Stimulants

Overview:  There are a wide variety of stimulants that are associated with substance abuse.  Currently, methamphetamines (Crank) is the fasted growing substance of abuse.  In addition, prescription drugs such as Ritilan are now also being abused.  This section will review stimulants and how they work

Objectives:  To enhance your knowledge of stimulants and how they work.  

Outcomes:   Ensure that you understand how stimulants work, their potential for abuse, and why they are so addictive.

KSA's

4: Recognize the potential for substance use disorders to mimic a variety of medical and psychological disorders and the potential for medical and psychological disorders to co-exist with addiction and substance abuse

 5: Be familiar with medical and pharmaceutical resources in the treatment of addictive diseases and other substance-related disorders.

102:  Describe warning signs, symptoms and the course of substance use disorders.

 Other objectives:

1.  Understand the physiological mechanisms, neural mechanisms, and neurochemical processes related to stimulants.

2.  Understand the pharmacokinetics of stimulants

Readings:  Julien, Edition 10, Chapters 7 and 8 (or Julien, Edition 11,

                   Chapters 13 and 14) and Thompson, Chapter 5.

Tasks:   

1.   Read Chapter 5 again in Thompson.  Make sure you thoroughly understand how stimulatory neurons work.

2.   Upon completion, Read Chapter 7 in Julien, Edition 10 (or Chapter 13, Edition 11).  Then answer the following study questions 1, 5, 6, 9 and send the answers to your instructor.  Make sure you understand why cocaine and amphetamines are so dangerous.  

3.   Finally, based on your readings, describe neurologically what is happening when children take amphetamine-like drugs such as Ritalin.  Is there much of a difference neurologically?  What do you think the differences are (if any)?  Send this material to your instructor as a separate assignment.

4.  Read Chapter 8 in Julien, Edition 10 (or Chapter 14, Edition 11).  Then write a brief paper describing how these drugs are different from the drugs described in Chapter 7 (or Chapter 13).   Do you think there could be a lot of cross tolerance? 

Submit your completed answers for the three separate assignments to your instructor.  Do not send attachments.

Resources.

You can look up considerable information on stimulants at the NIH or NIDA websites.

Discussion  for Topic 5.