Deck 12: Heroin and the Narcotics

Question 1

In the 1990s,several media sources reported that a new heroin "epidemic" had gripped the United States.Toward the end of the first decade of the 2000s,that "epidemic" had:

A) increased in seriousness
B) subsided
C) remained at the same level
D) remained unknown as to its seriousness
E) none of the above

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The heroin that is derived from poppies grown in Afghanistan is shipped mainly to:

A) the United States
B) Mexico
C) Europe,China,Russia,and Africa
D) Southeast Asia
E) South America

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Which of the following effects is not an effect of the relevant or appropriate dose or doses of narcotic drugs?

A) euphoria
B) mental clouding
C) addiction-a physical dependence
D) analgesia
E) all are effects of the narcotics,given the relevant dose or doses

Answer 3

E

Question 4

According to DAWN,currently,the drug that causes the greatest number of death by overdose,in absolute numbers,is:

A) opiates
B) cocaine
C) alcohol
D) antidepressants
E) benzodiazepines (tranquilizers such as Valium)

Question 5

Which of the following is used by a greater number of people-heroin versus all of the other narcotics added together?

A) Heroin.
B) All the other narcotics added together.
C) The two categories are used by about the same number of people.
D) This question cannot be answered; the answer is unknown.
E) none of the above

Question 6

Which of the following is not a narcotic drug?

A) morphine
B) methedrine
C) meperidine
D) methadone
E) None of the above; all are narcotic drugs.

Question 7

Compared with most of the other drugs,the margin between the ED and LD for narcotics is:

A) wide
B) narrow
C) the same
D) unknown
E) none of the above

Question 8

Which of the following painkillers or analgesics are not narcotics?

A) Ibuprofen
B) Percodan
C) Darvon
D) Dilaudid
E) All are narcotic analgesics.

Question 9

According to MTF,most high school seniors believe that the regular use of heroin is:

A) benign,innocuous,and harmless
B) fun
C) no different from marijuana
D) harmful
E) none of the above

Question 10

Currently,the "drug of choice" among arrestees in the ADAM-II program (that is,the one that the highest number and percentage that both said that they had used and tested positive for)is:

A) heroin
B) marijuana
C) crack
D) powder cocaine
E) methamphetamine

Question 11

Of all the well-known drugs,evidence suggests,which of the following ranks dead last with respect to the percentage of the U.S.population who uses it?

A) LSD
B) MDMA (Ecstasy)
C) methamphetamine
D) heroin
E) crack

Question 12

From interviews of arrestees,sociologists have discovered that among criminals born after 1970,the percentage who said that they had used crack cocaine has:

A) increased
B) decreased
C) remained the same
D) fluctuated wildly and randomly from year to year
E) remained unknown

Question 13

"Soporific" refers to the capacity to:

A) induce euphoria
B) produce addiction
C) kill pain
D) induce drowsiness and sleepiness
E) none of the above

Question 14

Evidence suggests that currently,the majority of heroin used on the street in the U.S.originate from:

A) North Africa
B) Southeast Asia
C) Western Europe
D) Russia
E) Mexico

Question 15

Overall,the most effective and efficient analgesics are:

A) the narcotics
B) aspirin,acetaminophen,and ibuprofen
C) marijuana
D) the amphetamines
E) the sedatives

Question 16

On a dose-by-dose basis,which of the following drugs is most likely to cause death by overdose and hence,appear in DAWN's ME figures?

A) LSD
B) methamphetamine
C) marijuana
D) heroin
E) cocaine

Question 17

From interviews of arrestees,sociologists have discovered that among criminals born after 1953,the percentage who said that they had used heroin has:

A) increased
B) decreased
C) remained the same
D) fluctuated wildly and randomly from year to year
E) remains unknown

Question 18

Which of the following is not a narcotic drug?

A) oxycodone
B) opium
C) codeine
D) fentanyl
E) All are narcotic drugs.

Question 19

A study compared "controlled" opiate users with narcotic addicts and found that the former differed from the latter in:

A) type of narcotic used-for instance,Darvon or codeine versus heroin
B) route of administration-snorting versus shooting
C) personal acquaintance with other users who suffered overdoses
D) frequency of use-that is,less than once a day versus more than once a day
E) none of the above

Question 20

Together,the OTC painkillers aspirin,acetaminophen (Tylenol),and ibuprofen cause:

A) no DAWN ED episodes
B) tens of thousands of DAWN ED episodes
C) hundreds of thousands of DAWN ED episodes
D) millions of DAWN ED episodes
E) none of the above

Question 21

A high proportion of military personnel picked up a heroin habit during their wartime experience in Vietnam during the 1960s and 1970s.What happened to them? Did they remain addicted? Did they seek treatment? Describe their trajectory from addiction to their subsequent return to the United States.Be as specific and detailed as you can.

Question 22

What are some of the effects of the narcotics that would lead some members of the society to try and user them? On the other hand,what are some of their effects that would repel potential users from trying them? Given their frequency of use relative to some of the other drugs we've looked at (such as marijuana,amphetamines,cocaine,and LSD),which of these two forces is most influential or dominant?

Question 23

In the United States,addiction to and abuse of drugs in generally,and narcotics specifically,has waxed and waned since the nineteenth century,with periods of much greater use alternating with periods of much less use.Can you imagine a time in the future when drug abuse,including addiction to the narcotics,simply declines to zero? Why or why not?

Question 24

Summarize what we know about narcotic use and abuse over time from the indicators and sources of data we have-such as surveys,overdose statistics,drug tests of arrestees.

Question 25

Given the fact that heroin is one of the least often use of the illicit drugs,do you think that its use generates more hysteria and concern than is warranted by its objective harm and danger? Or do you think there is a legitimate basis for the fear and concern? Explain your answer.

Question 26

What distinguishes controlled narcotic users from compulsive narcotic users,addicts and abusers? How do controlled users avoid addiction? What are some tactics that might distinguish them-but don't?

Question 27

Though anomie theory regards the opiate addict as a "double failure" and a "retreatist," addicts are more likely to see themselves as purposeful,active,and resourceful-exactly the opposite image.Why do these two images differ so sharply? On what basis do addicts view themselves in such a positive fashion?

Question 28

If you could press a button and magically make all the narcotics on Earth disappear,would you do it? Why or why not? Justify your answer.

Question 29

Given the maladies,harms,and dangers associated with narcotics,the question that non-users are likely to pose to persons who do use them is: Why use narcotics? Why turn on in the first place? Discuss the answer that users of narcotics give,knowing what you know from interview studies.

Question 30

From interviews,we discover that drug use among arrestees can be divided into three "eras." Describe what those eras were and which drugs tended to be used by arrestees during each.