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Drug Synergism _______________________________________________________
The synergistic effect of drugs is another important concept to understand. This is going to require that you go back to your friend’s house. When you get there he, offers you a beer, but this time he tells you to rate the high you get from one to ten with ten being the highest rating and one the lowest. However, he warns you that if you get a high of nine from the beer, you could overdose. You drink the beer and rate your high a three on the scale. A few days later, you go over to another friend’s house. This guy, your friend, is just like the rest of us, only more so. He asks you if you want to get high and when you say, “YES!” He gives you this little yellow pill called Valium, which is a minor tranquilizer. Like your first friend, he tells you that he wants you to rate your high from one to ten with ten being the highest rating and one the lowest. He also warns you that if you get a high of nine from the Valium you could overdose. After you take the Valium, you rate it a four on the scale. CRITICAL POINT: Drug synergism occurs when drugs can interact in ways that enhance or magnify one or more effects, or side effects, of those drugs. This is often seen with recreational drugs, for example when cannabis is laced with LSD, where the active chemicals in cannabis enhance the hallucinatory experience of LSD use. A few days later, you decide that you really want to get totaled. So, the first thing you do is go by your first friend’s house for a beer. After you drink the beer, you go straight to your other friend’s house for one of those little yellow pills. Your buddy gives you the Valium and you gobble it down like Rosanne Barr gobbles down a bag of chips. Now you have a high of what? If you are like most people, you will say seven…three plus four equals seven. Right! That is perfectly right except that alcohol and Valium are synergistic to each other. What this means is that if you take them together, they have a multiple effect, not an additive effect. In brief, you are going to have to multiple ∞ DRUGS…An Overview ∞ those ratings, not add them. When you do ____________________________________________________________ that, you end up with a high of twelve, not Inhalants: Breathable chemical vapors that are taken into the body seven…three times four is twelve. Do you by inhaling produce. know what that means? Not only are you going to overdose, most likely you are Legal drugs: Drugs that can be manufactured, distributed, and sold legally. going to be elevated to a higher level of existence. In a nutshell, there is a good Mainline: The injection of a drug into a vein. chance you are going to be checking out to Mainliner: A person who injects a drug directly into the vein. the Twilight Zone. Man: A term used to describe police officers; commonly used as This is exactly what happened to street jargon amongst drug dealers and users. Karen Quinlan. Quinlan is the poster-child OD: Slang term for overdose. for euthanasia. If you followed any of the Dr. Kevorkian’s cases, you probably heard
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her name come up. Kevorkian, better known as the Doctor of Death, assisted in a number of suicides, or as he called them, mercy killings of terminally ill people. Every time Kevorkian was prosecuted for the murders, his defense team would use the Karen Quinlan case to justify his behavior. Quinlan was a young woman who had a minor anxiety problem that her doctor was treating with Valium. One night she was at a party and they were serving beer. She had already taken some Valium before she got to the party. She knew what it felt like to be on Valium and she knew what it felt like to have a few beers. Accordingly, she figured it would be no real problem if she mixed the two drugs. WRONG! She drank just a few beers…that’s all…just a few. Then, all of a sudden, she fell over. At first, everyone at the party thought it was funny. Then, someone realized that she wasn’t breathing. By the time they got her to the hospital, she was in a deep coma. They immediately put her on a life support machine to help her breathe. The next day they ran an electroencephalogram (EEG) on her. She had a complete flat-line except for one tiny blip. That tiny blip meant that she still had an infinitesimal amount of brain activity, meaning that they couldn’t wrap her up in toilet tissue and flush down the toilet. According to law, you cannot be pronounced dead until an EEG shows an absolute flat-line. Basically, she was dead. Even if she came out of the coma, all her doctors said she would be nothing more than a vegetable, but legally she was considered to be alive. For two years this poor girl remained on the life support machine and that damn tiny blip remained on her EEG. Her parents spent every penny they had in the world to keep her on that machine. When they couldn’t afford it anymore, they went to the doctors and told them to take her off life support, but legally the doctors couldn’t remove the machine until they had no reading on the EEG. After another year passed, the parents went to court to have the machine removed, but the courts found in favor of the doctors and refused to remove the life support machines. After that court decision came down, someone went into Quinlan’s hospital room and pulled the plug on her life support machine, but she still didn’t die. The life support machines had strengthened her organs so substantially that now they were functioning on their own. That poor girl lingered and lingered for more than two decades before she finally passed away. When she died, she weighted less than 45 pounds. Her flesh had rotted clean to her bone and she didn’t even resemble a human being. CRITICAL POINT: Euthanasia: Euthanasia is the intentional killing by act or omission of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit. After that, Karen Quinlan became the primary example of why people should have the right to die with dignity. All of this transpired because like most people, Quinlan didn’t understand the concept of drug synergy. On the flip side, there are individuals who understand thoroughly the synergistic effects of drugs and use it to gain a greater effect from the drugs they use. For example, weightlifters will stack steroids in order to get a multiple effect from the drugs. We will talk more about this in depth in chapter 5.
