Addictive Drugs

Why The Route Of Administration Matters

Because so much of the heart's output of blood goes to the brain, any route of administration that deposits a large amount of drug into the blood quickly will promptly get a large portion of that drug to the brain. In contrast, a route that gets the drug into the blood more slowly decreases the rate at which it gets to the brain and, because of the way the body eliminates drugs, will probably also reduce the amount of drug that finally does reach the brain. Why this is so will be described in...

Operant Conditioning

Operant conditioning teaches drug users that taking a drug produces pleasure. As a result, drug users take more of the drug. Because drugs of abuse directly activate the brain reward system, the positively rewarding qualities of the drug powerfully reinforce drug-taking behavior. Operant conditioning also teaches drug users that a drug can relieve unpleasant feelings, such as anxiety and stress. So, people learn to take the drug to relieve these negative feelings. The result is that negative...

The Limbic System

To complete the overview of how your brain works, you need to consider one more set of structures in your brain called the limbic system (Fig. 3.5). Your limbic system creates your feelings and motivations. Your feelings supply the contexts for your sensory and motor activities and can alter how you perceive the world and behave in it. The limbic system, which evolved after the brain stem but before the cortex, sits between them. Its location provides an important clue to part of its function...

The Drug Abuse Control Laws

The drug abuse control laws had a dual task to reduce drug abuse and, at the same time, to preserve our ability to use even abused drugs in medicine when they are needed. Like the food and drug laws, Congress passed and amended the drug control laws throughout the 20th century. And, just as Congress established the FDA to oversee the food and drug laws, Congress established the Drug Enforcement Administration (DBA) to oversee the drug control laws. To control drugs and at the same time make...