justice

Psychic dependence- a feeling of satisfaction and psychic drive that require periodic or continuous administration of drug to produce pleasure or avoid discomfort--* NOT the same thing classic/ physical addiction

                  Avoidance of withdrawal- the mechanism of physical dependence causes continued use

                  The motive to seek pleasure- the mechanism of psychological dependence

1. ·      Depressants
   
2. ·      Alcohol
   
3. ·      Narcotics
   
4. ·      Sedatives
   
5. ·      Inhalants
   
6. ·      Stimulants
   
7. ·      Hallucinogens
   
8. ·      Marijuana
   
9. ·      Steroids

·  Percodan and Oxycontin

·      cocaine, amphetamine, heroine – people who take them without knowing it, like the effects right away. …they don’t have to learn to appreciate the feeling (like marijuana, alcohol or LSD…or fine art, smoking, caviar, etc.)

·      the study of drug effects, how substances affect living tissue.

·      The pharmacologist studies matters such as the administration, absorption, and distribution of drugs in the body, specifically in certain organs and sites in the body.

·      the result of a chemical reaction between a given laboratory substance and the physical make-up of a given organism.

·      This notion is abstract: “ideal processes” – pharmacologists control, assume, or post factors such as:

·      represents what happens when real substances are ingested by real people under real-life circumstances.

1. Identity
   
2. Dose
   
3. Potency
   
4. Purity
   
5. Routes and administration
   
6. Habituation/Tolerance
   
7. Set
   
8. Setting
   

o  paranoia, disorientation, respiratory failure.

·      e.g., LSD v. cocaine

·      Heroin today v. 1960s

• BC Bud v. Ditch Weed                  
  

o  e.g., Cocaine may be “cut” with:

§  Manitol (laxative)

§  Sorbitol (sugar substitute)

§  Inositol (B complex vitamin)

§  Procaine (an analgesic)

§  Quinine

o  In order to have a psychoactive effect, or mind-altering effect, drugs must get into and act on the central nervous system (CNS), that is, the brain and the spinal column. To do this drugs must enter the blood stream and cross the blood-brain barrier.

§  extremely efficient and rapid means of getting a drug into the body. Since lung tissue is densely surrounded by capillaries, drugs move very swiftly from the lungs to the capillaries, that is into the bloodstream, and from there into the brain

Intravenous administration: 

1. ú  Injecting a liquid solution into which a drug has been mixed directly into a vein.
   
2. ú  Only a drug that is soluble in water can be injected IV. It is an extremely efficient and rapid means of administering a drug.

§  For a drug taken orally to have an effect, it must pass through the stomach and be absorbed from there, or even further down, through the small intestine, into the bloodstream.

§  Dermal patch (Ortho-evra)

§  Rectal suppository

§  Placed directly on mucus membranes (the eye, the nasal passages (cocaine) the gums, the inside of the mouth – like  nitroglycerine)

§  Implantation – time release device placed under the skin or in some portion of the body (radiation seeds, Norplants)

1. Inhalation
   
2. Injection
   
3. Oral Administration
   
4. Absorption through skin
   

• How accustomed the user is to taking a certain drug.
  
• Drugs decline in effectiveness with repeated doses, and hence, it generally takes more of a given drug to produce a specific effect on an experienced user than is true of a neophyte.
  
• When a drug is taken in a sufficient quantity over a long enough period of time, the cells of the body adapt to its action in such a way that it produces diminishing effects.
  

o  Personal characteristics of the user - the psychic, mental, and emotional state of the person taking a given drug.

o  It includes:

§  expectations

§  Intelligence

§  Personality

§  Imagination

§  mood, and so on.

• The social, legal and physical environment within which drug use takes place.
  
• o  Setting could refer to the user’s immediate surroundings, such as a living room in one’s house…
  
• · or it could refer to the broader social and cultural scene in which drug use more generally takes place:
  

1. Addictive effect
   
2. Synergistic effect
   
3. Potentiating effects
   
4. Antagonistic effect
   

·      their effects are more or less the same, except greater.

o  One aspirin and one Tylenol produce pretty much the same effects as comparable doses of two aspirin or two Tylenol taken separately.  (1+1=2)

o  Two drugs have similar actions, but the effect of their joint action is more than cumulative.

o  i.e., alcohol and sedatives (barbiturates), or. (1+1=3)

• ·      Two drugs have different actions , but when taken together , one enhances the effects of the other. (1+1=4)
  
• o  i.e., cocaine and heroin
  
• ·      In both cases (synergistic and potentiating), the chance of dying of an overdose as a result of taking both together is far greater than the chance of dying from taking twice as much of either separately.
  

• ·      some drugs block the effects of other drugs: (1+1=0)
  
• o  Certain categories of drugs (narcotic antagonists – narcan (naloxone), naltrexone) block the effects of narcotics, and have been used to treat ODs and addictions.
  
