What is a drug?

Any chemical mean or driving force

affecting the performance of any living
organism.
• A drug may consist of:
 stimulants
 tranquilizers
 hormones
 antibiotics
 vaccines
• Drugs have their side effects whether positive
or negative depending on each person and the
way its used: whether ABUSED or used
moderately.
 What is Drug Abuse?

It is the excessive, maladaptive use

of drugs for nonmedical purposes
despite risks or negative
consequences that may arise from
such use.
There are two different drug categories

• Performance enhancing drugs

• Psychoactive/Psychotropic drugs
 Performance-enhancing drugs
Are drugs that include chemicals such as,
Anabolic steroids

They are taken by athletes in order to:

• Improve athletic performance
• Increase muscle mass and strength
 Psychoactive Drugs
• Alters the consumer’s perception of reality
• Affects the mood
• Unstable consciousness
It consists of 4 different categories:
1) Stimulants
2) Depressants
3) Psychedelics/Hallucinogens
4) Opiates
 Uses of Psychoactive Drugs
Psychoactive drugs could be used for:

Medical purposes, such as:

Painkillers
Anti-depressants
Non-Medical purposes, such as:
Emotional/spiritual reasons

P.S Medical substances are abused in various ways which

causes physical and/or psychological addiction
 Stimulants
• Speed up activity in the central nervous system
• referred to as "uppers"
• Use in the treatment of obesity, narcolepsy, and
attention deficit disorders.
• Taken when clubbing or partying ->”party drug”
• Most common used: nicotine, caffeine, cocaine,
amphetamines, and methamphetamine
hydrochloride.
 What is Cocaine?

• made from the leaves of the coca shrub

• 2nd most common abused drug in USA (after marijuana)
• an intense euphoric drug with strong addictive
potential
• Is usually distributed as a white crystalline powder or as
an off-white chunky material
• Street name:
Coke, snow, flake, blow
How is it Consumed?
Swallowed in pill form
“Snorted” in powder form
Injected, using a needle
Heated in crystal form and smoked
 Effects
• Psychological
Excitement, confidence, well-being, or
euphoria, enhanced alertness, awareness,
wakefulness, endurance, productivity
• Physical
Anxiety, convulsions, increased arousal,
locomotion, heart rate, and blood pressure,
heart failure, and even death.
 Long-term Effects
Repeated abuse can cause addiction!!
 a continued drug seeking and use despite its
harmful effects
Withdrawal symptoms:
Depression, anxiety, drug craving, and extreme
fatigue “crash”
Can also cause: aggressiveness, extreme
anorexia, visual and auditory hallucinations, and
delusions
 Caffeine
• A compound that is found naturally in coffee,
tea, and to a lesser degree, in cocoa or
chocolate
• The world's most widely used psychoactive
drug
• Increases alertness and arousal as well as
subjectively lower levels of fatigue
 Effects

Long term Effects:

• Nervousness
• Irritability
• Anxiety
• Muscle twitching
• Insomnia
• Headaches
 Treatment
• No medications approved by the U.S. Food
and Drug Administration to treat stimulant
addiction
• Behavioral therapies:
Motivational incentives (MI)
• reward patients who refrain from using drugs
by offering vouchers or prizes
 Depressants
Street Names:
barbs, booze (alcohol), candy, etc…
Slow down the pace of the messages between the brain and the
body through a decline in the activity of the central nervous
system
Types:
• Alcohol
• Heroin
• Barbiturates
• Benzodiazepines
• Tranquilizers
 Different forms

Pills
Liquid
Powder
 Alcohol
• Which is one of the most popular and
frequently used drugs all over the world
 What is Heroin?
• It is one of the most addictive drugs
• One of the opiates having the highest effect on the consumer
• It is obtained from morphine (which is acquired from the
opium’s plant’s seed)
• After its injected and combined with the consumer’s blood, it
enters the brain and transforms into morphine.
• It joins the the opioid receptors, which creates a sort of
euphoria
• It enters the brain quickly and that’s why it is addictive

• Street Names:
“Smack, hell dust, big H, nose drop, thunder, etc…”
 Different forms
It is usually powder that could take
different shapes and colors:
• White, brownish
 How is Heroin consumed?
Sniffed Injected Smoked
Short term effects:
Effects
Physical Effects:
• Heart problems and infections
• Liver disease
• Respiration problems
• Hot flushes
• Dry mouth
• Muscle fracture
• Nausea and vomiting
• Insomnia
There definitely is a psychological dependence
due to the physical needs that causes sometimes:
• Panic attacks
 Long Term Effects
Physical Effect:
• Changes and abuse of the brain
• Physical dependence grows with the amount of
drug injected due to injections used by various
people.
• Consumer could have HIV and Hepatitis C
Withdrawal symptoms:
• Muscular Pain, insomnia
• Vomiting
 Treatment
Medical treatments:
1)Methadone
• An effective treatment that is used for the addiction
• Reduces the withdrawal symptoms outcomes
• Decreases the effect of the drug until detoxification
• A good amount would lessen the craving to other opiates
2)Buprenorphine
• Carries less risk to overdose and withdrawal effects
• Not all heroin addicts react to it
• When stopped, there is a lower chance of withdrawal effects and physical
dependence
3)Naltrexone
• Globally used for heroin addiction
• Usage by poor addicts
• It is only used with detoxified patients
• It limits the effects of withdrawal symptoms  
 
 Treatment (cont’)
Other treatments:
• Psychological counselling

• Behavioural treatments
 Hallucinogens

• “Hallucinogenic compounds” are groups of drugs

that make the consumer hallucinate.