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Time Distortion __________________________________
Time distortion is another one of these words that basically defines itself…it is the distortion of time. Did you notice that when you read my book time just flies by, but when you read your other textbooks you feel like you are in a time warp and everything is standing still? That is what time distortion is…it is the perception that time is either accelerated or slowed down. Some drugs like amphetamines or cocaine will give you the impression or perception that time is going fast while other drugs like barbiturates and narcotics will give you the feeling that time is going slowly. CRITICAL POINT: Peyote cactus, LSD and marijuana all produce significant distortions of time. A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to compete at the World Record Breakers in Hawaii. After the competition, a fellow lifter and I rented a car and decided to drive through the islands to see all of the splendor and wonder of this magnificent land. Okay! We went to see if we could find the island where the women swim topless. Well, he went to find the women swimming topless. I just went along for the ride because lust is a sin and I would never do anything like that. Anyhow, we were both still emotionally high from the competition. My buddy was driving and as soon as we got out of the city limits, he had us going close to 100 miles an hour. He was so high from the meet that he couldn’t seem to control his emotion and the speed of the car. Then, he reached down and pulled out the ashtray. Inside the tray was some of that dried out grass we talked about earlier…that’s right…marijuana. Only this was the really “good shit.” It was mowie wowie, a very expensive grade of pot with an extremely high THC level. He took the grass out and rolled a joint. Then he looked at me and said, “Do you want some?” And I said, “NO!” Just like the little girl on the commercial when the kid at the playground asked her if she wanted some weed she said, “NO!” That is exactly what I said because drugs aren’t cool…right? RIGHT! Well, he started smoking the joint and the next thing I knew we were going about 10 miles an hour. He got so mellowed out that he could barely coordinate his movements. He had absolutely no concept of motion. So I started moving in slow motion to really freak him out. Do that to your friends the next time they get high. It really messes with their head because their perception of time and motion is all
∞ DRUGS…An Overview ∞ __________________________________________________________________
Can somebody require you to take a drug test for a job? The Drug-Free Workplace Act of 1988 required that organizations receiving money from the federal government provide drug-free workplaces. Also, the National Drug Control Strategy highly recommended companies outside the government to develop drug-free workplace programs. Currently, drug testing is at the discretion of the company and may be included as part of pre-employment, post-accident, for cause, and at random. However, in December 1991, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Act was enacted and signed into law, which requires random alcohol testing for transportation workers. Testing for alcohol outside of the transportation industry is rare and is not part of the Drug-Free Workplace Act.
