The document discusses several factors that can influence the harm caused by drug use, including individual characteristics, drug characteristics, and environmental factors. Specifically, it notes that an individual's age, health, weight, mood, and genetics can impact drug effects. The type of drug, dosage, frequency of use, route of administration, purity, and combination with other drugs are also factors. Environmental influences include peer pressure and the situation during drug use.

1. Drug use
Continued

2. Factors Associated with
Harm from Drug Use
 The effect that a drug has on an individual
depends on:
 The individuals circumstances, including their;
age, sex, body weight, mood, level of
exercise and state of personal health.
 The drug itself, specifically the; type of drug
used, amount taken, level of purity

3. Drug use
 The manner in which the drug is taken,
including; the route of administration
(orally, intravenously, inhaled), past
experiences with the drug (tolerance) & if poly
drug use is happening.
 Finally the environment; situation the
user is in and peer pressure.

4. Drug use
 Characteristics of the individual; Size of the
user can influence the absorption of the drug: e.g
smaller individuals will be affected by alcohol more
because there is less blood volume to absorb the
alcohol. (eg, women v men standard drink.)
 Some people have a predisposition to alcoholism and
the intake of alcohol. Therefore genes may play a
role in the rate at which you can tolerate alcohol.
 Some personal characteristics can lead to addiction
with drug use; e.g a lack of success at school,
negative adolescent behaviors (crime), being a victim
of physical or mental abuse, domestic violence,
stress at work or change in normal life, poor self
esteem, lack of assertiveness, lack of positive role
models & bullying victim.

5. Drug use
 Potential for harm from the drug
 -Drug Type; drugs that are considered safe are
called analgesics, (paracetamol, cough mixtures) The
safety of a drug really depends on the type and
quantity of the drug and how it is taken. (e.g, sleeping
tablets are safe when taken in accordance to
prescription however if more are taken then they can
become fatal.
 As we have mentioned many times it is hard to know
how drugs will effect an individual over time for e.g
(one cigarette can start the process of lung cancer in
an individual and one hit of ice can start the road to
addiction. Some drugs like cigarettes won’t kill you
after the first smoke but one pure hit of heroin may
kill you!
 So the vital point is that the fatality and degree of risk
depends on the drug type along with the length the

6. Drug use
 Dosage; refers to the amount of the drug that is taken at one time. In
the case of alcohol the more that is drunk then the more areas of the
brain are desensitized.
 Dosage names come from the term dose- response relationship
(e.g A high dose that causes death is a (Le???????) and a threshold
dosage is when the drug has it’s desired effect. High level drug users
(addicts) aim for a maximum dosage however as use continues the
maximum threshold becomes higher and higher because of the bodies
ability to adapt. (e.g gateway theory)
 Often heroin users aim for a maximum dosage which results in death or
overdose due to purity.
 Prescription drugs should have the dosage on the bottle. Any change in
this dosage may cause a variation in the drugs effect.
 With prescription drugs it is important that the full course is taken so all
bacteria are killed, otherwise the bacteria wins and more heavy
analgesics are needed to kill the bacteria.

7. Drug use
 Frequency Of Use; the number of
times a drug is consumed over time.
 The longer the drug is taken and the
more in a day the greater the negative
effects on health.
 Tolerance increases with frequency of
use but so does the potential for harm.

8. Drug use
 Concentration; Illicit drugs are of variable
strengths and purity and are cut with
unknown substances. There are many cases
where the purity of a drug has been lethal.
 Over the last 20 years the purity and strength
of illicit drugs has increased (e.g THC levels
in cannabis has risen 20-30%.

9. Drug use
 Route of Administration; The way a drug is administered has a huge effect
on the effectiveness of a drug, e.g (smoked v injected)
 The way a drug is taken depends on the chemical make up of the drug. Eg
cigarettes can be smoked and chewed.
 Time required for action – so injection is much quicker than orally.
 Length of action – eg taking the drug orally gives a slow response through
digestion rather than injection.
 THE MOST COMMON:
 ORALLY; Enters the mouth, into the intestines and then is absorbed into the
bloodstream. This method does allow for retrieval by throwing up if necessary
due to the long process.
 INHALATION; The drug is drawn into the lungs and enters the blood by the
alveoli in the lungs. This is a relatively quick process.
 PARENTERAL; Drugs are directly injected into the bloodstream. (the most
common site is into the blood vessel), Sometimes muscles can be
used( intramuscular) e.g steroids. This is a very quick process and it is
extremely dangerous and irretrievable.

10. Drug use
 Emotional State; Ones feelings or
emotions can have an effect on the
effectiveness of the drug. This is because
fear and anxiety release hormones and
gastric juices into the bloodstream which
intern effects the absorption and distribution
of the drug into the bloodstream.
 Sometimes the excitement or anticipation of
the drugs effects will bring on the effects of
the drug quicker.

11. Drug use
 Now read the article in groups “high
times hard to take the second time
around”
 Then do a flow chart of the
consequences.

12. Drug use
 Influences on Drug Use
 Family; inappropriate role modeling by parents can have a
severe effect on the patterns of drug use by teenagers.
 E.g giving alcohol to teenagers at the diner table or allowing
teenagers to smoke in front of parents.
 Also the family attitude can represent poor understanding of
drugs and drug use.
 However on the flip side there are the parents that take the total
Prohibition approach which can alter the way teenagers feel
about drug use. Teenagers sometimes will rebel against such a
strict upbringing.
 There is no correct answer or attitude that a family should have
but a knowledge of Drugs will help the teenagers.

13.  Friends; Peer influence can be a very
negative thing when it comes to Drug
Use. However peer support and
friendship can be a very important part
of the support network.
 The friendship network usually has it’s
own characteristics as well. E.g They
may be open to experimentation.

14.  School; Students who are lower in self esteem and
may have had low achievement at school are often
more suspeptable to drug use and linking with the
statement above, often hang around a group which
thoughts on drugs are incorrect or dangerous.
 Education plays a key role in curbing the chances
that an individual may start on the path of drugs. If full
understanding can be gained then that students has
a better opportunity of staying away from drug use
and Gate way Drugs such as Tobacco.
 It is super important that teachers and all staff work
with parents to instill a positive attitude to drug use
and present as role models.

15.  Media; The media plays a heavy role to play in the attitudes presented
by teenagers. Games such as grand theft auto, present drug and
violence in the one bracket.
 Music videos and music entertainers also are often not the best role
models, eg snoop dog who in the majority of his songs happily
promotes drug use and violence along with sexual harrassment.
 The internet now has access beyond any other generation so there is a
lot of fake knowledge on the net and people who are willing to
experiment have a wide variety of information sources. This can be a
positive and a negative when talking about education.
 So the major point is that for a lot of children and teenagers have role
models in the media and if they are negative they can affect teenagers
massively.
 Eg. Smoking is now very scrutinized in movies these days due to a lot
of famous actors smoking in films. What effect does that have on drug
use?

16.  Availability; The access to drugs and information about drugs
along with the expediency that drugs are available in an area
has an effect on drug use also.
 E.g Alcohol and tobacco are readily available and can be found
at cheaper prices than that of illicit drugs.
 Also alcohol and tobacco don’t require the use of specialist
equipment such as bongs, syringes.
 Price plays a major role in drug use as well and that can be
linked to socio economic background as well.
 Price increases such as the Alco pops price increase will
sometimes turn people to cheaper alternatives.
 You must also consider the governments stance on drugs and
taxes. What does that relationship mean?

17.  Alternatives to drugs;
 Now look to the board and you will see
some of the alternatives to drugs under
specific headings.