Module 3 (Chapters 3 & 5)

I've learned a lot of new information this module. I'm not particularly interested in the law and how it pertains to drug use, but a lot of good information came from chapter three. A few of the major highlights I found interesting include the following; 1. The Pure Food and Drug Act was enacted in 1906 which forced manufacturers to print quantities of drugs in products they were selling. It is amazing to me that people would ingest these "miracle drugs" into their bodies without even knowing what they contained and how it could effect their health. 2. Drug trafficking penalties are much more severe in other countries than they are in the U.S. I partook in a discussion forum for this module that debated whether or not the U.S. should adopt these strict penalties such as hanging, or beheading. I did a great deal of Internet research for the subject as well. (See discussion forum 3 & 5 for reference) 3. Drug interaction was also a huge part of this module. One major thing that I learned was that if two individuals were to ingest the same amount of a particular drug, the drug has the potential to effect each individual in completely different ways based on factors like tolerance, age, and gender.

I feel as if I put in a moderate amount of time on this module. In the future, I would like to make time to do a more thorough reading of the text because as time goes on, I am realizing it is pretty important to read each chapter beginning to end. As for discussion forums and homework assignments, I feel that my participation was great!

teratogenic- something that causes physical defects in a fetus
*An example of a licit teratogenic drug is something you may receive from the pharmacy that has a warning label advising pregnant women not to take this drug

inoculation- a method of abuse prevention that protects drug users by teaching them responsibility
*After doing some research on my own, I learned that inoculation is used frequently in rehab programs in jails. Often times inmates are given an animal from a homeless shelter and taught responsibility though caring for the animal that will hopefully stick with them after the completion of their sentence

tolerance- changes in the body that decrease response to a drug even though the dose remains the same
*Eventually, heavy drug users become almost "immune" to the effects of the drug and need more of it in order to get high or produce the desired effects. The more use, the higher the tolerance.