PRIMARY SCHOOL PROGRAMME - INTRODUCTION South Africa is in a drug crisis where substance abuse is now recognized as one of the greatest threats facing our youth. Statistics show that we will lose one third of our young generation to drugs. 1 in 10 people in South Africa is an addict. The advent of the internet, vastly improved communication and transport methods as well as increased exposure to information and emigrants has facilitated an influx of drugs as well as those who pedal drugs into our country. Drugs are initially used for various reasons, which can be conscious or unconscious, such as ways of supposedly coping with pain, isolation, abuse, neglect, peer pressure and in attempt to enhance performance, a way of coping with and escaping from the reality that surrounds us. However, eventually the drug takes control over the person, thus causing them to be unable to function without the substance. WHAT ARE DRUGS? Any mind and mood altering substance Medication Household products Alcohol and tobacco Caffeine Illegal/street drugs WHAT IS ADDICTION? Many different experts have come up with theories that attempt to explain the phenomenon of addiction. In simple terms drug addiction means: "an irresistible or uncontrolled urge to satisfy a need on an unconscious level". These needs may be understood as follows: Psychological Needs: The need to feel good or to avoid emotional pain. The substance is used in order to experience a change in mind or mood. The substance plays a central role in a person's thoughts, emotions and activities, to the point where it is becomes virtually impossible to function without it. Physical Needs: Physical dependence is characterized by 2 developments: Tolerance - using more of the substance to get the initial desired effect Withdrawal trying to counteract the withdrawal effects by continuing to use the drug
Social Needs: The need to belong and feel accepted which is particularly applicable in adolescence. For the purposes of this training, we will distinguish between a psychological addiction and a physical addiction: The psychological addiction may be described as the dependence on the feeling that the mind and mood altering substance provides. All substances of abuse are psychologically addictive. The physical addiction occurs when the physical functioning of the body becomes dependent on the presence of the substance. The person becomes physically ill or goes into withdrawal if they do not use the substance. Only some of the substances produce this physical dependence. HIGH RISK FACTORS FOR ADDICTION There are many reasons and factors, which influence and determine who will become dependent on drugs and the following discussion, will lend itself to examining why people use drugs in the first place and what factors contribute to this. Discuss: 1. Family Risk Factors abuse, neglect, adoption, trauma, divorce 2. Biological/Genetic Risk Factors 3. Peer Pressure 4. Social/ Psychological Risk Factors depression, anxiety, trauma 5. Community/Environmental Risk Factors When examining the causes of adolescence substance abuse, the abuse of drugs is often associated with the complexities of puberty and adolescence itself, in other words, the development stage of adolescence is in itself vulnerability. It is a time of experimentation for many young people. Even behaviours which are normal at this developmental stage, place them at risk. The main task they face is acquiring a sense of identity. They struggle with issues such as Who am I? What's the point of life? And so on. They are experiencing changes, from which problems can arise. These changes include for example; Physical They are undergoing a lot of changes to their bodies, which often causes a lot of embarrassment and awkwardness. Sexual They are becoming far more sexually aware; but this often presents a crisis. An adolescent to questioning his/her sexual identity is common.
Intellectual Starting to think more in an abstract sense. They start to question a lot which is often perceived as rebelliousness or alienation. The above mentioned, together with learning difficulties, depression and anxiety, helps us to understand why the drugs seemingly offer immediate gratification from the stress and awkwardness experienced in adolescence. It is important to note that drug abuse does not have a single cause but results from exposure to risks in several domains. By understanding these risks we are better equipped to prevent and respond to adolescent substance abuse. THE SUBSTANCES OF ABUSE In the primary school we focus only on the gateway drugs, those that young people are most likely to start with because they are easy to access and seen as socially acceptable: ALCOHOL Alcohol is the most commonly abused substance in the world, for which people seek treatment, and is both psychologically and physically dependence producing. Alcohol affects the central nervous system, and the central nervous system plays a key role in virtually all bodily functions including the heart, the lungs and the digestion. Alcohol blocks the messages the body sends to the brain and vice versa. This is why people who consume alcohol experience changes in perception, emotion, the ability to move and even vision and hearing. The more alcohol consumed the more extreme these changes become. That s why it s a bad idea to attempt anything that requires co-ordination or balance like driving a car or even riding a bike when a person has been drinking. It takes the human body one hour to return to an alcohol-free state after only a one unit drink (8 grams alcohol). Alcohol, particularly in large amounts, can also raise blood pressure, increase the heart rate and cause it to beat abnormally. If large amounts of alcohol are consumed over a period of years it may actually increase the size of the heart and also damage the liver and stomach. Drinking too much on one occasion can even cause a condition known as "acute alcohol poisoning" which can risk death. When pregnant women drink, alcohol is not only carried to all their organs and tissues, but also reaches the placenta and crosses through the membrane separating maternal and foetal (mother and child) blood systems. The concentration of alcohol in the unborn child s bloodstream will be the same as its mother s. However, the foetal liver cannot process alcohol at the same rate. Alcohol can stay in the unborn child s bloodstream for up to 24 hours. In fact, the unborn child s blood alcohol concentrations will be higher than its mother s during the second and third hour after a drink is consumed
