Chapter 23, Lesson 3 Marijuana, Inhalants, & steroids

Chapter 23, Lesson 3

Marijuana, Inhalants, & steroids

Objectives

Analyze consequences (legal, physical, mental) of using these drugs.Analyze & apply strategies for avoiding use of these drugs

Explain the negative effects of combining alcohol with drugs.

Marijuana

Cannabis,

Plant whose leaves, buds, and flowers are usually smoked for their intoxicating effects.Also known as grass, weed, or pot.

Most widely used of all illegal drugs

.

THC

, the main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, is stored in body fat and traces of it can be present in the blood for as long as a month

.

Hashish/Hash:

stronger form of marijuana

.

Gateway Drug:

drug that may lead to the user to try other, more dangerous drugs.

All forms of marijuana are mind-altering and can damage the user’s health.

Combined with other drugs, effects are unpredictable and dangerous.

Users can experience slow mental reflexes and may suffer from sudden feelings of anxiety and

paranoia

,

an irrational suspiciousness or distrust of others.

Health Risks of Marijuana

Increased appetite

In females, risk of infertility

Increased risk of stillbirth and birth defects

In males, lowered sperm count and testosterone levels

Changed hormone levels

Debate Time…

Are you, For or Against Marijuana???

Marijuana Debate

Against

Studies show people who use are 17 times more likely to use “hard drugs” ex. Cocaine than a non user.

400 chemicals *just in the plant*

Researchers at Duke University recently concluded a study of more than 1,000 people from the time they were born until they reached the age of 38.

Studies

were performed periodically throughout their lives, and were carefully controlled to ensure test subjects did not have any other drug or alcohol addictions or psychological disorders, and were not high at the time of the test.

They

found that those who used pot more than once weekly before age 18 displayed more severely impaired intelligence, slower reaction times, shorter attention spans, and poorer listening skills than those who began using marijuana after age 18.

brains

of teenagers who are heavy pot users

have:

lower blood flow, develop abnormal neuron connections, and show inefficient brain activation patterns.

All

of these physical features are associated with poor memory, attention, impulse control, organization, and time management

.

Teenagers who use weed daily have increased rates of depression, anxiety, and psychosis later in life. (Psychosis means someone has lost connection with reality—i.e., they see and/or hear things that don't exist

.)

Scientists cannot conclude whether heavy weed use 

causes

 psychosis among people who otherwise wouldn't develop symptoms, or whether people who are predisposed to being psychotic tend to seek out weed to help them deal with the

world.

but

whatever the case, psychosis and heavy pot use in adolescence are linked.

Dopamine

is part of the pleasure/reward system in the brain, which is actively developing until adulthood; messing with it during adolescence can cause damage.

Decreased dopamine signals in teenage pot smokers' brains have been observed after prolonged use, meaning getting high becomes more difficult.

In

other words, the more weed a teen smokes now, the less happy weed will make him or her over time. This can make teenagers who use heavily more prone to depression, anxiety, and addiction.

Against Continued

B

rain is fully developed by

(mid

20’s – early 30’s)

Marijuana Debate

For

If it is bad, why does it feel good????

same reason weed makes adults feel good: It releases dopamine into the brain. When you get high, dopamine signals tell your neurons that it feels good and you should do it again

.

Dopamine does the same thing when you have sex, listen to music, or eat junk food

.

Can We Definitively Say Pot Causes Negative Changes in Developing Brains

???

No. Again, causation has not been determined in these marijuana studies

.

 However, it is true that a very clear relationship between teenage pot use and decreased cognitive function and mental health is demonstrated across the scientific community

.

New York University recently conducted a 

study

 to determine whether people use harder drugs for the same reasons they use marijuana.

The study, published in

the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse

, primarily looked at high school seniors’ reasons for smoking marijuana and how they related to other-drug use.

boredom

was among the most common reasons for using marijuana, with 31.3 percent of teens saying it was why they used it.

For Continued:

Study carried

out by medical researchers at two American universities (Pittsburgh and Rutgers

).

Followed

408 teenagers from the age of 14 through to 36.

Just

under a quarter of the participants were voracious stoners in

teen hood

and later life, under half were low or non-users and some only smoked during their teenage years, giving up as they got older

.

It’s commonly thought that smoking a lot of weed while the body develops can have adverse affects on mental health later on in life.

However

, this study found that the teenagers who heavily indulged were no more likely to suffer from depression, anxiety or schizophrenia in adulthood. Even the scientists were surprised

.

Nicholas Jackson of the University of Southern

California (1/8/2016)

first study of its kind, scientists have analyzed long-term marijuana use in teens, comparing IQ changes in twin siblings who either used or abstained from marijuana for 10 years.

After

taking environmental factors into account, the scientists found 

no measureable link between marijuana and IQ levels.

Marijuana users lost about four IQ points over the course of the study. But their abstinent twin siblings showed a similar pattern of decline, suggesting that the loss of mental sharpness was due to something other than

pot.

Politics: For or Against??

