Drugs & Behaviour

• Nitrous Oxide (N2O)

  Also known as "Laughing gas"
• Nitrous Oxide synthesized and reported on by Joseph Priestly


  1772
• Nitrous Oxide first investigated by Humphrey Davy


  1798
• Nitrous Oxide


  • Became a major recreational drug in the early 1800s
  • Used in fun fairs and travelling circuses, given to volunteers of high class
  • Eventually used for surgery, specifically dental
• Nitrous Oxide


  • Still used recreationally, but primarily for routine analgesic in dentistry
  • Patients feel euphoria, eases anxiety, and dulls the pain but won't put person to sleep
• Ether


  • Another anaesthetic drug, first introduced in the 1840s
  • Also used as a recreational drug, particularly when alcohol availability was severely reduced
• Modern day inhalant abuse

  • Involves a wide range of commercial products like gasoline, glues, adhesives, household cleaning compounds, aerosol sprays, and solvents
  • Mostly done by 12-15 year olds, likely due to accessibility
  • Products are cheap, readily available, easily concealed, and have rapid intoxicating effects when inhaled
• Dangers of inhalant abuse

  • Behavioural consequences of intoxication
  • Possibility of asphyxiation when abused via airtight bag over nose and mouth
  • Toxic substances like acetone, benzene, hexane, toluene, gasoline
• Concern about inhalant abuse has led to restrictions on sale of model-kit glues to minors and modification of formulas to lessen likelihood of abuse
• Universal restriction of abusable inhalants is practically impossible due to volatile chemicals in many products
• Prevention efforts regarding inhalant abuse are critical
• Patterns of inhalant abuse

  • Respects no social or geographic boundaries, but prevalence is high among poor and disadvantaged populations
  • Psychological dependence rather than physical dependence
  • Tolerance effects seen for chronic inhalant abusers
• Barbiturates


  • At very low doses, produce relaxation and euphoria
  • As dose increases, lower brain regions affected resulting in sedation and drowsiness
  • At higher doses, have a hypnotic (sleep-inducing) effect
• Barbiturate use


  • Can lead to dependence
  • May increase anxiety during the day, leading to insomnia
  • Builds up tolerance resulting in increased dosing and overdose risk
  • Use as hypnotic results in abnormal sleep patterns like REM suppression and REM rebound
  • Potential for lethal overdose, especially when combined with other depressants like alcohol
• Tobacco use originated among original inhabitants of North and South America


  ~12000 years ago
• Tobacco officially introduced into Europe

  1559
• Early 17th century


  • Condemnation of tobacco became extreme, with penalties like whipping, mutilation, exile, and death in some countries
  • But tobacco use continued to spread
• Tobacco use in Europe

  • Initially in form of pipe smoking
  • By 1700s, snuffing overtook smoking as dominant form
  • Mid-1800s, fashion shifted to cigars and cigarettes
• Tobacco in 20th century Canada

  • Variety of ways to satisfy tobacco use
  • 1908 Tobacco Restraint Act made it illegal to sell to under 16s
  • Women challenged masculine dominance of smoking
  • Cigarettes came into their own in 1920s with branded competition
• Health concerns and smoking behaviour

  • 1964 surgeon general's report reversed climbing cigarette consumption
  • Increased use of filtered, low-tar, and low-nicotine cigarettes
  • 1988 Tobacco Sales to Young Persons Act increased smoking age to 18 and removed vending machines
• Tobacco industry today


  • Increased public pressure has limited marketing, especially to youth
  • 1998 $246 billion settlement with US states over smoking-related illness costs
  • 2009 Tobacco Control Act authorized FDA regulation of tobacco products
• Nicotine dependence

  • Produces tolerance effects and physical withdrawal symptoms
  • Prominent feature is strong craving to return to tobacco use
  • Smokers adjust behaviour to obtain stable nicotine dose
• Health consequences of tobacco use

  • Increased risk of cardiovascular, lung, and respiratory diseases
  • Hazards to smokers, developing fetuses, and non-smokers exposed to secondhand smoke
• Patterns of smoking behaviour

  • Prevalence rates declining, especially among youth
  • Attitudes toward smoking becoming less accepting among young people
  • But global trend of unabated smoking rates in Asia, Eastern Europe, Russia
• Quitting smoking


  • Health risks diminish rapidly when quitting
  • But nicotine dependence is very strong, making quitting difficult
  • Wide range of cessation treatments available, with 50% eventually quitting permanently
• Forms of smokeless tobacco

  • Loose-leaf
  • Fine-cut
  • Plug
  • Twist
  • Snuff
• Drug use in sports

  • Ancient Greek athletes used hallucinogenic mushrooms to improve performance and connect to gods
  • In modern era, anabolic steroids are the principal performance-enhancing drugs
  • Legal status of steroids differs between Canada and US
• How anabolic-androgenic steroids work

  • Synthetic forms of testosterone that act on androgen receptors in skeletal muscle and other tissues
  • Adrenocortical steroids have anti-inflammatory action useful for treating injuries
• Steroid use was clearly out in the open during the 1968 Olympic Games
• Steroids


  Synthetic forms of testosterone that have been modified in a variety of ways
• Steroids have a different legal status in Canada and the United States
• Anabolic steroids in Canada

  Schedule IV drug under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, legal to possess but illegal to sell or import
• How Do Anabolic-Androgenic Steroids Work?


  1. Synthetic forms of testosterone

  2. Act at androgen receptors

  3. Androgen receptors located in skeletal muscle and other places in the body
• Adrenocortical steroids


  A group of hormones secreted by the adrenal glands, their anti-inflammatory action makes them useful for treating arthritis and muscle injuries
• Steroid use was clearly out in the open during the Olympic Games in Mexico City


  1968
• Many female athletes from eastern European countries in the 1960s and 1970s showed notable masculine features
• The 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia instituted the strictest drug-testing procedures to date for all competing athletes

  2000
• In 2004, the World Anti-Doping Code was created
• The United States Anti-Doping Agency announced that international cycling champion Lance Armstrong would be banned for life from cycling, stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, and stripped of his bronze medal from the 2000 Olympic Games

  2012
• Concerns were raised about the use of anabolic steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs in major league baseball