QUESTIONS AND COMPLETE VERIFIED
SOLUTIONS
◉ Psychoactive Drug. Answer: A chemical substance that not only
can change the function and structure of the body, but also changes
one's thinking, feelings, perceptions and behavior. These changes are
the result of the drug's action on the human brain.
◉ Depressant. Answer: Psychoactive drugs that slow down central
nervous system function, relax or tranquilize the person, and may
produce sleep.
◉ Narcotics. Answer: Psychoactive drugs - powerful painkillers,
analgesics that also produce pleasurable feelings and generally
induce sleep.
derived from naturally occurring substances or manufactured
synthetically; cause sedation and euphoria by causing depression of
CNS; used to medically relieve pain, suppress cough and control
diarrhea
overdose can cause death by respiratory depression
can cause physical/psychological dependence; impairs ability to
drive; damage developing fetus; linked with the spread of AIDS due
to the use of needles
,◉ Stimulants. Answer: Psychoactive drugs - chemical substances
that generally speed up central nervous system function, resulting in
alertness and excitability.
◉ Hallucinogens. Answer: Psychoactive drugs - also called mind
expanders or psychedelics, these drugs affect a person's perception,
awareness and emotions, and can cause hallucinations as well as
misinterpretations of reality.
◉ Inhalants. Answer: Psychoactive drugs - volatile non drug
chemical solvents that have drug-like effects when inhaled. It
includes commercial solvents (gasoline, toluene, acetone, carbon
tetrachloride), aerosols (freon, amyl nitrite, butyl nitrite), and
anesthetics (chloroform, ether and nitrous oxide).
◉ Addiction. Answer: A chronic, progressive, relapsing disorder
characterized by compulsive use of one or more substances that
results in physical, psychological, or social harm to the individual
and continued use of the substance or substances despite this harm
◉ Alcoholism. Answer: A primary, chronic disease with genetic,
psychosocial, and environmental factors influencing its development
and manifestations. It is often progressive and fatal. It is
characterized by impaired control over drinking, preoccupation with
the drug alcohol, use of alcohol despite adverse consequences, and
,distortions in thinking, most noticeable denial. Each of these
symptoms may be continuous or periodic.
◉ Abstinence. Answer: Refraining from the use of alcohol or other
drugs
◉ Drug Use. Answer: The use or consumption of a drug within some
socially prescribed or ritualistic context
◉ Drug Misuse. Answer: The unintentional or inappropriate use of
prescribed or non-prescribed drugs resulting in the impaired
physical, mental, emotional or social well-being of the individual
◉ Drug Abuse. Answer: The deliberate use of chemical substance for
reasons other than their intended medical purposes which result in
any degree of physical, mental, emotional or social impairment of
the user, user's family, or society in general. It involves using illegal
as well as legal, 'recreational' drugs that lead to problems.
◉ Drug Dependence. Answer: Psychological and/or physical need
for a drug, characterized by compulsive use, tolerance to the drug,
and physical dependence manifest by withdrawal syndrome. Since
some drugs do not show identifiable signs of withdrawal (e.g.
marijuana), or if the signs of withdrawal are often misinterpreted as
something else (e.g. cocaine, stimulants), a drug can be viewed as
, creating dependence if it produces euphoria in the user, and if as a
result of that euphoria, it creates a pattern of self-reinforced use.
◉ Tolerance. Answer: A state of progressively decreasing
responsiveness to a drug's effects. In other words, a condition that
requires the user to take more and more of a drug to get the same,
desired effect.
◉ Physical Dependence. Answer: A state in which the presence of
the drug is required for the user to function normally. The body has
adapted to the presence of the drug and the body views this as
normal and necessary.
◉ Withdrawal. Answer: Drastic and characteristic changes in
physical functioning and behavior (insomnia, tremors, nausea,
vomiting, cramps, elevation of heart rate and blood pressure,
convulsions, anxiety, psychological depression) due to over-
excitation of the nervous system. These effects are observed or
experienced when the user stops taking, or the use of a drug is
significantly decreased (in which physical dependence upon the
drug has developed). There is a craving for the drug when one is
abstinent, and these symptoms are relieved when the drug is again
taken. Also referred to as the Abstinence Syndrome or Withdrawal
Syndrome.
◉ Relapse. Answer: The return to substance use after a period of
abstinence.