TOBACCO AND HUBBLY BUBBLY Cigarettes, Cigars, Hubbly Bubbly and smokeless and pipe tobacco consist of dried tobacco leaves, as well as ingredients added for flavour and other properties. Tobacco may be used as snuff, chewed or smoked. More than 4000 individual compounds have been identified in tobacco and tobacco smoke. Among these are more than 60 compounds that are known carcinogens (cancer forming agents). Some of the other compounds found in tobacco smoke include ammonia, tar and carbon monoxide. The nicotine in tobacco is both psychologically and physically dependence-producing. It first stimulates and then depresses the CNS. It is readily absorbed from tobacco smoke in the lungs and from smokeless tobacco in the mouth and nose, and spreads rapidly throughout the body. Cigarette smoking accounts for at least 30% of all cancer deaths. It is a major cause of cancers of the lungs, larynx, throat, oral cavity and tongue, and is a contributing cause in the development of cancers of the bladder, pancreas, liver, cervix, stomach colon, and some leukaemia. Smoking is also a major cause of heart disease, bronchitis, severe pneumonia, emphysema and stroke. Tobacco has a damaging effect on women s reproductive health and is associated with increased risk of miscarriage, prematurity, stillbirth, and low birth weight in infants. Passive or second hand smoking also has negative effects on health. Smoking a hubbly bubbly or hookah pipe is another form of tobacco use, where the tobacco is heated by charcoal and the smoke passes though water filled chamber that cools the smoke before it is inhaled. It is mistakenly believe that filtering the smoke though water removes some of the tar and nicotine thereby reducing the health risks. Smoking hubbly bubbly is in fact associated with increased carbon monoxide and nicotine exposure because the person spends a longer period of time smoking. Susceptibility to other lung infections is also increased by the inhalation of the various chemicals with moisture. Hubbly bubbly has also become a vehicle for other drugs and recent trends have indicated that tobacco is mixed with dagga and/or heroin, and may be filtered through alcohol. DAGGA Dagga comes from the Cannabis Sativa plant, which is covered in small hairs that produce a sticky brown resin. The plants are dried and crumbled to produce dagga or the resin is collected and pressed into cakes known as hashish. The Some of the many names by which dagga is known, include cannabis, marijuana, grass, zol, skyf, boom, pot, dope, majat, weed, Mary Jane, the holy herb and dagga cigarettes are called joints or reefer. The dagga plant contains 421 toxic chemicals, which break down into 2000 different compounds in the body. The active ingredient is THC or Tetrahydracannibanol. Medicinal properties of THC include the following: the ability to lower raised intra-ocular
pressure, an anti-emetic effect, especially during cancer chemotherapy, and an antispastic effect in certain conditions characterized by muscle spasticity. However, dagga is an illegal substance in South Africa and is, therefore, not to be used for medicinal purposes. There are other far better medications which can be used, that do not have the same dangerous side effects. It is important to note that dagga crops nowadays contain higher concentrations of THC than they did in the past. The average THC content now ranges from 1 to 11% whereas it was 0,4% during 1979. This means that the dagga of today may be expected to cause more serious harmful effects than the socially accepted apparently harmless dagga used in the sixties and seventies. Dagga lowers inhibitions and the individual may become excitable, talkative and relaxed. Large doses can result in lethargy and confusion, and perception and motor performance may be seriously affected. Acute intoxication can result in severe reactions of fear, paranoia and panic. Individuals may become aggressive and even violent. Regular use can cause sleep disturbance, irritability and restlessness, decreased appetite, sweating, weight loss and depression. Research indicates that prolonged use may cause organic, and therefore, permanent brain damage. Dagga smoke has a quicker and more damaging effect on the lungs than tobacco and the risk of lung cancer is greatly increased. There is also evidence that THC reduces the body s ability to resist infectious diseases and may cause disruption in both the male and female reproductive systems. SOLVENTS/INHALANTS Abuse of volatile substances found in ordinary household products. Solvents include aerosol cans, glue, benzene, petrol, thinners, poppers and other chemicals. The high following inhalation is caused by oxygen being deprived to the brain, it lasts for a few minutes, but the practice is then repeated. It leads to liver and kidney damage, headaches, brain damage and suffocation. Side effects include: vomiting, coughing, intoxication, dizziness, slurred speech, confusion, delusions, aggressive outbursts and loss of consciousness, death. OVER-THE-COUNTER (OTC) AND PRESCRIPTION DRUGS Seen very often as clean drugs or safe drugs we are finding more and more abuse of these drugs. It is important to know that even though they may be safely manufactured, the addiction and damage they can cause when used incorrectly can be the same as for street drugs. Many people do not see the overuse or inappropriate use of these drugs as addiction or abuse. This is because it often happens slowly; we have been conditioned from a young age that if you have a headache take a pill and the long term overuse of OTC and prescription medicine, like alcohol, is not particularly socially unacceptable. Some commonly abused OTC and prescription medicines are sleeping tablets, pain killers, cold and flu preparations, cough mixtures, stimulant medication (e.g. Ritalin) and slimming tablets. It is important to understand that when used responsibly OTC
and prescription medicines are effective in treating the conditions for which they are intended, the problem only comes in when they are abused. SO WHAT NOW? Knowledge is power. Be aware of what it is you are taking and also why. Even start reading the package inserts on medication you take. Ensure that you know what the drug can do and the potential risks. Understand that curiosity is natural, but not all curiosity needs to be satisfied through personal experience. You can learn from the millions of people who have walked down the road of addiction before you. You can get addicted to a drug the first time you try it. Make the choice to stay away from drugs and alcohol now. That will influence the friends you choose and the places you go to. Don t wait until you are in a situation because then it may be too late..