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“What is the worst drug?” Different scientists may give different answers, but they all agree that the answer depends on what you mean by “worst.”
For example, “worst” can be the drug(s) that causes the most deaths, or one that leads to the most emergency room visits, or that has the highest rate of addiction. You could also measure “worst” by how many people a drug holds back from living up to their potential by causing a drop in school performance.
And the “worst” drug for one person can be different than the “worst” drug for another, since a drug’s effects depend on age, genetics, and life experiences.
The Brain and Body Connections
Drugs of abuse can have numerous effects on a person’s body. Many of these happen because of how drugs affect the central nervous system (CNS). Made up of the brain and spinal cord, the CNS controls not just your thinking, feeling, learning, and movements, but virtually everything your body does.
After reading these two articles, answer these questions in a GoogleDocs document(R) and upload it in your Drive(R):
1. How does the brain tell the lungs to slow breathing?
2. Name a situation that might make your heart beat fast? What drugs cause a similar reaction?
3. What are some actions that include both voluntary and involuntary responses?
Check your understanding
Do you understand the difference between voluntary responses like walking, and involuntary responses like breathing?
Do you understand that normal organ functions are part of the involuntary system that can be disrupted and/or damaged by drugs of abuse?
Drugs and your Body
Abusing drugs interferes with the body’s normal functioning. The information below explains what drugs can do to the human body and how. Use the information to answer the questions beneath the table. Upload the answers in your G-Document.
1. Steroids affect many of the body’s organs. What are some of those organs and the effects?
2. What is it about tobacco, whether smoked or chewed, that can cause cancer?
3. What are two drugs that can cause physical damage to the mouth and teeth? What kind of damage?
4. How does alcohol damage the liver? How is this similar to the damage nicotine causes to the lungs?
Alcohol and the Teenage Brain
Listen to this conversation about alcohol and the teenage brain from NPR and answer the following questions in your Drive(R).
What are the main effects of binge drinking on teenagers' brains, according to Dr. Susan Tapert?
Why do you think teenage girls and boys show different cognitive impacts from binge drinking?
Based on the information in the text, why might teens be more likely than adults to binge drink?
In your own words, explain how binge drinking affects white matter in the brain and why this is significant.
Why do you think the binge-drinking teens had abnormal brain scans even though they didn’t binge drink very often?
What might be some long-term consequences if a teenager continues to binge drink, based on the studies discussed?
Drinking and Driving
In addition to the health risks to the brain and body, abusing drugs can place people in situations that put them at risk for other types of harm. Consequences can include accidents or injuries from driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, acquiring a sexually transmitted disease, having an unwanted pregnancy, and the deterioration of personal relationships. These effects impact not just individuals, but also families, friends, or total strangers.
A causal diagram is a tool to help chart possible outcomes that can result from decisions or incidents. The causal diagram below includes a scenario about drinking and driving. Part of the diagram has been completed. On a G-document, think of a consequence of that action and the possible consequences in the context of where they appear in the diagram. Also, fill in the blanks in the diagram with possible outcomes. Make sure your answers are realistic and that each outcome could logically lead to the next outcome.
Drugs and Society: Emergency Room Visits
The following graph compares the number of emergency room visits due to alcohol and drug abuse nationwide for people under 21 in the years 2004 and 2009. Use the information from the graph to answer the questions on a G-document.
In both 2004 and 2009, which drug contributed to the most emergency room visits by people under 21?
For which drugs did emergency room visits increase from 2004 to 2009?
For which drugs did emergency room visits decrease from 2004 to 2009?
Which two drugs showed the biggest increase in emergency room visits from 2004 to 2009?
Overall, did drug-related visits to the emergency room increase or decrease from 2004 to 2009?
What are some reasons why drug abuse can cause a person to visit the emergency room? Do research as necessary to support your answer.
What are some possible outcomes or costs to society that may result from drug- and alcohol-related emergency room visits?
Check your understanding
Did you understand the material and were you able to apply the facts presented to your conclusions? Were you able to compare drug effects to come up with logical conclusions about similarities?
Did you make a clear connection between decisions and consequences? Did you understand that one choice could affect you and those around you for the rest of your lives?
Do you understand that normal organ functions are part of the involuntary system that can be disrupted and/or damaged by drugs of abuse?
Did you make the connection between increased emergency room visits and increased costs to society?
Scenario
Some of your friends are convinced that to fit in with the “cool” crowd they need to try drugs. But they want to avoid the “worst” drugs. To help convince your friends that any drug can be someone’s own personal “worst,” you’ve decided to write an article for your school paper. Choose one of the questions below and incorporate at least three factual pieces of evidence from the articles you have read so far and one from the article below.
Option A: There is no single universal worst drug but, at the same time, any drug can be the “worst” for a particular individual.
Option B: Comparing the dangers from using different drugs can't be reliable when trying to figure out which drug is the overall “worst”.
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