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out of whack. Therefore, they will try to adjust to their surroundings mentally. If you start moving in slow motion, it really freaks them out because they just can’t get everything in sync. Try it…it’s fun…your friends will really freak when you do it. Of course, they will hate you for the rest of your life, but what do you care? You don’t want to be hanging out with a bunch of potheads anyway…or do you? Bill Russell, the great Boston Celtic basketball center, said something that was extremely poignant that really fits here. He was being interviewed on television and the sports reporter said, “Bill, you are just about the only player in the NBA who doesn’t use drugs. How do you manage to stay clean when all your friends are using drugs?” Russell smiled and then said, “The reason I never even considered taking drugs is because I want to see life at its real pace.” WOW! Russell is right you know…when you are under the influence of drugs, you never see life the way it really is and you certainly don’t see it in authentic time.
State Dependence ____________________________________________________________
Here is something I think will really interest you…state dependence. During the day, our bodies try to maintain a stable and consistent physiological state called homeostasis. The body tries to maintain homeostasis by adaptive response. For instance, throughout the day, we stay pretty close to our physiological baseline. Our heart rate, blood pressure, respiration and metabolic rate are rather constant. Naturally, some things might cause us to stray a little from our established baseline, but generally we will maintain a fairly uniform and steady state of homeostasis. By way of illustration, you might be walking down campus and all of a sudden you might see your boyfriend…your one true love. I am assuming that you are a woman here. Of course, that is going to excite you, so your heart rate, blood pressure and respiration are going to elevate a little. You might even have a darling little sex flush where your face will get slightly red, revealing to your one true love your desire for him. Your body will respond to this type of eustress by quickly making internal adjustments so that it can cope with this slight
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stress. After you and your one true love exchange a few words of affection, a hug and maybe a little kiss, you both go on your separate ways. About an hour later, you again see your one true love, but this time he is wrapped around your best friend. This is what is called extreme distress. Your heart rate will elevate, your blood pressure will soar, your respiration will increase and you will turn bright red, revealing to your one true love that he is dead meat. Your body will respond to this type of distress by making internal adjustments so that it can cope with this type of extreme stress. CRITICAL POINT: The term state dependent learning (SDL) refers to the fact that memories acquired while a person is drugged may be forgotten when the drug wears off and not remembered until the person again takes the drug. Conversely, material learned in the undrugged state may be forgotten when a drug is taken; and material learned under one drug may be forgotten when another drug is used. Now, every semester, I will get students in my class who don’t study from one day until the next. Then all of a sudden, the mid-term examination will roll around and they don’t have a clue as to what is going on. For that reason, at the last minute, they will decide to pull an all-nighter. In case you don’t know what an all-nighter is, it is when you stay up the entire night and read the entire textbook. Staying up all night is not an easy thing to do. Most students who use this procedure will use stimulants like coffee or No-Doz to stay awake. Well, that is what the novice students do. The professional students will use drugs like ∞ DRUGS…An Overview ∞ methamphetamine…you know, speed. __________________________________________________________________ They will take that stuff and within no time Narc: A federal narcotics officer. they are sky high. Their heart rate, respiration, blood pressure and metabolic Match box: A street measure of marijuana; about 2 ounces makes 6 or 7 marijuana cigarettes. rate are, well, high altitude. Figuratively speaking, it will take them light years away Placebo: An inert pill or “sugar pill” made to resemble an active drug. from their normal baseline. Just as significant, they feel absolutely wonderful, Placebo effect: A beneficial effect in a patient that comes from the focused and ready to read, read and read. patient’s expectations concerning the treatment rather than the treatment itself. That’s right. Speed will give them a magnificent work ethic with incredible Polydrug use: The simultaneous use of two or more drugs. cognitive clearance while they are under Potency: The dose of a drug necessary to cause a mental or physical the drug’s influence. effect. As previously mentioned, while Mental set: The collection of psychological and environmental under the influence of speed, these students variables that influence an individual’s response to drug. will read, read and read…it’s a beautiful Mellow out: A state of extreme relaxation from getting high off of thing. By the time the next morning rolls drugs. around, they will probably have read the Merchandise: Commonly used street jargon amongst drug dealers book two or three times and everything and users that identifies the actual drug of choice that’s being else they could get their hands on. Aren’t purchased. drugs wonderful? The problem is, when they come to class to take the test, they