• o  Antabuse not only blocks the effects of alcohol, it also makes drinkers violently ill if they do take a drink; hence the effects of antabuse are antagonistic to those of alcohol.
  

·      two wars between China and Western countries. The first was between Great Britain and China.

• ·      Prohibited interstate commerce in adulterated or misbranded foods and drugs – brought the federal government full force into the drug marketplace.
  
• ·      The Act did two things:
  
• o  defined a “Drug”
  
• o  required accuracy in labeling (not in advertising)
  
• ·      As long as the ingredients were clearly listed on the label, addicting drugs could be sold and bought with no federal restrictions. The goal was to protect people from unscrupulous merchants, not from themselves.
  

• ·      Narcotics and Cocaine
  
• ·      Dealers and dispensers of the opiates and cocaine had to register annually, pay a small fee, and use special order forms provided by the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
  
• ·      Physicians, dentists, and veterinary surgeons were named as potential lawful distributors if they registered.
  
• ·      The Harrison Act was a tax law
  

·      Amendment XVIII  (18^th)

o  Adopted in 1919, in effect in 1920

·      Brought about complete national prohibition on the sale of alcohol

·      At first; “moderation” then… “total abstinence”

·      Prohibition failed because it was the powerful, prestigious middle class that abandoned abstinence as a legitimate, respectable way of life.

·      Upper class won over the urban, working class.

• ·      Prohibition failed because it was the powerful, prestigious middle class that abandoned abstinence as a legitimate, respectable way of life
  
• ·      Amendment XXI (21^st)
  
• o  Adopted 1933 (Repealed!)
  
• ·      prohibition was declared a failure and was repealed (the only amendment ever to be repealed in American constitutional history).
  
• The Transportation or importation into any State, Territory, or possession of the United States for delivery or use is hereby prohibited
  

• ·      1930 Congress created a separate Bureau of Narcotics in the Treasury Department
  
• ·      Harry Anslinger became the first commissioner of that bureau in 1932 and took office with a pledge to stop arresting so many addicts and instead to go after the big dealers
  

• ·      The Controlled substance act”
  
• ·      Controlled Substance Schedules
  
• ·      Shifted administration of drug enforcement from the Treasury Department to the Justice Department
  
• ·      Created the DEA – reports to the Director of the FBI
  
• ·      The law specifically states that the drugs controlled by the act are under federal jurisdiction regardless of involvement in interstate commerce. In other words, it made drug offenses federal offenses.
  

Schedules are based on medical use and abuse potential

1. Schedule !
   
2. Schedule II
   
3. Schedule III
   
4. Schedule IV
   
5. Schedule V
   

• have high potential for abuse and no medical utility:
  
•   Heroin, LSD and other hallucinogens (peyote, mescaline, psilocybin), ecstasy (MDMA), MDA, methaqualone (quaaludes), China White (AMF – a-methylfentanyl), and marijuana.
  
• o  Some states may approve marijuana for medical purposes, but the federal government does not. Thus, possession and use is still a federal offense.
  

• also have great abuse potential but they do have widely accepted medical utility.
  
• Prescriptions for which there is no refill must be written by physicians…a record of the prescription is kept in three locations
  
• The drugs must be kept in a vault!
  
• o  Includes morphine, fentanyl, codeine, several other narcotics, cocaine, the short acting barbiturates and the amphetamines… including some forms of methamphetamine
  

1. Washington
   
2. the capital of the state in which the prescription was written
   
3. the doctor’s file.
   

·      presumably have a “lesser” abuse potential and they do have medical utility.

o  The may lead to low physical dependence or high psychological dependence. Prescriptions may be filled five times in six months, copies are not required, and the drugs do not have to be stored in a vault.

o  Includes slow acting barbiturates, some non-narcotic painkillers, and some narcotic solutions and mixtures. …and ketamine.

·      drugs are those whose abuse potential is considered extremely low; procedures are similar to those for Schedule III drugs.

o  Representative drugs include most of the tranquilizers.

·      New Laws Create Crime and Criminals

·      The philosophy of exerting as little governmental control and regulation as possible

·      RAVE Act and the ”crack house” statute

·      the objective is to minimize the medical, psychological, and social costs associated with drug-taking behavior.

·      5 grams of crack cocaine gets 5 years in federal prison

·      To get the same penalty, a person must be arrested with 500 grams of powder cocaine.  (Tends to be used by whites)

·      10 or more grams of material containing crack, whatever its purity, gets 10 years

·      Those negatively affected aren’t participating

·      Signed by President Obama on August 3, 2010

·      The 100 to 1 sentencing ratio has been reduced to 18 to 1

·      Twenty-eight grams of crack cocaine will now trigger a five-year prison sentence and 280 grams of crack will trigger a ten-year sentence

·      The five-year mandatory minimum for simple possession of crack cocaine has also been eliminated

The Fair Sentencing Act does not appear to apply retroactively.