Deck 3: The Pharmacological Perspective

Question 1

The potential for drug dependence is most closely related to:

A) toxicity
B) learning to enjoy a drug's effects
C) whether a drug is soluble in water
D) ataxia
E) reinforcement,or immediate sensual appeal

Answer 1

E

Question 2

When heroin enters the body,it breaks down into:

A) opium
B) methadone
C) oxycodone
D) morphine
E) none of the above

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which of the following is the fastest and most efficient route of administration?

A) IV injection
B) administering a dermal patch
C) oral administration
D) intra-muscular administration
E) smoking

Answer 3

E

Question 4

Psychopharmacologists classify narcotics as a type of:

A) euphoriant
B) general depressant
C) disassociative anesthetic
D) hallucinogen
E) analgesic

Question 5

Which of the following substances has the widest safety margin?

A) heroin
B) methadone
C) cocaine
D) marijuana
E) morphine

Question 6

Which of the following drugs is most reinforcing,that is,the one that laboratory animals will work hardest to receive?

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

Question 7

Which of the following drugs is least likely to be injected intravenously (IV)?

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

Question 8

The size or the gap between ED and LD for a given drug is referred to as the:

A) intoxication ratio
B) neuron ratio
C) neurotransmitter ratio
D) psychoactivity ratio
E) safety or therapeutic margin

Question 9

An example of a "chronic" effect of a drug would be:

A) getting high or intoxicated
B) ataxia,or motor discoordination
C) dying of an overdose
D) cirrhosis of the liver
E) none of the above

Question 10

Sedative/hypnotics are also called:

A) general depressants
B) hallucinogens
C) disassociative anesthetics
D) analgesics
E) euphoriants

Question 11

Which of the following is cross-tolerant with heroin?

A) alcohol
B) morphine
C) marijuana
D) LSD
E) psilocybin

Question 12

Which of the following drugs is synergistic with Seconal,a barbiturate?

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

Question 13

Which of the following illustrates a constructionist definition of or approach to what a drug is? A drug is defined by a substance's:

A) chemical structure
B) psychoactivity
C) criminogenic effects-the fact that it causes criminal and violent behavior
D) dependency-producing effect
E) illegal or illicit status-the fact that its possession and sale are against the law

Question 14

Which of the following drugs is cross-dependent with Seconal,a barbiturate?

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

Question 15

Psychopharmacologists classify OxyContin as a/n:

A) euphoriant
B) depressant
C) disassociative anesthetic
D) hallucinogen
E) analgesic

Question 16

Compared with 30 years ago,the potency of the heroin now available on the street:

A) is greater
B) is weaker
C) is more or less the same with respect to potency
D) fluctuates wildly and randomly from year to year
E) remains unknown

Question 17

The principal chemical that causes the psychoactive effect of marijuana is:

A) THC
B) LSD
C) MDMA
D) PCP
E) none of the above

Question 18

Pharmacologically,a drug "action" takes place at the:

A) molecular level
B) behavioral level
C) chronic level
D) societal level
E) global level

Question 19

Psychedelics are also called:

A) euphoriants
B) general depressants
C) disassociative anesthetics
D) hallucinogens
E) analgesics

Question 20

Drug "effects":

A) are the same as drug "actions"
B) are highly specific and constant
C) are nonspecific and variable
D) are as predictable as mixing two chemicals in a lab
E) refer exclusively to biophysical reactions

Question 21

Consider why certain drugs are take mainly or only in certain ways,knowing what you know about the drugs' properties and the factor of route of administration.

Question 22

In the past,the "classic" model of drug addiction was used to explain why some users took drugs compulsively and abusively.More recently,drug researchers have used the reinforcement-dependence model to explain ongoing,abusive,compulsive drug abuse.How are these two models different,what phenomena do they help explain,which drugs is each most relevant to,and why is the latter model a more powerful explanation for drug abuse?

Question 23

Discuss some of the more important "objective" or essentialistic factors that are related to whether or not a given psychoactive substances becomes illegal in a given society.

Question 24

Why is smoking the fastest,most efficient route of administration in generating drug effects-even faster and more efficient than IV administration? Why is oral administration such a slow means of administering drugs? Do these routes determine how dependency-producing the drugs that are used by each route? Why or why not?

Question 25

Alcohol is the most widely used drug both globally and in the United States,and marijuana is the most popular and widely used illicit drug.Is the popularity of these drugs an accident of history,a function of their legal status,or inherent to the objective properties of these two drugs themselves? Justify your argument.

Question 26

Discuss some of the ways that prescription or instrumental drug use differs from recreational use.Discuss the ways that legal drug use differs from illegal use.

Question 27

Years of Potential Life Lost (YPLL)is an important consideration when assessing the harm or damage that a drug inflicts on its users and the user's peers.Weigh the relative harm that tobacco and alcohol inflict,in the light of YPLL.Do the same for the legal drugs versus the illegal drugs.Does the factor of YPLL significantly change our previous estimates of the picture of drug harm?

Question 28

This chapter classified Ecstasy as belonging to which of the following categories:

A) hallucinogens
B) sedative-hypnotics
C) narcotics
D) stimulants
E) none of the above

Question 29

Why do drug experts investigate the factor of cross-tolerance? Under what circumstances would cross-tolerance be a factor in the harms one or more drugs inflict on users?

Question 30

Sociologists who studied drug use in the nineteen-fifties and sixties emphasized that the neophyte user had to learn to enjoy the effects of drugs before he/she became a regular user.Does this model still hold up as an adequate explanation for understanding drug use today? Or is it obsolete? Or does it need to be supplemented with other factors rather than replaced?

Question 31

Delineate the various types of drug tolerance.Are they the same? What are their significant differences,and why is tolerance an important consideration in understanding drug use,especially continuing,compulsive use?