learn how different acts and laws are passes to regulate illicit and licit drugs.  It was amazing to me how the FDA and government can still let medicine be prescribed even thought the consequences of the side effects can be devastating.  Giving pregnant mothers thalidomide(sedative) during pregnancy can cause phocomelia, which is a birth defect of arms, legs, or both.  That should have been a slap in the face that they need to test these drugs much more thoroughly before giving it to patients.  The chapter also goes over the laws of drug regulation.  I learned that the economy could be much better if we decriminalized petty crimes.  We could be spending our money on something worth while instead of housing criminals.  In chapter 4 I learned about how drugs can effect the mind and body.  It was interesting to learn how their are different neurological receptors in the brain that pick up on different forms of drugs.  I was not too familiar with the nervous system before reading this chapter.  Learning about how drugs can deplete the chemicals in the brain that make you happy makes me feel like it would be totally pointless to do drugs.  It makes sense to me though why people would continue to use considering they have the need to feel happy.  In chapter 5, we learned different ways of  taking drugs such as snorting, smoking, injection, topical, inhalation, and oral.  I found it interesting that the drug can be delivered into the body at different rates and potency depending on the method of use.  Drug dependence is a scary and sad concept.  The fact that people cant even function without having that next fix makes the drug world seem way more intense then I could have ever imagined.

I feel like this was one of the more interesting modules because I like learning about the body and how different substances can effect it.  I would improve my learning on the chapters by researching more online about certain areas of interest.  It's sad and nice at the same time that I had many friends who went through horrible drug addictions so I have a little bit of a background on the topics of these chapters.  Four words that I learned in these chapters were 1. Inoculation- a method of abuse prevention that protects drug users by teaching them responsibility.  This is important because I feel like maybe if drug addicts had more resources and proper information about what these drugs can potentially do to their bodies and lives, they could better themselves before it's too late.  2. Catecholamines- a class of biochemical compounds including the transmitters norepineohrine, epinephrine, and dopamine.  I found this interesting simply because some drugs can completely deplete these chemicals from your brain which can result in depression.  3. Margin of safety- range in dose between the amount of drug necessary to cause a therapeutic effect and that needed to create a toxic effect.  This is necessary to have a grip on because its such a thin line between medicating yourself as directed by a doctor and just getting high.  4. Pharmacokinetics-  the study of factors that influence the distribution and concentration of drugs in the body.  This goes along with the other definition of margin of safety.  Drugs need to be regulated so the proper dose is being prescribed.  I learned a lot from these words and I feel that they describe what the chapters are about.  They are main points of what was discussed.  Between reading the chapters, having discussions, and checking out websites online, I feel this was a very informative module in stating many facts on information about our society, including laws, acts, and body effects.
 

Drugs in Society the Beginning (1,2)

     In Chapter 1 we learned about the most commonly used drugs such as stimulants, hallucinogens/psychedelics, depressants, alcohol, nicotine, cannabis, anabolic steroids, inhalants/organic solvents, narcotics/opiates, designer drugs/synthetic drugs/synthetic opioids.  Another topic we covered is the trends, history, and use of drugs among people of different genders, race and ethnicity, age, education, employment, pregnant women, geographic areas, and criminal justice populations.  The type of drug users we studied were experimenters, compulsive users and floaters.  Family and media influences play a huge part in the drug world since the majority of young users come from a background of drug abuse.  In figure 1.6 it shows the stages of drug dependence and explains all the stages in detail starting with relief, increased use, preoccupation, dependency, and ending in withdrawal.  The costs of drug use in society is through the roof, as well as the number of people in the workplace and their careers who use. 
     Chapter 2 begins with defining addiction which can be described as a complex disease.  We also learn the major models of addiction which consist of the moral model, the disease model, and the characterological or personality predisposition model.  Many addicts are diagnosed with some sort of personality disorder as well.  In table 2.1 there is a chart that describes the risk factors for addiction which include biologically based factors, psychosocial/developmental "personality" factors, and social and environmental factors.  There are other addictions that exist that do not involve drugs.  Gambling is an addiction which shows loss of control, relief of tension, and gets worse over time despite negative consequences.  There also have been a lot of studies trying to figure out if addiction is genetic.  These genetic and biophysiological theories explain addiction not only with just if it runs in a person genetic makeup, but brain dysfunction and biochemical patterns.  We also learned how drugs can effect your brain and your central nervous system.  According to the APA they see consistent drug use as a mental disorder.  It can lead to schizophrenia, anxiety, depression, and suicide.  Social influence theories consist of social learning, role of significant others in socialization, labeling, and subculture theories.  We learned about internal and external deals with internal psychic and internalized social attitudes.  The last section of chapter 2 warns us of the danger signs of abuse and low/high risk drug choices.  According to the textbook Drugs in Society 10th edition written by Glen R. Hanson, Peter J. Venturelli, and Annette E. Fleckenstein.

Introduction to Drugs in Society (1,2)

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