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.
