Drugs Impact Your Health Ashel Kruetzkamp, MSN, RN ● Drug trends and data ● Impacts on your health ● Test your knowledge Objectives ● In 2013, 7% of 8th graders, 18% of 10th graders and 23% of 12th graders used___________ in the past month? ● ● MARIJUANA Growing perception of marijuana as a safe drug, but many dealers are lacing marijuana with Heroin and Cocaine. High School and Youth Trends ● ● ● 14.8% of high school seniors used a prescription drug for non medical reasons or that was not prescribed for them in the past year. Every day in the US an average of 2,000 teenagers use prescription drugs without a doctor's guidance. Prescription and over-the-counter medications account for most of the top drugs abused by 12th graders in the past year, Adderall and Vicodin being the most commonly abused. High School and Youth Trends The percentage of users who become tolerant and then addicted to their respective drug at some point : Drug Average User Tobacco 31.9% Heroin 23.1% Cocaine 16.7% Alcohol 15.4% Cannabis 9.0% “Dangerousness of Drugs a Guide to the Risks and Harms Associated With Substance Misuse -- National Addiction Center. Retrieved 6 May 2014. 12th Grade National Drug Trends 2011 Heroin Trends in Northern KY ● 33% of 200 patients were between the ages of 16 and 25 ● 44% Female and 54% Male ● 96% of the patients were white Heroin Trends • Is a drug made from morphine, a “natural substance” in the seedpod of the Asian poppy plant • Usually appears as a white or brown powder • It can be injected, smoked or snorted • Although purer heroin is becoming more common, most street heroin is "cut" with other drugs or with substances such as sugar, starch, powdered milk, or quinine. Street heroin also can be cut with fentanyl or other poisons. Heroin Heroin Heroin Roulette Impacts your health ● Hepatitis C Rates of acute infections of Hepatitis C in Northern Kentucky doubles the state rate and are 24 times the national rate. Public health officials attribute Northern Kentucky’s high infection rate to the region’s high levels of the intravenous (IV) use of heroin. Hepatitis C is a serious disease that can result in long-term health problems, including liver damage, liver failure, liver cancer, or even death. It is the leading cause of cirrhosis and liver cancer and the most common reason for liver transplant in the US Impacts of your Liver ● ● Hepatitis C is a contagious liver disease which is spread through contact with blood of an infected person Hepatitis C is spread by – Sharing needles and syringes – Getting tattoo or body piercing where infection control standards are not met – Needle stick – Being born to a mother who has Hepatitis C 15,000 people die every year from Hepatitis C ● Your brain stops developing at what age? ● Brain 25 ● ● The brain is the command center of your body. It controls everything you do, even when you are sleeping. When drugs enter the brain they can interrupt that work and actually change how the brain performs. These changes lead to compulsive drug use, the hallmark of addiction. Impacts your brain ● ● ● Drugs are chemicals. They work the brain by tapping into the communication system and interfering with the way nerve cells normally send, receive, and process information. Marijuana and heroin, activate neurons - the chemical structure of these drugs mimics that of the natural neurotransmitter. Drugs can fool receptors, lock onto them, and activate sending abnormal messages through the brain. Impacts your brain ● ● All drugs affect the brains “reward” circuit. The reward circuit responds to the pleasure experiences by releasing the neurotransmitter, dopamine, which creates the feeling of pleasure, and tells the brain that this is something important—pay attention and remember it. Drugs “highjack” this system causing large amounts of dopamine to flood the system causing a high or euphoric feeling. Impacts the brain Impacts your brain Initial decision to take drugs is a choice, a physical need replaces that choice... ADDICTION compulsive need for and use of a habitforming substance (as heroin, nicotine, or alcohol) characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal; broadly : persistent compulsive use of a substance known by the user to be harmful Addiction ● ● ● ● ● Have you ever ridden in a car driven by someone (including yourself) who had been using drugs? Do you ever use drugs to relax, to feel better about yourself, or to fit in? Do you ever use drugs when you are alone? Do you ever forget things you did while using drugs? Do family and friends ever tell you to cut down on your use of drugs? How do I know if I have a drug problem? ● Spice –Variety of herbal mixtures that produce experience similar to marijuana Popular among young people; most used by high school seniors ● Causes psychoactive (mind-altering) affects ● ● Bath Salts –Made up of synthetic chemicals Experience paranoia, agitation and hallucinations, some even display psychotic, violent behavior and death ● Other Drugs Facts In 2009, what percentage of 16 or 17 year olds drove under the influence of drugs or alcohol? – 1.2% – 3.6% – 6.3% – 10.7% 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge Which of the following statements about the popular ADHD drug Adderall is true? – It can make a person smarter – It can help a person focus, even if they don't have ADHD – It causes your body to need less sleep – None of the above 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge A study that followed 1,000 people for more than 38 years showed that people who started smoking marijuana regularly as teenagers actually lost IQ points as they got older; they never got them back, even if they quit as adults. On average, how many points where lost? – 2 – 4 – 8 – 12 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge Some young people who abuse opioid painkillers like Oxycontin switch to Heroin. – True – False 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge Tobacco is the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the U.S. It causes: – About 1 in every 5 early deaths – About 1 in every 20 early deaths – About 1 in every 100 early deaths – About 1 in every 200 early deaths 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge Alcohol and marijuana are the drugs most abused by teenagers. What comes next? – Ecstasy – Cocaine – Bath Salts – Prescription drugs and cough medicine – Tobacco 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge What is the most common two-drug combination that results in death? – Alcohol and cocaine – Marijuana and alcohol – Prescription painkillers and alcohol – Prescription painkillers and LSD 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge About how many 8th graders have tried an inhalant to get high? – 1 in 5 – 1 in 10 – 1 in 25 – 1 in 200 2014 National Drug IQ Challenge When all is said and done the truth is that: 53.3% never used any illegal drug. 58% never smoked marijuana. 90.5% never did inhalants. 90.7% never did tranquilizers. 91.8% never did barbiturates. 93.5% never did ecstasy. 94% never did cocaine. 96.1% never did LSD. 97.6% never did methamphetamine. 98.8% never did heroin. National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency Resources NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Drug Free NKY St. Elizabeth Healthcare Northern Kentucky Health Department