Drugs and the Brain
True or False: Drugs can make it harder for teens to make good decisions.
What is True?
Using drugs like tobacco can stain this part of your body and cause bad breath.
What are teeth?
This is the most common drug that teenagers try first.
What is alcohol?
Stopping to consider the long-term consequences of your actions is a helpful strategy for resisting peer pressure.
What is thinking before acting?
This term describes how drugs can change the way the brain’s reward system functions, leading to dependency.
What is addiction?
This organ, which cleans your blood, gets damaged by drinking too much alcohol.
What is the liver?
True or False: Using drugs can make it harder to manage your emotions and react appropriately. This emotional difficulty is particularly noticeable during this phase of life when the brain is still developing.
What is true? What is adolescence?
This ingredient in energy drinks might seem harmless, but too much can cause anxiety, heart racing, and even dehydration.
What is caffeine?
Name a healthy coping mechanism for stress instead of turning to substances.
What is exercise, talking with friends or a trusted adult, and doing a fun hobby?
This neurotransmitter, often affected by drug use, controls feelings of pleasure and reward.
What is dopamine?
Using drugs can make this important muscle beat too fast, too slow, or unevenly.
What is the heart?
Fill in the Blank: When you build up ---- to a drug it can worsen the effects and symptoms of ---- when you quit said drug.
What is tolerance and withdrawal?
People thought this habit was safer than smoking, but the little pods or cartridges often have nicotine, which is super addictive.
What is vaping?
This social influence is when individuals feel encouraged or persuaded by their peers to engage in certain behaviors, such as experimenting with drugs.
What is peer pressure?
Drugs can hurt this part of the brain that helps with memory.
What is the hippocampus?
Drugs can make your body weaker and get sick more often by hurting this system.
What is the immune system?
Some drugs can make you see or hear things that aren’t real. What is the name of the class of drugs that cause this and what is the symptom called?
What are psychedelics/hallucinogens? What are hallucinations?
This highly potent and dangerous substance is often unknowingly mixed into other drugs, increasing the risk of overdose.
What is fentanyl?
This legal prescription medication is often abused for its stimulant effects, particularly among students aiming to enhance academic performance.
What is Adderall (or methylphenidate)?
Stimulating drugs like cocaine can make people feel this way, even when it’s not true.
What is paranoia or fear?
Taking steroids can hurt this body system that helps you grow strong bones.
What is the skeletal system?
This type of drug slows down the body’s functions and can cause feelings of extreme tiredness and disinterest. Feelings of extreme tiredness and disinterest are common symptoms of this syndrome.
What is a depressant? What is amotivational syndrome?
This gas, found in whipped cream canisters, is sometimes abused to cause a quick high but can lead to brain damage, especially in our young developing brains.
What are nitrous oxide or "whippets"?
Research shows that this key aspect of brain development is not fully completed until the age of 25, making it especially important for teens to avoid drug use.
What is the prefrontal cortex?