ATOD lesson 3

Lesson Objectives

● How medicines help you when you are sick.

● Why medicines have warning labels.
● How to analyze the use and abuse of prescription and nonprescription
medications.

Important Vocabulary

A ______ is any substance
that changes the structure
or function of the body or
mind.

drug

________ are drugs that
are used to cure or
prevent diseases or other
conditions.

Medicines

Not all drugs are medications

Drugs

Medications

– Medications are legal drugs

which can treat health
conditions

– Illegal drugs do not treat

health conditions and can
be harmful to a person’s
health

What is medicine?

● Prevent diseases.
● Cure diseases.
● Relieve symptoms.
● Manage chronic conditions.

Invent a new drug...

There are two basic types of medicines:

1. Prescription medicines

2. Over-the-counter (OTC) medicines

1. Prescription medicines

Prescription medicines generally
require a doctor’s note because they
have more risk.

2.over-the-counter (OTC) medicines

Can be purchased at a
drugstore.

Follow the directions on the
medicine label and pay attention to
any warnings about how to use it.

over-the-counter (OTC) medicines

Important Vocabulary

A ________ is a physical
feature that indicates a
condition or disease

symptom

A _________ is a
secondary (typically
undesirable) effect of a
drug or medical treatment.

side effect

All medications can cause

side effects

Common

side effects:

•

Drowsiness

•

Headache

•

Nausea

•

Abnormal heart
rhythm

*More likely to
occur when
starting or
stopping use of a
medication or
when changing the
dose

Prescription Label

The prescription bottle shows how much
of the medicine is needed and how often it
should be taken.

Over the counter Label

Even over-the-counter medicine labels
show how much of the medicine is needed
and how often it should be taken.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) explains that the difference between drug misuse and drug abuse has to do with the individual’s intentions or motivations.

Drug MISUSE may involve not following medical instructions, but the person taking the drug is not looking to “get
high.”

For example, if a person isn’t able to fall asleep after taking a single sleeping pill, they may take another pill an hour later, thinking, “That will do the job.” Or a person may offer his headache medication to a friend who is in pain.

Drug ABUSE is the use of a medication without a prescription or in a way other than as prescribed for the experience of getting high.

For example, if a person takes a higher dose of prescription pain pills to get a high. Or a person may offer their ADHD medication to a friend who wants the euphoric feeling.

Drug Misuse

Drug Abuse

using medicine safely

• Using a drug that is illegal

• Using a medicine for nonmedical purposes

• Taking someone else’s medicine

• Swallowing or breathing a substance that was not meant to enter the body

• Using a drug in any way that is physically, mentally, or socially harmful

Drug Abuse

using medicine safely

Drug abuse often leads
to addiction, a physical
and psychological need
for a substance.

Addicts who want to treat
their problem...

■Must remove all traces of the drug from their body and this causes withdrawal.

■Then the user must deal with his or her psychological dependency by learning to control cravings for the drug.

• Taking a medicine for a shorter or longer time than prescribed

• Changing the amount of medicine taken without a doctor’s approval

• Taking more than one medicine without approval from your doctor

• Using medicine that was prescribed for an earlier illness without a doctor’s approval

• Using medicine prescribed for

someone else

• Using a drug that is illegal

• Using a medicine for nonmedical purposes

• Taking someone else’s medicine

• Swallowing or breathing a substance that was not meant to enter the body

• Using a drug in any way that is physically, mentally, or socially harmful

Drug Misuse

Drug Abuse

using medicine safely

• Using medicine prescribed for

someone else

Which One?

• Using medicine prescribed for

someone else

Which One?

• Taking a medicine for a shorter or longer time than prescribed

• Changing the amount of medicine taken without a doctor’s approval

• Taking more than one medicine without approval from your doctor

• Using medicine that was prescribed for an earlier illness without a doctor’s approval

• Using medicine prescribed for

someone else

• Using a drug that is illegal

• Using a medicine for nonmedical purposes

• Taking someone else’s medicine

• Swallowing or breathing a substance that was not meant to enter the body

• Using a drug in any way that is physically, mentally, or socially harmful

Drug Misuse

Drug Abuse

using medicine safely