KNOW YOUR SUBSTANCES
Question: This category of drug generally slows activity in the central nervous system.
What is a depressant?
Question: ZYN is an example of this type of nicotine product.
What is a nicotine pouch?
QUESTION: Alcohol belongs primarily to this drug category.
ANSWER: What is a depressant?
QUESTION: Name TWO abilities cannabis can impair.
ANSWER: Examples: memory, attention, reaction time, coordination, perception, judgment.
QUESTION: A strong urge or desire to use a substance.
ANSWER: What is a craving?
Question: Cocaine, caffeine, and nicotine generally belong to this category because they increase activity in the nervous system.
What are stimulants?
QUESTION: TRUE OR FALSE: Because a nicotine pouch produces no smoke, it cannot cause nicotine dependence.
False
QUESTION: Name THREE abilities alcohol can impair that are also important for driving.
ANSWER: Examples: reaction time, judgment, coordination, attention, vision, decision-making.
QUESTION: TRUE OR FALSE: “Cannabis is natural” proves that cannabis is harmless.
ANSWER: False.
QUESTION: Needing more of a substance to achieve a similar effect.
ANSWER: What is tolerance?
Questions: These substances can significantly alter perception, sensory experiences, thoughts, or a person's sense of reality.
What are hallucinogens?
QUESTION: Name TWO ways nicotine use may affect adolescents.
ANSWER: Examples: dependence/addiction, attention, learning, mood, impulse control, cravings or withdrawal.
QUESTION: Two people drink the same amount of alcohol but experience different effects. Give THREE possible reasons.
ANSWER: Examples: speed of consumption, food, body size/composition, medication, other substances, tiredness, stress.
QUESTION: : Why can edible cannabis create a different risk than a substance whose effects are felt quickly?
ANSWER: Effects can be delayed, so someone may take more before realizing how strongly the first amount will affect them.
QUESTION: The body or brain has adapted to repeated use and may react when use is reduced or stopped.
ANSWER: What is dependence?
Questions: A student says, “Prescription medicine comes from a doctor, so using my friend's prescription can't be dangerous.” Identify the flaw.
Prescription medication can be harmful when used by someone it was not prescribed for or used differently than directed.
QUESTION: A student stops vaping and becomes irritable, restless, distracted, and experiences strong urges to vape. What concept best explains this?
ANSWER: What is withdrawal?
QUESTION: Someone has been drinking, is vomiting repeatedly, and is very difficult to wake. What should happen?
ANSWER: Get emergency medical help immediately and stay with the person.
QUESTION: Why doesn't using “a little alcohol and a little cannabis” necessarily make the situation safer?
ANSWER: Their effects can combine and increase impairment, making the person's reaction less predictable.
QUESTION: Name the 4 Cs used in our class to recognize problematic substance use.
ANSWER: Craving, Control, Compulsion, Consequences.
Question: A substance can fit more than one description depending on its effects, dose, and context. Explain why classifying substances only as “stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogen” can sometimes oversimplify risk.
ANSWER: Risk also depends on factors such as dose, age, frequency, individual health, other substances, environment, and how the substance is used.
QUESTION: A nicotine product is marketed as “smoke-free,” “discreet,” and “easy to use anywhere.” Why could those features actually increase the risk of dependence for some users?
ANSWER: Because convenience and discreet use may make the product easier to use more often, creating more frequent nicotine exposure, stronger habits, cravings, and dependence.
QUESTION: Two drivers have consumed the same amount of alcohol. Driver A looks obviously impaired. Driver B appears completely normal. Why is choosing Driver B still unsafe reasoning?
ANSWER: Visible behaviour does not reliably measure impairment. Driver B may still have reduced reaction time, judgment, attention, coordination, or perception, and people may not accurately recognize their own impairment.
QUESTION: Alcohol slows you down and cannabis relaxes you, so taking small amounts of both should balance each other out.
ANSWER:
Substance effects do not simply “cancel each other out. Combining substances can increase or make impairment less predictable, especially for reaction time, judgment, coordination, and attention.
QUESTION: Student A uses a substance regularly but still attends school, plays sports, and has good grades. Student B uses less often but has begun hiding use, experiencing cravings, and repeatedly failing to stop.
Who shows the more concerning pattern, and why?
ANSWER: Student B, because problematic use is not determined only by frequency. Cravings, loss of control, secrecy, failed attempts to stop, compulsion, and continued use despite consequences are stronger warning signs.