MAC Pharmacology of Substances 4

Question 1

MDMA (ecstasy) primarily exerts its psychoactive effects by causing massive release and reuptake inhibition of:

Accepted Answer

Serotonin primarily, with dopamine and norepinephrine also affected

Answer

MDMA primarily causes a massive release of serotonin (5-HT), along with dopamine and norepinephrine, which accounts for its empathogenic, stimulant, and hallucinogenic properties.

Question 2

A client reports using inhalants regularly. The counselor should be most concerned about which acute life-threatening complication?

Accepted Answer

Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome due to cardiac arrhythmia

Answer

Sudden Sniffing Death Syndrome can occur even on a first use of inhalants, when catecholamine surge sensitizes the heart to arrhythmias, leading to sudden cardiac death.

Question 3

Tolerance to opioids develops MOST rapidly with which effect?

Accepted Answer

Analgesia and euphoria

Answer

Tolerance develops rapidly to opioid analgesia and euphoria, while constipation and miosis show minimal tolerance—explaining why long-term users remain constipated.

Question 4

Which statement BEST describes the pharmacokinetic difference between crack cocaine and powder cocaine?

Accepted Answer

Crack cocaine is smoked, reaching the brain faster and producing a more intense but shorter high

Answer

Smoking crack cocaine delivers the drug to the brain in seconds via pulmonary absorption, creating a rapid, intense rush that dissipates quickly, reinforcing compulsive redosing.

Question 5

A client prescribed buprenorphine reports precipitated withdrawal after their first dose. This MOST likely occurred because:

Accepted Answer

The client used a long-acting opioid and was not sufficiently withdrawn before induction

Answer

Buprenorphine's high receptor affinity displaces full opioid agonists that still occupy receptors; if induction begins too early, this displacement precipitates acute withdrawal.

Master Addiction Counselor Exam Practice Test

Master Addiction Counselor Exam Practice Test

MAC Pharmacology of Substances 4