DRUG EDUCATION, CONSUMER

HEALTH EDUCATION AND HEALTHY

EATING
BPED 3

MARISH LOU G. FERNANDEZ, RN,LPT,MAEd

Part-time Lecturer
College of Education

Bachelor of Physical Education 3

First Semester, S.Y. 2022-2023
 Module 2 – Lesson 1: Drug Abuse

Module 2

Module Title: Drug Education

Module Description: This module will focus on the fundamentals of Drug Abuse

Purpose of the Module:

This module is designed to explore and synthesize accurate information on basic facts of
Drug Abuse, health, legal and social consequences of drugs and substance abuse; apply
knowledge and skills and plan to address drug and substance abuse.

Module Guide:
The students shall read the whole module and follow some tasks. Before the start, the
students will have to take the pre-test and post-test examination at the end of the topics.

Module Outcomes:
At the end of the module, students will be able to:
1. Understand the basic information of Drug and Substance Abuse
2. Acknowledge and value Drug laws and law enforcement
3. Recognize Drug prevention and drug treatment

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Lesson 1: Drug Abuse

Learning Objectives:

At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

Define drugs
Identify and differentiate the different routes of drug administration
Comprehend and apply the guidelines for proper use of drugs
Determine when are drugs harmful and become illegal
Identify and differentiate the different types of drugs
Recognize other products that can be abused
Understand drug dependence

Drugs
 Any substance that prevents or cures diseases, or enhances physical or mental welfare.
 Any chemical agent that alters the biochemical or physiological processes of tissues
or organisms.

How Drugs are Taken?

1. Ingested – process of taking substances into the body through
swallowing. It can be administered as liquids, capsules,
tablets, or chewable tablets. It is most convenient and usually
the safest and least expensive, it is the one most often used.
Absorption may begin in the mouth and stomach. However,
most drugs are usually absorbed from the small intestine. The
drug passes through the intestinal wall and travels to the liver
then being transported via the bloodstream to its target site.

2. Inhalation – process of taking substances through breathing in a form of gas or vapor.

Drugs are administered through the mouth then pass through the windpipe (trachea)
and into the lungs and absorbed into the bloodstream.

3. Injection – an act of injecting drugs or substances into the

body with the use of catheter or syringe through the skin,
into tissues, veins or body cavity.
Injection is used when:
 rapid effect is urgently needed as in emergency
situations;
 the patient is too ill or unconscious for oral route to
be employed;
 the drug is orally ineffective due to its being
destroyed or not absorbed from the gut;

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 an injection is the only way for the drug to reach its require site of action;
 there is need to maintain a steady blood level of a drug.

4. Used as suppository – taking of drugs or substances through

inserting into the rectum or vagina to dissolve. It can be
used to achieve local and systemic effects.

5. Applied topically – application to body surfaces such as the skin or mucous

membranes to treat ailments via large range of classes including creams, foams, gels
lotions and ointments. This route provides a high local concentration of the drug
without affecting the general circulation.

When are Drugs Harmful?

Any drug may be harmful when taking in excess. Some drugs can also be harmful if
taken in dangerous combinations or by hypersensitive (allergic) person in ordinary or even
small amounts.

Legal vs Illegal
 Legal Drugs
- These are medicines that help the body fight injury, illness, or disease.
- They can be categorised in two different ways:
 Over the Counter (OTC) Drugs
o A medicine that is sold legally in pharmacies and other
stores without a doctor's prescription
o There is an incorrect but widespread belief that because
you don't need a prescription, these drugs must be less
dangerous than those found behind the pharmacy
counter. The fact is, it's risky to abuse either.
 Prescription
o A drug that can be obtained only with a written order
from a doctor and can be purchased only at a pharmacy
o Prescription drugs are medications legitimately
prescribed by doctors to treat a variety of health
problems.
o Some people assume that since they’re legal when
prescribed by a doctor, they must be safer than illegal
drugs. The truth is, these drugs require a prescription for
a reason.
o When abused, they can be just as dangerous, and even
deadly. In fact, in recent years, the abuse of prescription

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painkillers has resulted in more deaths than cocaine and

heroin combined.

Guidelines for Proper Use

1. Follow directions carefully.
2. Don't change doses without consulting your doctor.
3. Don't stop taking prescribed medication on your own.
4. Don't crush or break pills unless specifically instructed to do so
5. Be aware of the effect the drug may have on your driving and other activities.
6. Find out how the drug may interact with alcohol and with other medications
prescribed or over the counter.
7. If you have a history of substance abuse, tell your doctor.
8. Do not use drugs prescribed for someone else, and do not share yours.

