Albia Dugger • Miami Dade College

Chapter 1Drugs in Perspective

Drug History

• A historical perspective on drugs provides insight into the role that drugs have played over time

• We can benefit from a common understanding of what the terms drug, drug misuse, and drug abuse mean

• Any definition is limited and is influenced by one’s experiences and background – and is arbitrary

Definitions

• There is no legal definition for the word drug

• We define a drug as any substance that alters one’s ability to function emotionally, physically, intellectually, financially, or socially

• A psychoactive drug is a substance that has the capability of altering mood, perception, or behavior

Drug Misuse

• Drug misuse is defined as the intentional or inappropriate use of prescribed or over-the-counter drugs

• Examples of drug misuse:• Discontinuing prescribed medicines• Mixing drugs • Consuming more of a drug than prescribed• Using more than one prescription at a time• Saving or using old medications • Not following the directions for a drug

Drug Misuse

• Drug misuse arises from not understanding a drug’s effects

Drug Abuse

• Drug abuse is defined as the intentional and inappropriate use of a drug resulting in physical, emotional, financial, intellectual, or social consequences for the user

• Two factors associated with drug abuse are dependency and chronic use

• The concept of drug abuse may relate to whether the drug is socially acceptable

America’s Problem with Alcohol and Other Drugs

Cultural Considerations

• Asian adults were less likely to use illicit drugs in the past month when compared to the national average

• Binge drinking in the past month was higher for Korean adults compared to Chinese adults

• Asian adults born in the US had higher rates of substance use than those not born in the US

• Asian females had lower rates of alcohol use than Asian males in the past month

Alcohol

• Beverages may have been fermented intentionally as early as about 10,000 BC

• Early Egyptians, Hebrews, Chinese, Greek, and Romans were fond of alcohol

• Egyptians developed distillation, which produces a higher alcohol content than fermentation

• The Irish, Scots, Dutch, Russians, and French all developed characteristic alcoholic beverages

Alcohol

• Alcohol played a significant role in early US history:• Alcohol was used as a preservative• Yeast in beer and wine supplied important nutrients• Rum was a central commodity in the slave trade• Farmers made more money from whiskey than from grain• Excise tax on whiskey sparked the Whiskey Rebellion• Temperance movement developed in the 1830s• 1919: national prohibition legislation went into effect;

repealed in 1933

The Temperance Movement

Marijuana

• Marijuana has been cultivated for its fiber since 8000 BC

• Chinese Emperor Shen Nung prescribed marijuana for many aliments 4,700 years ago

• Marijuana was used in India for festive and religious purposes by the 2nd century BC

• Greeks, Romans, Persians and Assyrians all used marijuana for medical purposes

Marijuana

• In the 13th century, Marco Polo recounted how hashishiyya terrorized people while under the influence of hashish

• Marijuana seeds and leaves dating back to 500 BC were found near Berlin, Germany

• Napoleon’s troops returned to France with hashish, and soon after other Europeans began using marijuana

Marijuana

• Use of marijuana was noted in the Americas in 1545

• English settlers grew marijuana (hemp) to make clothing, rope, linens, and blankets

• By the late 1800s numerous reports detailed cannabis use for many medical reasons

• In the early 1900s, marijuana was used primarily by Hispanics in the Southwest and by Blacks in ghettos

Narcotics

• The term narcotics is used interchangeably with the terms opiates or opioids

• Opiate refers to opium and the derivatives of opium

• 1500 BC: Egyptians used opium for medical purposes

The Poppy Papavar somniferum

• A 6,000 year old Sumerian tablet referred to the opium poppy as the “joy plant”

Opium

• Opium was a staple in ancient Greece and Rome

• In the Arab world, opium was widely used because the Koran forbids alcohol use

• Opium was the central factor in a war between the Chinese and the British governments

• Medical uses of opium became widespread in Europe in the 16th century, when laudanum was developed