•Hallucinogenic drugs contain “LSD, lysergic acid

diethylamide.”
 Types
There are 2 types of hallucinogens
• Natural hallucinogens: found in the wild
plants: Marijuana and Mushroom

• Synthetic hallucinogens: they are man- made.

Conducted in human labs through the usage
of different substances: LSD, PSP and MDMA
 What is LSD?
• Lysergic acid diethylamide
• Very strong
• Dangerous
According to the US National Drug Intelligence
Center, LSD, “If consumed in a large dose, could
produce delusions and visual hallucinations that
distort the user's sense of time and identity.”
Street names:
Acid, microdots, blotters,…
Different Forms
Gelatin Squares
Liquid
Tablets/Microdots
Physical effects:
Effects
• Blood pressure increase
• Dizziness
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Dry mouth
Psychological effects:
Short term effects:
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Paranoia
Long term effects:
• Long term Anxiety
• Long term Depression
• Flash backs

LSD is not an addictive drug

 What are magic mushrooms?

A mushroom that is grown on cow feces. These

kinds of mushrooms contain around 0.2 to 0.4 % of
psilocybin. Those containing psilocybin could be found
fresh or dried.
Street words:
Shrooms, Mushies, God’s flesh,…
 How is it consumed?
Fresh Mushrooms
• Orally: raw or cooked
• Added to a liquid such as, tea
• Added to food or coated with chocolate

Dried mushrooms
• Put in cigarettes or pipes
 Physical and Psychological Effects
• Physical Effects
“Nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, drowsiness,
and lack of coordination.”
• Psychological Effects
Hallucination and a lack of ability to distinguish
between reality and illusions.
Panic Attacks, if the dosage was high.
 Addiction
• There is no total dependence or addiction that
could be on psilocybin or Mushrooms.

• But tolerance may occur if a big amount has

been ingested into the body
 What is Marijuana?
• Is the name of some dried leaves and the
“flowering tops” of a plant called “hemp.”
• Its scientific name is, Cannabis sativa.
• 200 million people around the world smoke
marijuana.
Street Name:
Grass, pot, weed, Mary Jane,...
 Characteristics
• “Sweet-and-sour” aroma

• Marijuana has a chemical called

Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC),
that alters ones
consciousness
 How is it consumed?
• Smoked: stuffed into cigarettes and cigars,
Pipes (Sisha, or a normal pipe)
 Drank

• Put in a liquid

i.e. tea
 Eaten

• Baked

i.e. Hash Brownies

 Physical and psychological Effects
Physical:
• Quick heart beats
• Expansion of eye “blood vessels”
• Dry mouth and thirst
• Severe hunger
• Shivering hands

Psychological 
• Pleasant feelings, colors and sounds, a better sense of time
• Sometimes, “anxiety, fear, panic.”
 Problems caused due to long time
consumption
• Respiratory problems
• Daily cough
• Chest illnesses
• A risk of lung infections
• Sometimes, cancer of the respiratory tract and
lungs (since marijuana has more hydrocarbons
than tobacco)
• Significant weakness in short-term memory
 Conclusion
• Drug abuse is a complex problem that results from a combination of psychological,
and environmental factors.

• Drug abusers cannot function as normal members of society and in some cases,
present a threat to national security.

• The use of drugs should be strictly regulated in all countries.

• The dangers of drug abuse should be discussed thoroughly with children at an

appropriate age. 

• Drug abusers shouldn’t be undermined, but offered help through rehabs and
behavioral therapies.

• The phenomenon of drug abuse is not impossible to eliminate, it just needs to be

handled with more care and will.
 Efforts
• In Egypt:
 References
• Video from the National Geographic
• http://www.partnerupaz.org/GetTheFacts/LearnIt/depressants/tabid/845/Default.aspx
• http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/263607/heroin
• http://www.justice.gov/dea/concern/heroin.html
• http://www.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=zIRQOssWbaoC&oi=fnd&pg=PA207&dq=
what+are+the+effects+of+shrooms&ots=wF15x2VVYQ&sig=xzbxcOqHr5-ryg9FvNA3JIoC
H9w#v=onepage&q=&f=false
 
• http://www.justice.gov/ndic/pubs4/4260/index.htm#What
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• http://apt.rcpsych.org/cgi/reprint/6/5/344
• Perry D. Strausbaugh, Earl L. Core, "Marijuana", in AccessScience@McGraw-Hill,
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