Level 3 - Source on Psychoactive Drugs

• 1. What are psychoactive drugs and how much are they used?
  • 1.1 How many people smoke tobacco?
  • 1.2 What are the trends in alcohol consumption?
  • 1.3 How many people use illicit drugs?
• 2. How do psychoactive drugs affect health?
  • 2.1 What is the health burden attributable to psychoactive drugs?
  • 2.2 What main harmful effects are caused by psychoactive drug use?
• 3. How does drug addiction affect the functioning of the brain?
  • 3.1 What is drug addiction?
  • 3.2 What brain mechanisms are affected?
  • 3.3 How do different psychoactive drugs act in the brain?
• 4. How does drug addiction develop?
  • 4.1 How do drug users become drug dependant?
  • 4.2 How can genetic factors influence drug use and addiction?
• 5. Why do drug addiction and mental illness often coexist?
• 6. How can addiction to psychoactive drugs be prevented and treated?
  • 6.1 What are the different approaches to treating drug addiction with medications?
  • 6.2 What are the different behavioural therapies for treating drug addiction?
  • 6.3 What ethical issues are raised by research on drug addiction?
• 7. Conclusions