Effective: 2022-05-01

Course Description

The course outline below was developed as part of a statewide standardization process.

General Course Purpose

HLT 121 explores the science of drug use and drug abuse among members of society.

Course Objectives

• Communication
• Communicate openly and accurately with others regarding the motivations for drug use, socio-behavioral factors involved, and the various treatment programs offered
• Critical Thinking
• Classify the drugs designated under the course content as to their physiological and psychological effects
• Recognize stress as a physical and/or emotional tension
• Social and Cultural Understanding
• Designate various drugs according to the legal schedules (both Federal and State), describe the potential for abuse, and illustrate possible penalties for possession and for distribution
• Scientific Reasoning
• Describe functions of the various parts of the central nervous system and the effect of drugs on the functioning of each
• Drug Use as a Social Problem
• Distinguish between the federal government's regulatory approach before the early 1900s and the present time
• Distinguish between acute and chronic toxicity and between physiological and behavioral toxicity
• Describe the two types of data collected in the DAWN system and know the top four drug classes for emergency room visits and for mortality
• Explain why the risks of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis are higher among injection drug users
• Define tolerance, physical dependence and behavioral dependence
• Differentiate between substance abuse and substance dependence using diagnostic criteria
• Describe ways that drug use might cause an increase in crime
• Drug Policy
• Discuss the role of reformist attitudes and social concerns in moving the U.S. government toward drug regulations
• Identify the major purposes and influence of the 1906 Pure Food and Drugs Act
• Identify the evolution, major purposes and influence of the 1914 Harrison Act
• Identify the process of approval for new pharmaceuticals
• Describe drugs and dietary supplements as defined by the FDA
• Describe the historical sequence of controls on opioids, cocaine, marijuana, and other controlled substances
• Identify controlled substance schedules (I-V)
• Compare the major types of drug testing
• Explain how drug control efforts affect the federal budget, international relations, and the criminal justice systems
• Drug Actions
• Distinguish among generic, brand, and chemical names for a drug
• Define and explain dose-response relationship, effective dose (ED50), lethal dose (LD50), and therapeutic index
• Identify why pharmacological potency is not synonymous with effectiveness
• Compare and contrast the most important routes of drug administration
• Identify ways psychoactive drugs interact with neurons to produce effects in the brain
• Stimulants
• Discuss the history of at least one stimulant
• Discuss the route of administration for at least one stimulant
• Discuss the dependence potential of at least one stimulant
• Discuss the dependence potential of at least one stimulant
• Compare acute and chronic toxicity concerns associated with at least one stimulant
• Describe how cocaine hydrochloride and crack cocaine are processed from coca
• Describe early psychiatric uses of cocaine and its current use for local anesthesia
• Compare the supply sources for illicit cocaine and illicit methamphetamine
• Depressants and Inhalants
• Give several examples of depressant drugs and describe the general set of behavioral effects common to them
• Explain how concerns about barbiturate use led to acceptance of newer classes of sedative-hypnotics
• Describe the differences in dose and duration of action that are appropriate for daytime anxiolytic effects as opposed to hypnotic effects of prescription depressants
• Describe how the time of onset of a depressant drug relates to abuse potential and how duration of action relates to the risk of withdrawal symptoms
• Describe the mechanism of action for barbiturates and benzodiazepines
• Explain why it is not recommended that people use sleeping pills for more than a few days in a row
• Describe several types of substances that are abused as inhalants
• Describe GHB's typical dose range and behavioral effects, as well as its effects when combined with alcohol
• Drugs for Treating Psychological Disorders
• Discuss the medical model of mental disorders and why many professionals oppose it
• Describe the typical characteristics of anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, and mood disorders
• Explain the historical context and the importance of the discovery of the phenothiazine antipsychotics
• Identify the names of a number of currently available antipsychotic drugs
• Distinguish between conventional and atypical antipsychotics
• Discuss theories of antipsychotic drug action and why it is difficult to understand the mechanism of action for these and other classes of psychoactive drugs
• Explain the sales trend of antidepressants since 1987 and what is expected in the future
• Explain why it is simplistic to say that antidepressant drugs work by restoring serotonin activity to normal
• Describe how lithium and anticonvulsant drugs are used in treating bipolar disorder
• Alcohol
• Identify the history and effectiveness of temperance and prohibition movements in the United States
• Describe how alcohol is processed by the body
• Identify how consumption rate and body size influence blood alcohol concentration and know the legal BAC
• Identify the likely role of GABA in alcohol's mechanism of action
• Identify "alcohol myopia," acute alcohol poisoning, and alcohol withdrawal symptoms
• Describe the impact of alcohol on traffic fatalities
• Discuss the role of alcohol in sexual behavior and violence
• Discuss alcohol exposure versus malnutrition in the effects of chronic alcohol use on the brain and liver
• Discuss the role of Alcoholics Anonymous in promoting the disease model of alcohol dependence
• Discuss genetic influences on the risk of developing alcohol dependence
• Tobacco
• Describe how Europeans spread tobacco around the world
• Explain the historical importance of tobacco to America
• Describe the history of anti-tobacco efforts and the tobacco companies? responses
• Explain the difficulties in marketing "safer" cigarettes as related to FDA regulation, and how this impacts regulation of electronic cigarettes
• Describe the most important adverse health consequences of smoking and the total annual smoking-attributable mortality in the United States
• Compare and contrast the controversy over secondhand smoke as both a social issue and a public health issue
