Glossary

**Use this page to uncover words and terms that might not be familiar to you. Throughout the webquest you can click on __underlined__ words that will direct you back here where a definition can be found! Please let your teacher know if there are other terms that may be useful for the glossary that you do not see here. ** ====**__Addiction:__ **A person who depends so strongly on a drug or an activity that they continue the behaviour even when it is hurting themselves or others. A chronic relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite serious adverse consequences and by long-lasting changes in the brain. ====
 * GLOSSARY **

__**Bi-Polar Disorder: **__ Formerly called manic depression, it's a mood disorder defined by episodes of elevated moods of two polar opposites - mania and depression.

__**Cannibidiol: **__ A chemical in the cannabis plant that reduces or buffers the psychoactive effects of THC

__**Cannabinoids: **__ A group of compounds appearing in the cannabis plant but also present naturally in the nervous and immune systems of humans.

====**__Central Nervous System:__ **The brain and spinal cord. ====

====**__Consequences:__ **The results or effects of an action or condition. For example, breaking the family’s rules will have consequences, such as being grounded for a week. ====

====**__Detoxification:__ **A process in which the body rids itself of a drug (or its metabolites). During this period, withdrawal symptoms can emerge that may require medical treatment. This is often the first step in drug abuse treatment. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Developmental Assets:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Concrete, common sense, positive experiences and qualities essential to raising successful young people. These assets have the power to influence choices young people make and help them become caring and responsible adults. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Dopamine:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">A brain chemical, classified as a neurotransmitter, found in regions that regulate movement, emotion, motivation, and pleasure. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Methadone:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">A long-acting synthetic opioid medication that is effective in treating opioid addiction and pain. ====

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 * __<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Methionine: __**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;"> An amino acid whose presence in the COMT gene seems to reduce the risk of marijuana-induced schizophrenia =====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Narcolepsy:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">A disorder characterized by uncontrollable episodes of deep sleep. ====

__**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Neural Pruning: **__<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> A neurological process occurring during the teen years that reduces the number of the brains overproduced or 'weak' neurons and recognizes the synapses' configurations - like defragmenting a computer.

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Physical Dependence:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">An adaptive physiological state that occurs with regular drug use and results in a withdrawal syndrome when drug use is stopped; often occurs with tolerance. Physical dependence can happen with chronic - even appropriate - use of many medications, and by itself does not constitute addiction. ====

====__**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Polydrug **__**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Abuse:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">The abuse of two or more drugs at the same time, such as CNS depressants and alcohol. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Prescription Drug Abuse:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">The use of a medication without a prescription; in a way other than as prescribed; or for the experience or feeling elicited. This term is used interchangeably with “non-medical” use, a term employed by many of the national surveys. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Protective Factors:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Life events or experiences that protect against the development of problem behaviour such as drug abuse. Risk Factors: Life events or experiences that are linked with an increase in problem behaviour such as drug abuse. ====

====__**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Psychosis: **__<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> A disordered mental state involving a loss of contact with reality, frequently with hallucinations, delusions or altered thought processes. ====

====__**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Schizophrenia: **__<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> A mental illness featuring recurring psychosis and a breakdown in the relation between thoughts, feelings and actions, usually accompanied by a withdrawal from social activity. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Stimulants:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">A class of drugs that enhances the activity of monamines (such as dopamine) in the brain, increasing arousal, heart rate, blood pressure, and respiration, and decreasing appetite; includes some medications used to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as cocaine and methamphetamine. ====

====**__<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">THC: __**<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;"> Tetrahydrocannabinol, the main psychoactive ingredient in the cannabis plant. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Tolerance:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">A condition in which higher doses of a drug are required to produce the same effect achieved during initial use; often associated with physical dependence. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Values:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Beliefs about what is valuable or important in life. ====

====**<span style="color: #008000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">__Withdrawal:__ **<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Symptoms that occur after chronic use of a drug is reduced abruptly or stopped. ====