Alcohol and other Drugs Social & Health Consequences

1. Alcohol and other Drugs Social & Health Consequences

2. Use, Misuse, Abuse and Addiction • Use – Ingestion of Alcohol or other Drugs without the experience of negative consequences • Misuse – Ingestion of Alcohol or other Drugs experiencing negative consequences such as: DWI, MIP • Abuse – Continued use of Alcohol and other Drugs in spite of negative consequences • Addiction - A habitual repetition of excessive behavior that a person is unable and unwilling to STOP regardless of negative and harmful consequences. http://www.rsoa.org/TKLiResponseToSUAA.pdf

3. Addiction is a “chronic brain disorder and not simply a behavioral problem.” • Addiction is a primary, chronic disease of brain reward, motivation, memory and related circuitry. • Addiction affects neurotransmission and interactions within reward structures of the brain. • Memory of previous exposures to rewards leads to a biological and behavioral response to external cues, in turn triggering craving. http://addiction-dirkh.blogspot.com/2012/01/brain-scans-and-addiction-research.html http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/08/16/is-addiction-simply-a-brain-disease-it-is-now http://teens.drugabuse.gov/drug-facts/brain-and-addiction

4. Treating Addiction must go beyond just fixing the brain chemistry Pharmacological Treatments Behavioral Therapy We need to treat the whole person! Medical Services Social Services http://www.recoveryconnection.org/cycle-of-addiction/

5. Alcohol is the drug most commonly used, misused and abused among youth and adults. • Motor vehicle crashes. Every day, 28 people in the United States die in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. • Intimate partner violence. About 2 of 3 incidents of intimate partner violence are associated with alcohol. • Risky sexual behaviors. Excessive drinking increases risky sexual behaviors, including unprotected sex and sex with multiple partners. • Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Any alcohol use by a pregnant woman can cause harm to a developing fetus. • Chronic conditions. Excessive drinking can lead to alcohol dependence, liver disease, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, and certain kinds of cancer. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration FARS data, 2013 CDC stats for 2011 - http://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/resources/publications/aag/alcohol.htm

6. Alcohol and Drugs have a great impact on Brain Development • Young people who begin drinking before the age of 15, are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependence than those who wait until they are 21. • Alcohol can cause permanent brain damage while brain is under its developmental stages. • Exposure to substances that inhibit cell growth can have a devastating effect on the developing brain. • Alcohol and other Drugs limits the Brain’s ability to form new pathways and connections that are essential to learning and memory. • Adults who abuse drugs often have problems thinking clearly, remembering, and paying attention.

7. Alcohol and Adolescent Brain Development The frontal lobes, responsible for reasoning and thinking are the last areas of the brain to develop fully. Brain Developing from ages 5 to 20 Paul Thompson, Ph.D. UCLA Laboratory of Neuroimaging

8. Brain affected by Alcohol Drinkers have less Active Brains Brain scans of two females. Top view of the brain. Note Differences In back of the Brain Healthy Control Alcohol Dependent Colored areas show active brain areas during memory task. Alcohol primarily interferes with the transfer of information from short - term to long - term storage.

9. Drinking Alcohol while pregnant: • Each year between 1,300 and 8,000 babies in the United States are born with FAS. • FAS include retardation, behavior problems, ADHD, seizures, and autism. Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

10. Drug Facts • Thanks to medical and drug research, there are thousands of drugs that help people. • But there are also lots of illegal, harmful drugs that people take to help them feel good or have a good time. • In the brain, drugs may either intensify or dull your senses, alter your sense of alertness, and sometimes decrease physical pain. • Some drugs severely impair a person's ability to make healthy choices and decisions. National Survey on Drug Use & Health

11. Marijuana • Opponents of legalization assert that it will have a significant, negative impact on public health, leading to an increase in marijuana-related accidents and widespread addiction. • Many marijuana users believe smoking pot has no negative effects, scientific research indicates that marijuana use can cause many different health problems.

