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Alcohol and Drug Counselor Pharmacology of Psychoactive Substances Flashcards

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  1. Which classification of drugs includes substances like heroin, morphine, and codeine?

    Answer: Opioids

    Heroin, morphine, and codeine are all opioids that act on opioid receptors (mu, kappa, and delta) in the brain and body.

  2. A client on buprenorphine maintenance therapy asks why they cannot get high if they use heroin on top of their medication. The best explanation is:

    Answer: Buprenorphine has high opioid receptor affinity and acts as a partial agonist, blocking full agonist effects

    Buprenorphine's high receptor affinity and partial agonist activity means it occupies opioid receptors and blocks the effects of additional full agonist opioids.

  3. Cross-tolerance between alcohol and benzodiazepines occurs because both substances:

    Answer: Act on the same receptor complex (GABA-A)

    Both alcohol and benzodiazepines enhance GABA-A receptor function, so tolerance developed to one substance reduces sensitivity to the other.

  4. Which route of administration produces the fastest onset of drug effects?

    Answer: Intravenous injection

    Intravenous injection delivers the drug directly into the bloodstream, bypassing all absorption barriers for the fastest onset.

  5. Tolerance to a drug most commonly develops because of:

    Answer: Pharmacodynamic changes such as receptor downregulation and reduced sensitivity

    Pharmacodynamic tolerance occurs when the nervous system adapts through receptor downregulation and decreased receptor sensitivity with repeated drug use.

  6. MDMA (ecstasy) primarily exerts its effects by:

    Answer: Massively increasing serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine release

    MDMA causes a massive release of serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine while also inhibiting their reuptake, producing euphoria and empathogenic effects.

  7. In pharmacology, an antagonist is defined as a substance that:

    Answer: Binds to a receptor without activating it and blocks agonist activity

    An antagonist binds to a receptor with affinity but has no intrinsic activity, thereby blocking agonists from producing their effects.