Influences
Media
Technological/Medical Advances
Interpersonal Communications
Examples
1. A new NIDA-funded study analyzed the content
and demographic reach of a popular
pro-marijuana Twitter handle in 2013 and found
that only ten percent of the messages mentioned
any risky behaviors associated with marijuana use
(NIDA.org).
2. Compared to teens that spend no time on social
networking sites in a typical day, teens that do are
5 times likelier to use tobacco. 3 times likelier to
use alcohol. Twice as likely to use marijuana
(centeronaddiction.org)
1. the Board noted that the Internet was providing
a forum for the exchange of information and
advice on illicit drug use and manufacture. In its
report for 2000,5 the Board expressed concern
over the unregulated growth of Internet
pharmacies that promote and offer for sale
controlled substances without prescription. Such
practices violate article 10 of the Convention on
Psychotropic Substances of 1971,6 which
requires parties to that convention, with due
regard to their constitutional provisions, to prohibit
the advertising of psychotropic substances to the
general public (incb.org)
2. Drug traffickers use computers and electronic
pocket organizers for storing information (such as
bank account numbers, contact details of
associates, databases of assets and financial
activity, sales and other business records, grid
coordinates of clandestine landing strips and
recipes for synthetic drug manufacture) and for
electronic mail (e-mail) and other correspondence
(incb.org)
1. For some adolescents and young people, the
experimental consumption of drugs is a ritual act
to go through their individualization stage. In fact,
one may say that most of these young people are
experimental users. However, for those young
people and adolescents who present complex
personalities, this may constitute the only
alternative they have to cope with personal
problems, which makes them more vulnerable to
drug addiction. Groups that have been recognized
as facing higher risks for drug consumption are
the marginal or hidden populations. Adolescents
and young people who belong to juvenile gangs
are part of these groups (scielo.br).
 2. When family members with drug problems are
at home, it may not be safe for the kids. There
might be a lot of fighting. They might abuse or
neglect the children. When kids grow up with
these problems around them, they are more likely
to have drug problems of their own
(drugabuse.gov)

Immediate Risks 1.There are a variety of effects that may be

experienced during or shortly after use, including:
slurred speech, drunk, dizzy or dazed
appearance., inability to coordinate movement.
hallucinations and delusions, hostility, apathy,
impaired judgment, unconsciousness, severe
headaches. Rashes around the nose and mouth.
Prolonged sniffing of these chemicals can induce
irregular and rapid heartbeat and lead to heart
failure and death within minutes. Death from
suffocation can occur by replacing oxygen in the
lungs with the chemical, and then in the central
nervous system, so that breathing ceases
(drugfeeworld.org).

2. Psychological drug abuse side effects include:

Aggressiveness or irritability Selfishness
Hopelessness Lack of pleasure from previously
enjoyed activities Pressuring others into doing
drugs (drugabuse.org).

Long-Term Risks. 1. Long-term users have experienced: Muscle

weakness, disorientation, lack of coordination,
irritability, depression. Serious and sometimes
irreversible damage to the heart, liver, kidneys,
lungs and brain. Memory impairment, diminished
intelligence, hearing loss, bone marrow damage.
Deaths from heart failure or asphyxiation (loss of
oxygen) (drugfreeworld.org).

