Alcohol
Is alcohol really a drug?
Yes, alcohol is a depressant that slows down the body and interferes with reaction time and coordination.
What is the addictive chemical used in tobacco?
Nicotine.
True or False? Inhalants can make users sick and can even kill.
True. Inhalants have poisonous fumes that can damage internal organs, including nerve cells and brain cells.
True or False? Stimulants can be pills or capsules, smoked, snorted, or injected.
True. Stimulants can be pills or capsules that are swallowed. Smoking, snorting, or injecting stimulants produces a sudden sensation known as a “rush” or a “flash.”
What amount of alcohol can you safely consume while pregnant?
None. Abstain from all alcohol. Fetal alcohol syndrome/partial fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS/pFAS) is a 100% preventable birth defect.
True or False? Cannabis is not a hallucinogen.
True. Cannabis does belong to the hallucinogen drug classification.
True or False? Inhalants have an almost immediate effect on users.
True. Once inhaled, fumes from inhalants move quickly from the nose into the central nervous system and into the bloodstream.
True or False? Cocaine and crack can cause heart attacks and strokes.
True. Cocaine is a powerful central nervous system stimulant. It causes heart rate and blood pressure to increase greatly, which could cause a blood vessel in the brain to burst (stroke) or cause heart failure.
What do the letters BAC stand for and mean? And what two important factors influence a person’s BAC level?
Blood alcohol concentration⎯measurement of the level of alcohol in the bloodstream.
Number of drinks consumed.
How fast the alcohol was consumed.
True or False? Marijuana can temporarily impair an individual’s short-term memory.
True. Marijuana interferes with the memory process.
True or False? Psilocybin (mushrooms) is the most potent or strongest hallucinogen.
False. LSD is by far the most potent hallucinogen.
True or False? Cocaine is very addictive. People may become dependent on cocaine and crack with continuous use over a period of a few days.
True. Cocaine use can result in psychological and physical dependence. Cocaine appears to cause a high level of psychological dependence due to the intense feelings of great mental and physical power that cocaine users experience. Physical dependence occurs among regular users of the drug, as seen by the presence of physical withdrawal symptoms after use of the drug has stopped. Both types of dependence can occur within several days of continued heavy use.
True or False? “Physical tolerance” is drinking so much alcohol over a period of time that it takes an increasing amount of alcohol to get the same effect.
True. Over a period of regular drinking, the body becomes accustomed to the presence of alcohol and adjusts so that it continues to operate normally in this situation. The impact of alcohol on the body’s functioning diminishes.
True or False? Long-term marijuana users experience memory loss and impaired learning ability.
True. Research demonstrates that long-term marijuana users are at an increased risk of impaired learning ability and memory loss. Even with short-term use, users can experience memory and attention lapses.
True or False? Hallucinogens (e.g., LSD, mushrooms) cause people to see, hear, and feel things that are not real.
True. The more pronounced effects, such as hallucinations, are most likely to occur at higher doses. In low doses, hallucinogens produce a variety of effects, depending largely on which drug is used and the individual’s reaction to the drug.
True or False? The major reason why crack is more dangerous than cocaine is that lung damage occurs when smoke is inhaled into the lungs.
False. Because crack is smoked, large amounts of the drug can reach the brain very quickly—more quickly than when cocaine is snorted through the nose. This sudden rush of cocaine puts the brain, heart, blood vessels, and other organs at serious risk of damage.
True or False? Regular heavy use of alcohol increases the risk of developing certain cancers of the stomach and intestines.
True. Research suggests that the irritating properties of alcohol on the gastrointestinal tract over a long period of drinking causes cellular changes that can become cancerous.