12. Long Term effects of Marijuana Use • Marijuana has serious harmful effects on the skills required to drive safely – Short term and long term use. • Reduced resistance to common illnesses (colds, bronchitis, etc.) • Suppression of the immune system. • Increase of abnormally structured cells in the body. • Reduction of male sex hormones. • Rapid destruction of lung fibers and lesions (injuries) to the brain could be permanent. • Reduced sexual capacity. • Study difficulties: reduced ability to learn and retain information. • Apathy, drowsiness, lack of motivation. • Inability to understand things clearly.

13. Long term effects of Marijuana on the Brain Surface SPECT of a healthy brain. MARIJUANA USE Effects of smoking marijuana use typically cause decreased activity in the posterior temporal lobes bilaterally. • http://www.amenclinics.com/the-science/spect-gallery/item/alcohol-and-drug-abuse

14. Prescription Drugs • Prescription Meds are now The number ONE accidental killer in the U.S. • 40 people die every day from overdoses involving narcotic pain relievers . • New Mexico has the highest overall drug overdose death rate in the country. • According to newly released numbers by the New Mexico Department of Health, 486 people died in New Mexico in 2012 of prescription drug overdose. One Death Every 24 Minutes Center of disease Control - CDC

15. Prescription Drug Abuse - Facts • Nonmedical use of prescription drugs remains high, while teens’ perception of the risk of such abuse is low. • After alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana, prescription and over-the-counter medications account for most of the top drugs abused by 12th graders in the past years • The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) show that nearly one-third of people aged 12 and over who used drugs for the first time in 2009 began by using a prescription drug non-medically. NIDA / PeerX- http://teens.drugabuse.gov/peerx/about-peerx

16. Heroin on the rise among New Mexican Teens • New Mexico had the second highest drug overdose mortality rate in the United States. • In 2012 there were 486 drug overdose deaths in New Mexico. • The small town of Espanola is in the grips of a heroin epidemic. In 2009, for example, the city saw 42.5 drug-related deaths per 100,000 residents. • As Heroin keeps increasing in popularity and easy access young adults have to it, the problem doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. • Once you get involved with heroin – you have to fight your way out. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/14/teen-heroin-use-skyrocket_n_1345695.html http://www.kob.com/article/stories/s3388960.shtml#.U_usZaR0yUk

17. Heroin:Not a “back alley” drug anymore. Philip Seymour Hoffman. Cory Monteith. Janis Joplin. River Phoenix. John Belushi.

18. Synthetic Drugs (a.k.a. K2, Spice, Bath Salts) • Synthetic drugs represent a dangerous trend in substance abuse. • Teens who use synthetic marijuana, also called K2 or spice, could end up in the emergency room experiencing some serious side effects such as seizures, hallucinations, rapid heart rate, vomiting or even death from overdose. • Bath salts are probably more dangerous than synthetic cannabis and can cause psychotic breaks and suicidal ideation. http://www.alamogordonews.com/ci_20176958/schools-discuss-spice-and-k2-problem

19. Using Drugs while pregnant: • Babies exposed to legal and illegal drugs in the womb may be born premature and underweight. • Drug exposure can slow the child's intellectual development and affect behavior later in life. NIDA – National Institute of Drug Abuse

20. Alcohol Poisoning / Overdose National Center for Health Statistics - National Vital Statistics - New Mexico Department of Health

21. Facts: • A person with Alcohol Poisoning / Overdose Cannot Sleep it Off. • Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) continues to rise even after person stops Drinking. • It takes about one hourfor the liver to metabolize one drink. (In the female this number will be about 20% longer, regardless of body weight. • Forced Fluids like Coffee, Cold Showers, Walking it Off or Sleeping it Off is a Myth. • Drugs combined with alcohol accounts for increasing numbers of drug overdoses and emergency room visits. • New Mexico leads the Nation in Drug overdose deaths, second to car crashes. • Never Leave The Victim Alone!

22. Know The Signs of an Alcohol Overdose. • Cannot Follow Directions or is Unconscious. • Slow or Irregular Breathing. • Very Low or Very Rapid Pulse Rate. • Vomiting While Passed Out. • No Response to Shaking or Pinching.