CHAPTER 1
DRUGS AND BEHAVIOR TODAY
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS
1. Assign students to view a broadcast of a sports event (appropriate for the season) on commercial
TV. They should pay particular attention to any commercial related to the sale of beer. Which
brands were advertised, and how many minutes during the entire game were devoted to such
commercials? What message about the consumption of beer was conveyed? What associations
were made with beer-drinking in the commercial? A discussion can be held on the students’
reaction to the segment. How would a younger person—say, fourteen to sixteen years old—react to
it? (It may be easier to have the segments recorded and played on a VHS or DVD recorder in class.)
2. Assign students to keep a diary (with no personal identification) of their own consumption patterns of
licit psychoactive drugs over a fourteen-day period (beginning on a Monday): specifically, their
intake of caffeinated beverages, alcohol, and tobacco products. Were there any patterns of
weekday versus weekend consumption, daytime versus nighttime, work time versus relaxation
time? On an anonymous basis, have them record the circumstances under which these drugs were
consumed. Were there any relationships between the consumption of these drugs and levels of
fatigue, opportunities for socializing, or perceived stress? Have the respondents specify their age
range (under eighteen, between eighteen and twenty-one, over twenty-one) and examine this
information in light of reports of underage alcohol and tobacco purchases/intake.
3. Have students discuss or write their remembrances of their high-school days with regard to drug-
taking behavior. Was it cool or not cool to do drugs? Which drugs were cool and which ones were
not? Was there a certain type of person who was known (or expected) to do drugs? Did the
perception of drug-taking behavior change as students progressed from the sixth grade to the ninth
grade and finally to their senior year? Has the pattern of drug-taking behavior changed since they
have been in college for their younger siblings or acquaintances?
4. Assign students to find an article in a newspaper or magazine relating to some form of licit or illicit
drug-taking behavior. They can discuss it in class, write their reactions to the article, or make a
presentation centered on the impact the article might have in their lives. Some examples include
reports of new recreational drugs that are ordinarily used on a medicinal basis (Ritalin, Adderall,
OxyContin), steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in sports, and economic issues
related to prescription drugs among the elderly.
5. Organize a brief debate on the pro and con arguments for the legalization of psychoactive drugs.
Assign two groups of people to organize among themselves their ideas supporting each side. They
may wish to use some of the positions expressed in the Point/Counterpoint Debate “Should we
legalize drugs?” at the end of Part I in the text (pp. 58–59) as starting points for a debate. Articles
and accompanying essays in Levinthal’s Point/Counterpoint: Opposing Perspectives on Drug Policy
(Allyn and Bacon, 2003) are useful additional sources.
NOTE: Continual updating of statistical information related to prevalence rates in drug use in
the United States can be accomplished by accessing the following web sites:
The University of Michigan Monitoring the Future Study
http://monitoringthefuture.org
Results of an annual survey of adolescent drug use appear in mid-December of each
year.
The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)
http://samhsa.gov
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LECTURE OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER ONE
A. Social Messages and Social Realities Concerning Drug Use
1. We live in a society that sends mixed messages with respect to drug use. Warning
labels on cigarette packs and public service announcements caution against serious health
hazards of tobacco use while cigarette smoking continues to be glamorized in movies.
Public officials admit to drug use (primarily marijuana smoking) earlier in their lives, yet
marijuana remains classified as an illegal drug in the same category as heroin. Public anti-
drug campaigns co-exist with pro-drug-use messages on Internet web sites.
2. Two themes predominate in the text. The first theme concerns the immense diversity of
drugs in our society, both legal and illegal. As many problems arise from legal drugs
as from illegal ones. The second theme focuses on acknowledging that drug abuse
and its associated problems extend to men and women of all ages, all ethnic and
racial groups, all geographic regions, and all socioeconomic levels.
B. Two Ways of Looking at Drugs and Behavior
1. We can focus on specific substances that alter our feelings, our thoughts, our perception of
the world, and our behavior, as well as the circumstances in our lives that lead to drug-
taking behavior.
2. Psychoactive drugs are those drugs that influence the functioning of the brain and
hence our behavior. Some psychoactive drugs are licit (legal) and others are illicit (illegal).
In the case of licit drugs, there is legal availability to the general public in the United States,
though in the cases of alcohol and nicotine, access carries an age requirement.
3. Drug dependence can be examined on three levels. On a behavioral level, dependence is
characterized by intense craving and, in most cases, a need for increasingly greater
quantities in order to get the same desired effect. On a physiological level, dependence
corresponds to the appearance of long-lasting changes in the brain. On a social level, the
pattern of dependence is influenced by the social context in which drug-taking behavior
occurs.
4. A drug is typically defined as a chemical substance that, when taken into the body,
alters the structure or functioning of the body in some way. Nutrients considered to
be related to normal functioning are excluded from this definition.
5. Drugs can also be differentiated from non-drugs in terms of whether the substance has been
intended to be used primarily as a way of inducing a bodily or psychological change.
6. Drug use can be considered as either instrumental or recreational, depending on the
intention of the user. Instrumental use means that a person is taking a drug with a
specific, socially approved goal in mind. Recreational use means that a person is
taking the drug for the purposes of acquiring the effect of the drug itself.
7. Drug abuse refers to drug-taking behavior that produces some form of physical,
mental, or social impairment. Drug misuse refers to cases in which a prescription or
nonprescription drug is used in an inappropriate manner. Recreational use of
prescription pain medications such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percodan, Demerol, and Darvon
is an example of drug misuse that can lead to drug abuse.
8. We need to understand the historical foundations of drug use, the ways in which our society
has responded to problems associated with drug use, and the ways in which our attitudes
have changed over time.
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