Degrees

SSC 215 Drugs & Behavior Course Objectives:

An SSC 215 student should be able to:

1. Distinguish among illicit drug use, deviant drug use, drug misuse, drug abuse, and drug addiction
2. Know four general principles about the effects of psychoactive drugs
3. Describe the methods for gathering information about drug use and recognize the advantages and disadvantages of each method
4. Become aware of recent trends in illicit drug use among high school students and adults
5. Become familiar with psychosocial variables related to drug use
6. Understand why society tries to control the abuse of drugs
7. Examine drug toxicity and the dependence potential of various drugs
8. Discuss the relationship between drug use and crime
9. Describe three basic processes relating to addiction
10. State the contributions and limits of biochemical, personality, family, and disease models of addiction
11. Discuss some current methods of treating addiction
12. Identify the major subdivisions of the nervous system and describe their function
13. Describe dose-response relationships and how they are interpreted to reveal effectiveness, safety, and potency
14. Discuss the different types of tolerance and explanations for their development
15. Examine each of the following drugs in terms of how they produce desired effects, side effects, physical effects, psychological effects, potential for addiction, and current trends for illicit use:stimulants, depressants, psychotherapeutic drugs, alcohol, tobacco, caffeine, opiates, hallucinogens, marijuana, and anabolic steroids