• Describe the effects of cigarette smoking on the developing fetus and the newborn
• Explain why smoking is not immediately lethal, in spite of nicotine's powerful toxicity
• Describe how nicotine affects cholinergic receptors in the brain and throughout the body
• Describe the most common physiological and behavioral effects of nicotine
• Describe the roles of counseling, nicotine replacement therapy, and other medications in smoking cessation
• Caffeine
• Describe the early history of coffee, tea, and chocolate use
• Name the xanthines found in coffee, tea, and chocolate
• Describe the methods for removing caffeine from coffee
• Name the one plant from which hundreds of varieties of tea are produced
• Distinguish among the terms cacao, cocoa, and coca
• Describe the origin of Coca-Cola in relation to cocaine, caffeine, and FDA regulations
• Explain the caffeine content of "energy drinks" in relation to colas and coffee
• Describe the caffeine content of drugs like NoDoz and Vivarin
• Explain how caffeine exerts its actions on the brain
• Describe the time course of caffeine's effects after ingestion
• Describe symptoms of caffeine withdrawal
• Discuss the circumstances in which caffeine appears to enhance mental performance and those in which it does not
• Describe the concerns about high caffeine consumption during pregnancy
• Track caffeine consumption and analyze the results
• Dietary Supplements and Over-the-Counter Drugs
• Explain the legal distinction between drugs and dietary supplements, particularly with regard to health-related claims
• Identify the implications of the 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act
• Identify Saint John?s wort, SAMe, and Ginkgo Biloba as dietary supplements intended to have psychoactive effects
• Identify the concepts behind the terms GRAS and GRAE
• Name the only active ingredient allowed in OTC stimulants
• Explain the risks of PPA and ephedra and describe how their removal from the market impacted OTC products promoted for weight loss
• Name the primary ingredient in OTC sleep aids
• Describe the benefits and dangers of aspirin
• Explain what is meant by NSAID and give some examples
• Name the four types of ingredients found in many OTC cold and allergy drugs and give a common example of each type
• Opioids
• Describe how opium is obtained from poppies
• List several historical uses for opium and describe early recreational uses of opium and its derivatives
• Explain the role of the opium trade in the wars between Great Britain and China in the 1800s
• Describe the relationship of morphine and codeine to opium and the relationship of heroin to morphine
• Explain how the "typical" opioid abuser has changed from the early 1900s to the present
• Describe how sources of supply for heroin have changed over the past 30 years and list the current major source countries
• Explain how opioid antagonists block the effects of opioid drugs
• Describe three current medical uses for opioids
• Describe the typical opioid withdrawal syndrome
• Explain how people die from opioid overdose
• Describe the typical method of preparing and injecting illicit heroin
• Hallucinogens
• Identify why plants with psychoactive effects have been used in religious practices all over the world
• Identify several examples of indole and catechol psychedelics
• Describe the relationship of LSD to the ergot fungus
• Discuss the early research and evidence on LSD for use in interrogation and in psychotherapy
• Discuss what is meant by "hallucinogen persisting perception disorder"
• Describe the major active ingredient and some history of use of psilocybe, morning glories, ayahuasca, peyote, San Pedro cactus, Amanita, and Salvia divinorum
• Identify the chemical relationship among DOM, MDA, and MDMA
• Compare PCP effects with those of LSD
• Explain how anticholinergic psychedelics act in the brain
• Compare stories about medieval witches using belladonna to contemporary stories about people using marijuana, LSD, or cocaine
• Marijuana
• Describe the relationship among Cannabis, marijuana, and THC and discuss different preparations of cannabis
• Describe how Europeans became exposed to the psychological effects of Cannabis
• Explain how marijuana was described in the years leading up to the 1937 Marijuana Tax Act
• Discuss the legal status of marijuana in the United States since 1937, including current debates
• Draw parallels among the various scientific and medical studies on marijuana
• Describe the type of receptor THC acts on in the brain and compare the time course of smoked vs. oral THC
• List the two most consistent physiological effects of marijuana
• Discuss evidence for the abuse potential of marijuana and influences on the psychological effects of marijuana
• Describe the effects of marijuana use on driving ability, the lungs, sperm motility, and the immune system
• Describe the range of evidence relating to whether marijuana smoking leads to brain damage in humans
• Performance Enhancing Drugs
• Relate historical uses of performance-enhancing drugs by athletes
• Describe the history of use of stimulants to enhance performance
• Describe the development and current state of drug testing in sports
• Describe the performance-enhancing effects and primary dangers of stimulant drugs
• Distinguish between androgenic and anabolic effects of testosterone and other related steroid hormones
• Describe the desired effects and undesirable side effects of steroids in men, women and adolescents
• Identify the effects of human growth hormone as well as its dangers
• Identify the effects of creatine
• Discuss the usefulness of dietary supplements in relation to their label claims
• Preventing Substance Abuse and Treating Substance Use
• Distinguish among drug legalization, drug prohibition and drug decriminalization
• Explain how relying on anecdotal information can lead to inappropriate drug policy
• Give examples of countries that have decriminalized all illegal drugs
• List specific strategies used to reduce harms associated with illegal drugs
• Describe a prevention or treatment program
• Discuss the stages of recovery
• Summarize the pharmacological and psychosocial treatments for addiction
• Evaluate whether total abstinence is the only solution for drug or alcohol abuse
• List the characteristics of effective addiction treatments

Major Topics to be Included

• Drug Use as a Social Problem
• Drug Policy
• Drug Actions
• Stimulants
• Depressants and Inhalants
• Drugs for Treating Psychological Disorders
• Alcohol
• Tobacco
• Caffeine
• Dietary Supplements and Over-the-Counter Drugs
• Opioids
• Hallucinogens
• Marijuana
• Performance Enhancing Drugs
• Preventing Substance Abuse and Treating Substance Use