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can’t remember a single thing that they read. Why? Because when they were reading all of that stuff, their brains were at an altered state of consciousness. Therefore, what they learned during that time became state dependent upon that level of consciousness. The only way they will be able to remember it is to return to that level of consciousness…of course, to do that they have to get high again. CRITICAL POINT: State dependent learning is sometimes called drug dissociation of learning, referring to the fact that material learned while drugged is dissociated from normal consciousness and not able to be retrieved. In truth, it is not quite that easy. The general rule with drugs is that for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction. Thus, when you are elevated significantly above your baseline, your body will feverishly attempt to restore homeostasis by means of adaptive response. When this transpires, your body will crash, meaning that it will go below your normally established baseline…for every reaction there is an equal and opposite reaction. Obviously, when this takes place, the body will again try to restore homeostasis…this time by reversing the process that it used to bring your body down. In short, the adjustment from one physiological state to another is not that easy or automatic. Actually, you have probably experienced state dependence even though you don’t take hard core drugs. For example, have you ever had one of those magnificent dreams? Yeah! One of those dreams. Then all of a sudden, you woke up and you couldn’t remember it. So you tried to go back to sleep to recapture it, but nine times out of ten you just couldn’t get back there…and it was soooo good! Too bad! It is the same principle. When you are dreaming, your brain is functioning at a different level of consciousness than when you are conscious….it is different brain chemistry. As a result, your dream becomes state dependent on that level of consciousness. This is also what happens to people who experience blackouts. For instance, they drink all day and then they might do something really stupid like mooning a funeral precession. The next day, when someone tells them what they did, they will say, “I don’t recall doing anything like that.” They are 6
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most likely telling the truth because under the influence of the alcohol, they are functioning at an altered state of consciousness. They are not in their normal state of brain consciousness. As a result, when they return to their normal brain chemistry, they cannot recall what happened because the experience is state dependent upon the level of conscious under which they experienced the act. Isn’t that neat?
Street Deceit __________________________________
Here is a news flash! The drugs that you buy on the street are not FDA regulated. You don’t really know what you are getting when you buy illicit drugs on the black market. When I was in college, three guys in our dorm got busted for smoking pot. The police confiscated their drugs and then took the guys down to the city jail and booked them. At that time there was no lab at the city jail to analyze the drugs, so they had to send them off to Atlanta for analysis. When they got the results back from the lab, they had to release the students because they were not smoking dope. What they were smoking was dried out straw and chicken droppings. That’s right, they were smoking chicken shit. The guy that sold it to them got some grass, put chicken droppings in it to represent seeds and sold it to these simpletons under the pretense it was marijuana. I know it sounds funny, but that is extremely dangerous. You can get a terrible respiratory infection from inhaling chicken feces and that could literally be lethal. CRITICAL POINT: During a 24-hour period in December 1995, at least 60 heroin users in Newark, New Jersey, died after using heroin tainted with scopolamine. Scopolamine is available by prescription primarily for treating motion sickness. Here is another news flash! The people on the streets who sell drugs don’t care about you or your health…they are just out to make money. They will sell you anything to make a little money. A number of years ago, 60 Minutes conducted a study in which they went out on the streets and bought $10,000 worth of drugs. When they had those drugs analyzed, do you know what they found? Almost 80% of the drugs they bought were not the drugs they were led to believe that they were buying. Can you believe that? Well, believe it! There was so much street deceit in New York City that people were overdosing all over the place. It got so bad that now they have these little booths on corners where drug users can take the drugs they purchased and have them analyze free of charge. A police officer could be standing right next you when you drop your drugs off at one of these booths and he won’t mess with you. That is how common street deceit is. New York City isn’t an exception. It’s the rule. You just don’t know what you are getting when you buy illegal drugs.
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