PS268 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Blood-Borne Disease, Bloodborne, Alcohol Dependence
Document Summary
Lesson 2: drugs and society and canadian drug laws: approach of government non-intervention, current government approach in canada and all other western nations is not laissez-faire. In the past, governments did not care about drug users. Intoxication from alcohol, marijuana, or other drugs that impair behavior and increase danger to the individual. Overdose of heroin or alcohol causing the individual to stop breathing. Personality changes reported to occur in alcoholics and suspected by some to occur in marijuana users (amotivational syndrome) Heart disease, lung cancer, and other effects related to smoking; liver damage due to chronic alcohol exposure. It is unclear about how accurate, specific and complete this information is. Intravenous drug use and the spread of blood-borne diseases. Repeated exposure to a drug causes the same dose of the drug to have a lesser effect. Is dependence a family disorder: alcohol dependence often exists in dysfunctional families, co-dependence of a family member may facilitate an addiction.