 Illegal Drugs
- Drugs become illegal when misused and abused.
- Types of illegal use of drugs:

 Misuse
o The use of a substance for a purpose not consistent with
legal or medical guidelines (Improper use)
o It has a negative impact on health and/or functioning
and may lead to drug dependence or be part of a wider
spectrum of problematic or harmful behavior.
o Examples include things like:
 taking more than the prescribed amount of a
drug
 taking drugs with the wrong foods or at the
wrong time of day
 not taking a drug for the correct period of time
 Abuse
o When a drug is intentionally used improperly or
unsafely.
o When a drug is used intentionally for any kind of
nonmedical purposes.
o Although the initial decision to take drugs is voluntary
for most people, the brain changes that occur over time
challenge an addicted person's self-control and hamper
with their ability to resist impulses to take drugs.

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Drug or Substance Abuse

Drug Abuse is the use of chemical substance, licit or illicit, which results in an
individual’s physical, mental or social impairment. It may refer to any other of the following
practices:
1. Using, without benefit or prescription, useful drugs which have the capacity
to alter mood or behavior;
2. Using drugs and substances for a purposes different from the one for which
the drug has been prescribed; and
3. Using drugs and substances having no legitimate medical application for
purposes other than research.

What is a drug abuser?

Anyone can be a drug abuser. Drug abuse is no respecter of age, sex and social status.
It is very difficult to come up with an accurate profile of a drug abuser that can be applied to
all because people are different in many ways.

A lot of changes – in behavior, in appearance and in mood – occur in a person who is

abusing drugs. Sudden changes occur in the person’s disposition from pleasant to unpleasant.

Thus, he:
1. Is often associated with known drug abuser;
2. Is irritable, discourteous, defiant and aggressive;
3. Is untrustworthy and lacks self-confidence;
4. Is unhealthy and unconcerned with good grooming;
5. Has low frustration tolerance;
6. Lacks interest in his studies/work;
7. Blames everybody but not himself for his problems;
8. Develops changes in normal capabilities in school/work; and
9. Borrows money and at times steals various items unusually.
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Types of Drugs

3 Main Types:

1. Depressants
- slow down, or depress, the functions of the central nervous system. In
moderate doses, depressants can make you feel relaxed. In larger doses,
depressants can cause unconsciousness by reducing breathing and heart rate. A
person's speech may become slurred and their movements sluggish and
uncoordinated.

These can include:

a) alcohol;
b) opiates and opioids (heroin), morphine, codeine,
methadone and
c) buprenorphine;
d) cannabis or marijuana
e) minor tranquillizers diazepam such as Valium,
oxazepam (Serepax);
f) some solvents and inhalants such as vapors from petrol,
glue, chrome
g) paint and lighter fluid.

Cannabis
o Cannabis can cause health problems both physical and mental Tetra
hydrocannibinal (THC) is its main active ingredient
o Some use cannabis for medical purposes; e.g. multiple sclerosis or glaucoma
o Use at a young age is linked to increased mental health problems such as
schizophrenia; psychiatric hospitalization may be necessary if heavily used
o Lowers motivation and lose interest in things
o Co-ordination and reactions slow down
o Effects asthma
o Can increase the heart rate and cause someone to have high blood pressure
o Might have hallucinations

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o A small number of people that use cannabis go on to other drugs

o Can be addictive; long term users become dependent.
2. Stimulants
- speed up or stimulate the central nervous system and can make the users feel
more awake, alert or confident. Stimulants increase heart rate, body
temperature and blood pressure. Other physical effects include reduced
appetite, dilated pupils, talkativeness, agitation and sleep disturbance.

Types Include:
a) Caffeine
b) Nicotine in tobacco is a stimulant, despite smokers using it
to relax
c) Ephedrine, used in medicines for bronchitis, hay fever,
asthma
d) Amphetamines and methamphetamines, also known as
'speed',
e) Ice and crystal meth
f) Cocaine, also known as 'coke' and 'snow;
g) slimming tablets: e.g. Duromine and Tenuate;

Effects of Excessive Caffeine

o Stimulates your heart, respiratory system, and central nervous system.
o Makes your blood more sludgy' by raising the level of fatty acids in the blood
and raises blood pressure
o Causes your stomach to produce more acid, irritates the stomach lining
o Stimulates the cortex of your brain heightening the intensity of mental
activity; temporary feeling of alertness. Those with high levels of anxiety
heightened alertness can produce unpleasant effects.
o Affects the length/quality of sleep. Heavy caffeine users suffer from sleep-
deprivation because their nervous system is too stimulated to allow them deep,
restful or prolonged sleep.
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o Caffeine addiction which involves nervousness, irritability, agitation,

headaches or ringing in the ears.
o Causes blood sugar, or blood glucose, to be released from storage through the
effects of the adrenal hormones.
Requires your pancreas to
over-work.