Morphine

• In 1805, the active ingredient in opium was identified and called morphine

• During the Civil War, morphine dependency was so common that it was called soldier’s disease

• An estimated 1 million Americans were dependent on morphine and other narcotics by the end of the 19 th century

• In 1874 a “wonder drug” was developed to relieve pain and treat morphine dependency – it was called heroin

Coffee

• One of the earliest written references to coffee dates back to 900 AD in Arabia

• The Chinese used caffeine almost 5,000 years ago

• The Koran condemned coffee and banned its use

• In the 1600s coffeehouses – called “penny universities” –became centers for learning

Caffeine: The number one drug in America

Cocaine

• People were chewing coca leaves prior to the rise of the Incan Empire, as early as 3000 BC

• The first verified use of coca has been traced to a gravesite in Peru from around 500 AD

• When Spaniards conquered the Incas, they realized the importance of the coca leaves to the natives

• In the 19th century, a French chemist developed a popular red wine which included active ingredients from coca leaves

Cocaine

• Early proponents of cocaine included Sigmund Freud, Robert Louis Stevenson, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

• Originally, Coca-Cola contained cocaine, and was promoted as a “Nerve Stimulant”

• Cocaine became a popular recreational drug in the 1970s

• Variations that were smoked emerged: first freebase, then inexpensive crack cocaine

Amphetamines

• Amphetamines, first synthesized in 1887, enlarge nasal passages, raise blood pressure, and stimulate the CNS

• During World War II, troops used amphetamines to overcome fatigue and increase their endurance

• Benzedrine was available over-the-counter in 1932 for treating asthma and nasal congestion

• Methamphetamines appeared in the 1960s

Sedative-Hypnotic Drugs

•Barbiturates• Barbituric acid, a class of drugs that have depressant

effects• Barbital, a sedative-hypnotic drug used to treat anxiety

and nervousness; the original barbiturate

•Nonbarbiturate Sedatives• Bromides, sedatives used to treat epileptic convulsions• Chloral hydrate, induces sleep• Paraldehyde, used with severely disturbed mental

patients

Sedative-Hypnotic Drugs

• Minor tranquilizers, or antianxiety agents• Meprobamate, also used for treating psychosomatic

conditions• Benzodiazepines such as Librium and Valium

• Inhalants• Solvents, gases, and aerosols• Nitrous oxide (lauhing gas)• Ether, developed for medical purposes

Inhalants

• Inhalants are among the first drugs used by young children

Hallucinogens

• Hallucinogens are a class of drugs that induce perceived distortions in time and space• LSD, derived from a fungus• Psilocybin, found in certain mushrooms• Peyote, contains mescaline isolated from cactus• Jamestown weed, derived from Datura plant

• LSD originated from ergot fungus, which grows on grain, and causes the condition ergotism

Tobacco

• Tobacco was first used by Mayas around 600 to 900 AD

• Shortly after Columbus came to the New World, tobacco was introduced into Europe

• Portuguese sailors established tobacco trade with China, Japan, Brazil, India, Africa, and Arabia

• Sir Francis Bacon described the addictive quality of tobacco

Tobacco

• Smoking became popular in England, but was banned in many other parts of Europe

• In China the penalty for anyone dealing tobacco was decapitation

• Tobacco figured prominently when the US was colonized, and helped finance the Revolutionary War

• In the early 1900s, smoking tobacco was less popular than chewing and snuffing it

Cigarettes

• The cigarette habit spread throughout Europe during the Crimean War

• Cigarette use in the United States rose in the 1880s, when the cigarette-making machine was patented

• Cigarette smoking was a man’s activity, and smoking was illegal for women and young people in many states

Cigarette Smoking

• The single largest preventable cause of illness and premature death in the US

Cigars

• Mayas are believed to have smoked cigars ritually as early as the 10th century

• In the late 1700s, most cigars were imported from the West Indies and Cuba

• Manufacturers throughout the country produced cigars as their popularity increased

Young Adults 18 to 25 Using Cigars