DEPARTMENT
OF HEALTH AND COMMUNITY SERVICES
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HCSV
170‑01s Drugs in Our Society Summer 2005
Instructor:
Dr. Roland Lamarine Office
Hours:
Office:
Phone: 898‑6265 appointment
Email: rlamarine@csuchico.edu M-F
Course Description:
This course presents an overview of the use and
abuse of alcohol, prescription and street drugs and consequences for young
adults, families, and society.
Historical, economic, social, political, psychological, and
pharmacological determinants of drug use are examined. Decision‑making skills regarding drug
use will also be addressed.
HCSV 170 fulfills the requirements of the General
Education Upper Division Theme, Contemporary
Health Issues, Area D. There is a
2500 word writing requirement which is discussed
below.
Required Textbook:
Levinthal, C.F. (2005). Drugs, behavior, and modern society.
(4th
ed.) [earlier editions are ok]
Course Objectives:
The student will be able to
1. outline
the history of drug use in the
2. discuss
the extent of use of licit and illicit drugs within
various
populations in the
3. outline
the cultural influences, including family, peers, and
media,
on the use of selected drugs.
4.
describe the nature and characteristics of dependence and
addiction.
5. list
the major drug classifications and their physiological
effects
6. discuss
the social, economic, political, psychological, and
pharmacological consequences of drug misuse on
7.
evaluate the current efforts to control drug use and suggest
alternative approaches.
8. discuss
the physiological, social, and treatment aspects of
alcohol
and tobacco use in
9. list
the major illicit drugs, their prevalence, physiological
effects, and treatment strategies.
10.
discuss the effects of maternal drug use on the fetus.
11. outline the political and legal ramifications
of the use of
alcohol
and illicit drugs including possession, workplace
testing, DUI, and alcohol lobbies.
12. discuss the political and legal ramifications
of tobacco use
including location restrictions, subsidies, tobacco lobbies,
and
government intervention.
13. discuss the major types of prescription and
over‑the‑counter
drugs,
their use and misuse, the effects of medical advertising, and regulation.
14. develop decision‑making skills
regarding personal alcohol,
tobacco, and drug use, abstinence, responsible drinking practices, alternative activities,
and positive uses of drugs.
Student Responsibilities:
1. Attend class regularly, class
participation enhances
learning. Attendance will be
taken and positive attendance
will be considered in the determination of a final grade.
2.
Three in‑class examinations
which may include both objective
(multiple choice, true false) and subjective (essay) items.
3. A two page reaction paper typed and
double spaced. Late papers, if accepted at all, will be
penalized one full letter grade per
week. In addition to content, papers will be graded on organization, style, grammar,
spelling, punctuation, and
neatness.
OR
A two page reflection paper. Using clear, concise, standard prose complete the project you select
from the accompanying description.
4.
A two page paper describing a
behavioral change
made during the course of the semester as
described elsewhere in the syllabus.
Evaluation:
Three exams 300 points (75%)
Two papers 100 points (25%)
Final grades will be assigned on the following
basis:
97‑100% = A+ 77‑79% = C+
93‑96%
= A 73‑76%
= C
90‑92%
= A‑
70‑72% = C‑
87‑89%
= B+ 66‑69%
= D+
83‑86%
= B 60‑65% = D
80‑82%
= B‑ 59
& below = F
Dates to Remember
Paper #1: Thursday, May 26
Test #1:
Tuesday, May 31
Behavior paper: Monday, June 6
Test #2:
Tuesday, June 7
Test #3: Friday, June 10
COURSE OUTLINE
Unit
1: Introduction‑Drug Use: An
Epidemiological Perspective
Levinthal: Chapter 1
Unit
2: Distribution, History, and Politics
of Drug Use
Levinthal: Chapter 2
Unit
3: Social, Economic, and Psychological
Determinants
No readings
Unit
4: Pharmacology
Levinthal: Chapter 3
Unit
5: Treatment
Levinthal: Chapter 17
Test 1
Unit
5: Alcohol
Levinthal: Chapters 9 & 10
Unit
6: Sedative Hypnotics
Levinthal: Chapters 15 & 16
Unit
7: Opiate Narcotics
Levinthal: Chapter 5
Unit
8: Stimulants
Levinthal: Chapters 4 & 12
Unit
9: Tobacco
Levinthal: Chapter 11
Test 2
Unit
10: Marijuana
Levinthal: Chapter 7
Unit
11: Psychedelics and PCP
Levinthal: Chapter 6
Unit
12: Inhalants and Ergogenic Aids
Levinthal: Chapters 8 & 13
Unit
13: Prevention
Levinthal: Chapter 18
Unit
14: Over‑the‑counter products
Levinthal: Chapter 14
Test 3
Reaction Papers
One two page reaction paper is a
requirement for this course. The paper should address a substance‑specific
topic. General guidelines for these
papers follow:
1. Define
the topic; what are the facts related to this issue? Present data from scientifically valid
sources i.e. professional journals and textbooks.
2.
Describe your position on this issue.
What scientific evidence is there to support your position? Is there any other material that should be
considered regarding this topic?
3.
Papers should be typed, double‑spaced, appropriately referenced, and in a
consistent style. They will be graded on
the basis of content, organization, style, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and
neatness.
4.
This is an opportunity to take an in‑depth look at a topic not addressed
in detail during class. Personal experiences are welcomed and will be held in
confidence. They should be interpreted
in light of theory and evidence gathered from readings, interviews, lecture,
and other scholarly sources. Be sure to
include a list of references at the end of the paper.
5.
Acceptable topics include a wide range of subjects. Some examples of past topics include:
Belladonna‑type drugs and witchcraft
History
of various drugs e.g. the Opium Wars
Pharmacology of various drugs e.g. Paxil, Viagra,etc.
