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Defining a Drug Problem

Defining a Drug Problem. Jane Elphingstone, Ed.D., CHES Professor – Health Education University of Central Arkansas. Objectives. At the end of the lesson, you will be able to: Describe why it is important for people who work with youth learn about drugs;

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Defining a Drug Problem

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  1. Defining a Drug Problem Jane Elphingstone, Ed.D., CHES Professor – Health Education University of Central Arkansas

  2. Objectives • At the end of the lesson, you will be able to: • Describe why it is important for people who work with youth learn about drugs; • Identify the major problems associated with drugs • Define drug, psychoactive drug use, drug misuse, drug abuse and gateway drugs. • Determine what constitutes a drug problem.

  3. Why Drug Education? • Drugs are a part of our lives. • Many of us are affected by others drug use and abuse. • We must be wise consumers and understand the effects of drugs on our lives.

  4. What Drugs Can Do For Us • Treat physical disease and manage illness. • Manage mental illness. • Control our fertility. • Enhances our sexual lives. • Prevent serious side effects of disease or injury. • Make us younger? Smarter? Brighter?

  5. Costs and problems associated with drugs • Costs of drug abuse • Effects on children and families • Effects on society

  6. Costs of Drug Abuse • The societal cost of drug abuse was $143.4 billion. • Healthcare costs (including treatment) • Reduced job productivity or lost earnings • Crime and social welfare • Most costs are paid by: • Government (46%) • Drugs abusers and their families (44%) • Source: ONDCP (2001). The economic costs of drug abuse in the United States.

  7. Effects on Children and Families • Children with substance abusing parents are more likely than peers for • Alcohol and drug use • Delinquency and depression • Poor school performance

  8. Effects on Society • Drugs and Crime • Lost productivity of victims and incarcerated perpetrators • Lost legitimate production due to drug-related crime careers • Other costs • Federal drug traffic control • Property damage • Police, legal, and correction services

  9. Other Effects on Society • Drugs and Disease • Premature deaths • Lost productivity • Health care expenditures • Blood borne diseases • Addiction related illness

  10. Working Definitions • Drug • Psychoactive Drug • Drug Use • Drug Misuse • Drug Abuse • Gateway Drugs

  11. Drug • “any chemical entity or mixture of entities, other than those required for the maintenance of normal health, (such as food); the administration of which alters biological function and possible structure” (WHO, 1981, p. 227)

  12. Psychoactive Drug • A drug which affects the way we think or feel or behave

  13. Drug use • “any substance, natural or artificial, other than food, that by its chemical nature alters structure and function in the living organism” (Ray & Ksir, 2002).

  14. Drug misuse • Inappropriate use of a drug whether it’s legal or illegal, psychoactive or not but is most commonly used to describe inappropriate use of prescribed drugs.

  15. Drug Abuse • “The use of a drug that causes physical, psychological, legal or social harm to the individual user or to others affected by the drug user’s behavior. (Maisto, Galizio, & Conners, 2004.) • The use of a drug in such a manner or in such amounts or in situations such that the drug use causes problems or greatly increases the chance of problems occurring (Ray & Ksir, 2002)

  16. Gateway Drugs • Drugs that are commonly tried before using other illicit drugs. • Alcohol • Tobacco • Marijuana

  17. Questions to Ask • Who? • What? • When? • Where? • Why? • How ? • How Much?

  18. Five Scenarios • Your 13 year old brother smokes a cigarette behind the house with his friends. • Kim’s mother has a party and sleepover on senior prom night and provides champagne, beer and wine to her son and his friends. • Your 50 year old dad is told by his doctor to drink one glass of wine before going to bed each night for his heart. • Your grandmother with heart disease begins taking one aspirin every day after reading about its benefits for preventing heart attacks. • You get drunk before a family reunion so you can deal with your relatives. • Mark U for Use, M for Misuse and A for Abuse

  19. Question 1 • Who? 13 year old brother • What? Cigarette • When? Don’t know • Where? Behind the house • Why? To smoke with his friends • How? Smoking • How much? At least one cigarette

  20. Question 2 • Who? Kim and his friends in high school • What? Alcohol • When? At a sleepover on prom night • Where? At Kim’s home • Why? So kids won’t drink and drive on prom night • How? Kim’s mother is providing the alcohol; they are drinking it • How much? Don’t know

  21. Question 3 • Who? Dad • What? Wine • When? Before bed at night • Where? Home • Why? Heart prevention • How? drinking • How much? One glass

  22. Question 4 • Who? Grandmother • What? Aspirin • When? Every day • Where? Don’t know • Why? Read about its benefits for heart disease • How? Orally • How much? One aspirin

  23. Question 5 • Who? You • What? Alcohol • When? Before a family reunion • Where? Don’t know • Why? To cope with family • How? Don’t know • How much? Enough to get drunk

  24. Summary • Defining a drug problem • Why drug education • What Drugs can do for us • Costs and problems associated with drugs • Working definitions

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