Medical Marijuana: TED TALKS

Inhalants

Substances whose fumes are sniffed or inhaled to give effect.

Inhaled to give the user a “high”.Solvents, aerosols, glues, paints, varnishes, and gasoline can cause brain damage.Most depress the central nervous system.

Extremely dangerous, many are labeled as poisons.

Inhaling solvents, aerosols, glues, paints, varnishes, and gasoline can cause

liver and kidney damage

blindness

brain damage

paralysis

cardiac arrest

death

Inhalants

Immediate Effects of Inhalants

glassy stare

coughing

slurred speech

nosebleeds

impaired judgment

fatigue

nausea

lack of coordination

Steroids

Synthetic substances similar to male sex hormone, Testosterone.

Anabolic – muscle building *

Most commonly abused

*

Androgenic

–

increased male characteristics

Any nonmedical use of steroids is illegal

Effects on

Men

Effects on

Women

Shrinking testicles, reduced sperm count, baldness, development of breasts, increased risk of prostate cancer

Facial hair, baldness, menstrual cycle changes, a deepened voice

Steroids

Synthetic substances similar to male sex hormone, Testosterone.

Anabolic – muscle building

*

Most commonly abused

*

added

to Schedule III of the Controlled Substances Act in the Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 

1990

,

which made them illegal.

Androgenic

–

HAS ANABOLIUC EFFECTS ON BONES, SKELETAL MUSCLE, AND VOCAL CORDSUSED TO TREAT MUSCLE AND BONE DEGENERATIONAny nonmedical use of steroids is illegalCoRTICO

- ARTIFICIAL CORTISONE, MEDICALLY INJECTED REDUCES INFLAMMATION AND INJURY Legal UNDER MEDICAL USE.

Steroids

Anabolic

– “muscle building” most

 common anabolic steroids taken today:

Anadrol:

synethic male hormone created to treat low red blood cell counts (anemia)

Oxandrin

:

used to help you regain weight lost after surgery, severe trauma, or chronic infections.

also

used in people who cannot gain or maintain a healthy weight for unknown medical reasons

.

Dianabol: Developed for the sole purpose of enhancing athletic performance in-order to crush the Soviet Union at the Olympic Games, since its inception Dianabol has been a favorite of nearly every performance enhancer on earth.

most favored and widely used anabolic steroid in all forms of athletics.Winstrol: “Winny” used in the treatment of hereditary angioedema, which causes episodes of swelling of the face, extremities, genitals, bowel wall, and throat.

may decrease the frequency and severity of these attacks.deca-durabolin: first use was prescribed for muscle wasting diseases, such as HIV (AIDS).Equipoise:

veterinarian

steroid,

intended use was in the horse and cattle industry.

Steroids

Androgenic

–

increased male sexual

charactersitcs

.

USED

TO TREAT MUSCLE AND BONE

Degeneration.

most

 common 

androgenic

 steroids taken today:

Anavar: used to relieve bone pain due to bone loss (osteoporosis)

Clenbuterol: “Clen”, therapeutic drug for asthma and copd, approved for human use in some countries in Europe (Bulgaria and Russia) and Asia (China).

also prescribed for treatment of horses, but equine use is usually the liquid form.Used during the “cutting” phase. Testosterone

:

 used in men and boys to treat conditions caused by a lack of this hormone, such as delayed puberty, impotence, or other hormonal imbalances.

Testosterone injection is also used in women to treat breast cancer that has spread to other parts of the body

.

Trenbolone:

“

tren

”, Veterinary Steroid intended

to be used in cattle in order to increase the lean tissue of the animal shortly before slaughter.

Consequences of Steroid Use

Side Effects of Steroid Use

weak tendons and ligaments

weight gain

acne

high blood pressure

liver and kidney tumors

HIV or hepatitis B

violent behavior

extreme mood swings

depression

paranoia

Legal Consequences

of Steroid Use

The ACMD says anabolic steroids should remain a

class C illegal

 drug,

which

can be bought on prescription from a pharmacist.

I

t is illegal

 to import or sell steroids for non-medical

purposes.

Anabolic Steroids Control Act of 1990

Drug Testing has become more prevalent for athletes (High School, College, and Professional)

Athletes who test positive can face:

Exclusion from event

Expulsion from the team/ sponsorMonetary Fines

Jail Time

Examples:

Maria Sharapova TENNIS (Meldonium)

Marian Jones USA SPRINTER (EPO)

Justin Gatlin USA SPRINTER (PEDS)

Chael

Sonnen

UFC Fighter (PEDS)Ben Johnson USA SPRINTER (Anabolic Steroid)Chris Anderson Miami Heat (drug of abuse)Josh Gordon NFL WR (2 failed drug tests, 3rd alcohol failed test)Randy Gregory NFL Defensive End (failed scouting combine drug test)Dustin Johnson Pro Golfer (Cocaine)Flyod Landis Pro Cyclists (PEDS)Wes Walker NFL Broncos/ Patriots (ecstasy laced with amphetamines)

Anderson Silva MMA (PEDS)