2. The effects of drug abuse can also include

decreasing performance in work or school. This
decreased performance may lead to disciplinary
action, expulsion or dismissal, creating money
problems and possibly even legal troubles.
Discontinuing participation in sports and giving up
hobbies are other effects of drug abuse (incb.org).
Priority area/ Interconnections
Tobacco Use
Intentional or Unintentional Injuries
How it affects or is affected by your topic
1. Many interactions between tobacco smoke and
medications have been identified. Note that in
most cases it is the tobacco smokenot the
nicotinethat causes these drug interactions.
Tobacco smoke interacts with medications
through pharmacokinetic (PK) and
pharmacodynamic (PD) mechanisms. PK
interactions affect the absorption, distribution,
metabolism, or elimination of other drugs,
potentially causing an altered pharmacologic
response. The majority of PK interactions with
smoking are the result of induction of hepatic
cytochrome P450 enzymes (primarily CYP1A2).
PD interactions alter the expected response or
actions of other drugs. The amount of tobacco
smoking needed to have an effect has not been
established, and the assumption is that any
smoker is susceptible to the same degree of
interaction (smokingcessationleadership.ucsf.edu)
2. Decreased CYP1A2 activity after smoking
cessation increases the risk of adverse drug
reactions, with reports of increased toxicity from
clozapine and olanzapine. Predicting the required
dose reduction of drugs metabolised by CYP1A2
after smoking cessation is challenging.
Therapeutic drug monitoring should be used when
possible (nps.org)
1. A recent study reports that people who suffered
a TBI before the age of 5 or between ages 16 and
25 were at an increased risk for dependence on
alcohol and drugs. Beyond just increasing the use
of drugs, a TBI can also make alcohol and drug
use more harmful. After a TBI, teens may feel the
effects of alcohol and drugs more quickly than
before the injury. Some teens may find just a
small amount of alcohol or drugs impairs judgment
and balance (teens.drugabuse.gov)
2. While these data suggest that alcohol in
combination with other drugs may be more
strongly associated with intentional injury than
alcohol alone, this may be due to the increased
amount of alcohol consumed by those using both
substances, and is an area requiring more
research with larger samples of intentional injury
patients (ncbi.nlm.nig.gov)
HIV/STI
Healthful nutrition and dietary practices
1. Alcohol and drugs can alter people's judgment.
They may take risks that might expose them to
HIV that they would not take when sober. Sharing
needles to inject drugs (such as heroin, speed, or
anabolic steroids) is VERY dangerous and can
easily spread HIV (and other serious diseases)
from one person to another. Some people who are
addicted to drugs may trade sex for drugs or
money to get more drugs. This may put them at
greater risk of HIV, especially if they do not always
practice safe sex (hivinsite.ucsf.edu)
2. Injected drugs are drugs that are introduced
into the blood stream using a needle and syringe.
People who inject drugs, hormones, steroids, or
silicone can get HIV by sharing needles or
syringes and other injection equipment. The
needles and equipment may have someone elses
blood in them, and blood can transmit HIV
(aids.gov)
3. Another reason people who inject drugs can get
HIV (and other sexually transmitted diseases) is
that when people are under the influence of drugs
(or high), theyre more likely to engage in risky
behaviors, such as having sex without a condom
or without taking daily medicine to prevent getting
or transmitting HIV (aids.gov)
1. The study concluded that higher consumption
of sodium, lower fruit and vegetable intake, lower
serum carotenoid levels, higher alcohol intake,
higher cigarette use and the compounded
carcinogenic effects of marijuana place marijuana
users at a higher future risk for cardiovascular
disease and cancer. In general, substance abuse
harms the body in two distinct ways: via the effect
of the substance itself and via negative lifestyle
changes, such as irregular eating habits and poor
dietary intake. You can beat these habits with the
help of a supplement regimen, which is available
most efficiently in a liquid multivitamin
(vitamins-nutrition.org)
2. Stimulant use, including use of crack, cocaine,
and methamphetamine, results in a significant
decrease in appetite, weight loss, and eventual
malnutrition. Abusers of these drugs may stay up
for days at a time and suffer dehydration and
electrolyte imbalances during these prolonged
episodes. Returning to normal diet can be difficult
if there has been profound weight loss
(vitamins-nutrition.org).
3. Regarding food-drug interactions physicians
and pharmacists recognize that some foods and
 drugs, when taken simultaneously, can alter the
body's ability to utilize a particular food or drug, or
cause serious side effects. Clinically significant
drug interactions, which pose potential harm to the
patient, may result from changes in
pharmaceutical, pharmacokinetic, or
pharmacodynamic properties (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

Physical Fitness 1. Athletic performance has been shown to

(care of the body) be significantly affected by barbiturates. Borg
et al found that amobarbital (300mg)
decreased cycling endurance in contrast to
amphetamine (10mg), which increased it.
Smith and Beecher found not only that
athletic performance, such as swimming and
running, was depressed secobarbital
(100mg), but also that the athletes
estimation of their own performance was
impaired (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
2. Patterns of drug abuse among teens suggest
that physical activity can strengthen resistance to
addiction. Results from the NIDA-funded
Monitoring the Future survey, for example,
indicate that high school students who exercise
regularly are less likely than sedentary teens to
smoke cigarettes or abuse marijuana
(drugabuse.gov)