Drug Abuse And Addiction - NIH Office of Science Education

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The Brain: Understanding Neurobiology Through the Study of Addiction4. Have the students play the game again now that they can relateit to the issues of drug abuse and drug addiction.5. Ask students if they played the game any differently this time.Did they make different choices?Some students will continue to risk drawing more choice cards andget closer to the switch value. Other students may elect not to drawany choice cards.Some students might bring up questions relating to a hand containinga high switch card, a low risk card, and some low choice cards so thatthey can continue to draw more cards. Students may feel that thisscenario would lead them to continue to experiment with drugs. Youcan respond by asking them what choices they would make if theydrew a low switch card and a high risk card. (Perhaps the numbers onthe cards are lower or higher than the assigned values. For example,what if the switch card had a value of 22 points and the risk card hada value of 12 points? Would this change the decision about drawingadditional cards?) This scenario leads into the next step of the activity,in which students consider that the switch point really is unknown.6. Discuss the idea of the switch card with students. Does anyone reallyknow at what point in drug abuse the brain changes and the personshifts from abusing to being addicted to a drug? How could youmodify the card game to account for this?In life, a person does not know when he or she will reach the point atwhich drug abuse becomes drug addiction. To reflect this in the cardgame, students can play the game leaving the switch card face down.7. When the students play the game this time, they will not look at theswitch card. Have them keep the switch card face down and continuethe game as before.8. Continue the discussion of the game and its relation to drug abuseand drug addiction.The main points that students should learn through this activity are• Drug abuse involves choice.• The point at which a person’s brain is changed and drugabuse becomes drug addiction is different and unknownfor each individual.• Everyone has risk factors.• A person does not become addicted to drugs after one episodeof abuse.110
9. (Optional) A person does not become addicted to drugs after oneepisode of abuse, but a person can die as a result of one episode ofdrug abuse. The drugs can act on the brain or other body systemswith a lethal outcome, such as by suppressing respiration. If you wantto modify the game to add this scenario, insert the jokers into eachpile of choice cards and have the students play the game a fourthtime. If a student draws a joker, the game is over for that student.If you decide to do this optional modification to the game, make surethat students understand that the joker does not indicate addiction.The joker would, perhaps, represent a batch of drugs that contain alethal contami nant that would cause some body organ to fail and, thus,cause the person using them to die. Another person, for example, takesa large enough dose of opioids to completely inhibit the neurons inthe brain that control respira tion; those neurons no longer stimulatethe lungs to contract, causing death. Sometimes a drug can produce afatal response for unknown reasons; it could be due to a mutation in agene that reduces the body’s ability to metabolize a drug, leading to anincreased, possibly toxic, level of the drug in the body.Activity 4: Environmental, Behavioral, and SocialInfluences on Drug Abuse and AddictionNote to teachers: This activity, as described in the following steps,is designed as a class discussion. An alternative approach is to haveindividual students write their answers to the questions and thendiscuss the questions as a class.1. Display a transparency of Master 4.5, Who Is Addicted?, showing onlythe top section (to the first horizontal line). Ask students to answerthe question.Students may respond differently to the question about who is addictedto morphine. At this stage, any answer is acceptable if the student canexplain the reasoning underlying his or her answer. Some studentswill say that Chris is addicted because of the higher dose of morphinebeing taken over a longer period of time. Some students will say Patbecause this could be a larger dose than what Chris is taking (if Chrisis at 50 mg per day). Stu dents could also believe that both individualsare addicted because of their continued drug abuse. Conversely,students could respond that possibly neither one is addicted and moreinformation is needed before a judgment could be made.Content Standard C:An individual’s mood andbehavior may be modifiedby substances.Content Standard F:Personal choice concern ingfitness and health involvesmultiple factors.2. Reveal the next section on Master 4.5 (to the next horizontal line).Again have students answer the question and discuss the responses.Students may respond in a variety of ways. Answers could involveaspects of genetics, dose, or even random chance.111Student Lesson 4
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