Drugs and culture e.g. Native American Church;
Rastafarians
Drug
treatment programs
Drug
prevention programs e.g. Life Skills Training
Legal
determinants and political topics
Social
determinants of drug use e.g. drinking at CSUC
Psychological
determinants of drug use e.g. drugs as
self-medication
for depression
Epidemiology
of drug use e.g. who's using what
Prescription
drugs and medical ethics
Ergogenics
e.g. do any of the over-the-counter
bodybuilding drugs work? Are they safe?
Interviews
with professionals in the field
Reviews
of drug books, articles, talks
(see
your instructor for additional topics)
Behavior Change Paper
Select an activity which you find very difficult
to
control. You must agree to forego this
activity for at least a week, but preferably longer. Some examples of activities that you might
select include:
Abstain from the use of a psychoactive drug:
alcohol, marijuana, tobacco, caffeinated beverages like coffee or colas.
Excessive use of sugar
Not using the telephone
Not kiss or touch girlfriend, boyfriend, husband,
or wife
Stop watching television or listening to the
radio
Not gambling, sleeping excessively, or biting
finger nails.
Avoid using a computer or playing video games
Give-up meat or other animal products
Keep a diary of your behavior and feelings
during the experiment to help you write your paper. You may wish to record your experiences on a
cassette.
Guidelines
for Writing your Paper
1. Did you succeed in refraining from your
activities for the
entire period of time? If not, how soon did you give in? If you failed, how did it make you feel? If you succeeded, how did you feel?
2. What did
not doing the activity feel like?
3. Did
your relationships with other people change?
4. Did
talking or being with other students who were also
under-going behavioral changes help you resist
the temptation to give up?
5. Did
other people change their behavior, attitudes, or feelings toward you as a
result of the experiment? If so, how did
you feel or react to these changes?
6. Did you
start doing things that you do not usually do, such as forgetting things,
becoming less observant, overeating, or developing physical symptoms such as
headaches, stomach aches, tics, loss of appetite, insomnia, or unusual fatigue?
7. Did
your other activities change at all? Did
you compensate for the lack of your "forbidden" activity by
participating more in some other pursuit?
Did the substitute activity help take your mind off the thing you wanted
to do? Did your efforts at compensation
affect any of the people around you?
8. Were
you confronted with an opportunity to lapse and did your willpower diminish in
the presence of the forbidden activity or object? Were other people considerate in not
mentioning the activity or substance or were they helpful in suggesting a
substitute?
9. Did you
go out of your way to avoid the activity or substance, or things that might
remind you of it? Did your avoidance
behavior help reduce your craving?
10. Did you cheat at all? If so, did you try to engage in your activity
just a little and find you could not resist resuming it completely? Did you bother to hide your lapses from other people? If so, did
anyone catch you cheating? How did they
react? How did you feel about being
discovered?
11. When
you finally did go back (or did you?) to the activity, how did it feel? Did you try to "make up for lost
time?"
12. Were
your actions and feelings at all similar to an alcoholic, drug addict,
cigarette smoker, compulsive eater, or other addicted person? How were your experiences different from
those of truly addicted people? How did
this exercise make you feel about addicted people? Did you feel the same way about alcoholics or
drug addicts as you did about yourself during the experiment? Did you gain any new insights into what it
feels like to have an addiction and how addicted people can best be helped to
overcome their dependency? Were you able
to identify any compulsive behaviors of your own and gain a better
understanding of how to evaluate and cope with them?
Please
write a maximum of three pages, typed, and double‑spaced. The guidelines
above are intended to serve as a general outline for your paper but it is not
necessary to address each point, only those that are relevant to your personal
experience. Feel free to support your
position(s) with documentation from the professional literature!
Adapted from "Empathizing With Addicts"
by Peter Finn, pp. 78‑79,
Teaching Ideas, Association for the Advancement of Health Education.
Reflection
Paper
Select ONE of the following topics
for your two page paper:
1.
Many drugs
have been considered to be aphrodisiacs-substances that “arouse or increase
sexual desire or potency.” Whether or
not this is true, there is credible evidence which suggests the opposite may be
true. For example, in the case of
alcohol as Shakespeare said “it arouses the desire but takes away the ability”. Of course today, we have pharmaceutical
agents such as Viagra, Levitra, and Cialis which specifically effect male
sexual potency. What have been your
experiences, good or bad, with drugs and sex?
2.
Write your
remembrances of your high-school days with regards to drug-taking
behavior. Was it cool or not cool to use
drugs? Which drugs were cool and which were not? Was there a certain type of
person who was known (or expected) to use drugs? Did the perception of drug-taking behavior
change as students progressed from the sixth grade to the ninth grade and
finally to their senior year? Has the
pattern of drug-taking behavior changed since you have been in college? What does the text and other professional
references say about this topic?
3.
Find an article
in a newspaper or magazine relating to some form of licit or illicit
drug-taking behavior. Describe your
reactions to the article on the impact the article might have in your life. Some examples, include reports of new
recreational drugs that are ordinarily used medicinally (Ritalin, Adderall,
Oxycontin), steroids and other performance enhancing drugs in sports, or
economic issues related to prescription drugs among the elderly.
4.
What would
you say to your younger siblings (or younger students) about using psychoactive
drugs? If you have older siblings, what
did they say to you about this topic?
What does the literature say about sibling or peer influence on
drug-taking behavior? or
N.B. To improve your chances of getting a good grade
on this and subsequent assignments, be sure to edit your work carefully for
grammar, spelling, and especially diction.
Also, it is important to supplement your own observations and insights
with references from the professional literature,
refereed journals and scholarly books. Caveat
emptor.