Some Effects of Smoking

- One in two lifetime smokers will die from their habit. Half of these deaths will
occur in middle age.
- Tobacco smoke also contributes to a number of cancers.
- The mixture of nicotine and carbon monoxide in each cigarette you smoke
temporarily increases your heart rate and blood pressure, straining your heart
and blood vessels. This can cause heart attacks and stroke. It slows your blood
flow cutting oft oxygen to your feet and hands. Some smokers end up having
their limbs amputated.
- Tar coats your lungs like soot in a chimney and causes cancer. A 20-a-day
smoker breathes in up to a full cup (210 8) of tar in a year.
- Changing to low-tar cigarettes does not help because smokers usually take
deeper putts and hold the smoke in for longer, dragging the tar deeper into
their lungs.
- Carbon monoxide robs your muscles, brain and body tissue of oxygen, making
your whole body and especialy your heart work harder. Over time, your
airways swell up and let less air into your lungs.
- Lung cancer from smoking is caused by the tar in tobacco smoke. Men who
smoke are ten times more likely to die from lung cancer than non-Smokers.

3. Hallucinogenic
- drugs distort the user's perceptions of reality. The main physical effects are
dilation of pupils, loss of appetite, increased activity, talking or laughing, jaw
clenching, sweating and sometimes stomach cramps or nausea. Drug effects
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can include a sense of emotional and psychological euphoria and well-being

Visual, auditory and tactile hallucinations may occur, causing users to see or
hear things that do not actually exist.

These drugs include

a) LSD, also known as 'trips', 'acid' and 'micro dots magic mushrooms
(psilocybin), also known as 'mushies' or mushrooms
b) ecstasy (MDMA/methylenedioxymethamphetamine), also known as 'E, XTC'
and Eccies, produces a combination of hallucinogenic and stimulant effects;
and
c) Ketamine, also known as 'K' and 'Special K.

Products other than Drugs ever abused

 Glue
 Paint thinners
 Gasoline
 Other volatile (breathable) solvents

Understanding Drug Dependence

How Drugs affect the Brain?
“The Reward Pathway”
 Many psychoactive drugs trigger activity along a pathway of cells in the brain
called the "reward pathway”.
 Brain cells along the activated reward pathway release a chemical called
dopamine.
 The extra dopamine released during drug use can cause the user to ignore the
harmful effects of the drug and want to continue using it.
 Flooding the reward pathway with dopamine may lead to intense cravings for the
drug.
 After a time, drug abuse can dull the brain's reactions to natural levels of
dopamine.

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 Typically characterized by:

o A strong desire to consume drug
o Difficulty controlling its use
o Persistent use despite detrimental effects
o Preference to use drugs than to other activities
o Increasing tolerance to the drug used

 Addiction is progressive.
o Without intervention or treatment, it can cause disability or even death.

Common Signs of Drug Abuse

1. Injection marks of an addict
2. Unusual effort made to cover arms in order to hide needle marks
3. Stealing items which can be readily sold for cash to support a drug habit
4. Changes in mood-depending on the drug taken
Examples: depressed or becoming elated and euphoric
1. Association with known drug abusers
2. Change from normal capabilities (work habits, efficiency, etc.)
3. Change in attendance at work or school
4. Wearing sunglasses constantly at inappropriate times tor instance, indoors or at night)
or only to hide dilated or constricted pupils but also to compensate for the eyes'
inability to adjust to sunlight. Marijuana causes bloodshot eyes.
5. Poor physical appearance including inattention to dress and personal hygiene

Addiction:
 The compulsive use of a drug, despite any cost to health, family, or social standing.
 Addiction is a disease that changes the structure and chemistry of the brain.
 No single factor can predict whether a person will become addicted to drugs.
 Risk for addiction is influenced by a combinationof factors that include
- individual biology
- social environment

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- age or stage of development

 The more risk factors an individual has, the greater the chance that taking drugs can
lead to addiction.

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