Health Care

LINK OF COURSE BOOK
https://3lib.net/book/5424672/38e485

Drug for this project should be selected from book above.

Course Project Part I – Background (35 points)

For Part I, you will submit a document in essay format (bulleted and Q&A layouts will not be accepted) :
Identifying the drug or drug category you chose. This is where reading ahead to the requirements of the next two parts of the project will be helpful, because you will know how broad or narrow to make your topic. For example, “OTC drugs” would be too broad, and “acne medication” is unlikely to fulfill the requirements of the whole project.
Explaining why you chose this substance/category for your project. Why do you want to know more about the drug? Why is it worth investigating?
Providing background information on your drug/category, which should include all of the following:
– A description of the drug, including discussion of the forms it takes; how and why it is ingested; the detailed effects it has on the brains, bodies, and behavior of users; and other useful points revealed by your research;
– The classification to which your drug belongs under the Controlled Substances Act, as well as an explanation of the Schedule of Controlled Substances and the meaning of your drug’s specific place on the Schedule. Note: DEA stands for the Drug Enforcement Administration, not Agency.
– The scope of its use in the U.S., including current trends among different populations;
– The current legal status of your specific drug or category; and
– Current events regarding your drug – check news sources!

You must use at least two sources other than your textbook, and you will need to provide a citation for your sources following APA guidelines. If you are unfamiliar with APA citations please refer to the following website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/08/
Wikipedia and similar encyclopedia sites are not acceptable as sources for this research project.

Course Project Part II (30 points)

The second part of the Course Project asks you to examine your drug/drug category from an educational perspective.
For Part II, please discuss in essay format all of the following issues (bulleted and Q&A layouts will not be accepted):
X
1) What information did you have about this drug prior to this class? Make sure to include both formal education (such as lessons, classes, workshops, speakers, community events, etc.) and informal education (for example, exposure to news, entertainment, and social media; parents; and friends). What, specifically, could have been more useful to you in your education about this drug? What would you recommend as an effective educational program or format for others about this drug?

2) What was the most surprising thing you learned about the drug/drug category from your textbook? From your research for this project? Discuss. Do you think this information should be explained to students, and if so at what age and for what purpose? Explain your answers as part of your discussion.

3) Go to the website: Commonly Used Drugs Charts | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Is there information listed for your drug/drug category?
If yes, look at the resources and share your thoughts and impressions on them.
If no, why do you think that is? Please explain your thinking.

You will need to provide a citation for your sources using APA guidelines. If you are unfamiliar with APA citations please refer to the following website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/08/

Course Project Part 3 (35 points)
The third part of the project involves locating three health-related websites that are sources of information on your drug/drug category. Think about these as sites you would or would not recommend to someone who is looking for information about your drug. One site should be a good source, one should be average, and one should be bad. Please be sure to clearly and specifically define these terms yourself based on your assessment of each site. Please make sure you are using websites and not single articles/items (such as PDFs, dictionary definitions, or blogs). Credit will only be given for sources that are websites. Please do not use Commonly Used Drugs Charts | National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as one of your sites, since we already explored that one in Part II. Wikipedia and similar encyclopedia sites are not acceptable as sources for this research project.
Part III should address the questions and information below, as a discussion, using paragraph format. The submission of bulleted lists or an outline will result in a significant loss of credit.

How difficult was it to find the three websites addressing your drug/category?

For each website, provide the following information in paragraph/discussion format:
Web address
Author
Date the site was last updated
Type of site (i.e. educational, government, commercial, nonprofit)
Audience for whom the site is intended – and why you think so
Quality of site (good, average, bad) – with your definition of each rating
Explanation of why you chose this as either your good, average or bad site

ANSWER

Marijuana Drug Project

Part 1

Background

Marijuana originally evolved in Central Asia before being introduced into Europe, America, and other continents. Marijuana is derived from the Cannabis plant, first used for spiritual, medicinal, and recreational use (Venturelli and Fleckenstein, 2017). Cannabis has had a long history in the United States since it was introduced. Originally, it was first used as a medicinal ingredient and grown as a textile material. According to statistics, marijuana is a commonly used illegal drug in the United States which more than 48.2 million which is about 18 percent of Americans use it at least once. Research has indicated that about 3 in 10 people who use marijuana have experienced marijuana disorder (National Institute of Health, 2021). The reason for choosing this drug for the project is because it’s one of the most commonly used illegal drugs in the U.S among adults and teenagers at the age of 12 years and above.

Ingestion

There are four major ways of ingesting marijuana: oral, inhalation, and sublingual. All these methods of ingestion have unique characteristics that make them appropriate for the users. Inhalation is the fastest and most common method among consumers (Schneider, 2020). Inhalation allows most cannabinoids to get in the body through lungs, where they move directly to the user’s bloodstream, thus causing the immediate effect. There are two ways of inhalation; vaporizing and smoking. Smoking entails burning the flowers and inhaling the components of the plant. Vaporization is almost the same approach, but the flowers are heated to a temperature at which the components are released in the form of vapor which the consumer inhales.

Oral ingestion entails ingesting orally in tinctures, edibles, oils, or capsules. The effect of oral ingestion is slower, but the effects last longer and are stronger than inhalation since a chemical transformation during oral ingestion makes the components stronger. Sublingual entails placing the substance under the tongue and holding it in the mouth. The mouth has several blood vessels that can absorb the cannabinoids.

Mental, Physical and Behavioral Effects of Marijuana

Most people ingest marijuana for self-treat mental health conditions such as mood disorders and anxiety. Consumers have reported that using marijuana relieves several ailments such as sleep difficulties, stress, physical pain, trouble concentrating, anxiety, and depression (Roxanne, 2021). Additionally, marijuana has been associated with social use, which includes using it for socializing, recreation, and generally boosting the quality of life.

When an individual begins to use marijuana in their teen years, they experience challenges in their brain development, including low brain activity, low neural fibers, and low hippocampus, which controls memory and learning functions (Venturelli and Fleckenstein, 2017). Therefore, individual experiences compromised information processing abilities when learning new information and retaining new memory. After smoking marijuana, an individual will encounter physical effects such as more frequent lung illness and increased heart rates. This is because marijuana tends to inflame the lungs, which may cause the same breathing problems as cigarette smokers (Venturelli and Fleckenstein, 2017).

Long-term use of marijuana causes mental illness in some individuals with symptoms such as disorganized thinking, hallucinations, and paranoia. Marijuana has also been linked with low life satisfaction and increased criminal behavior among users. Marijuana users must have perceptual abnormalities and dysfunctional behaviors such as impaired judgment, agitation, euphoria, paranoid ideation, and disruption with personal functioning.

Classification under Controlled Substance Abuse Act

Marijuana is classified under schedule I substance, which means that they have a greater probability of misuse and lacks acknowledged safety under medical regulation. Schedule I drugs are chemicals and substances that are not accepted for medical use and have a high probability of abuse (MedlinePlus, 2021). Schedule I drugs are highly prohibited due to their potential to result in diversion, abuse, addiction, and dependency.

The Scope of in the U.S

Marijuana is the common psychotropic drug in the U.S after Alcohol, with more than 18 percent of Americans reporting using marijuana. Surveys have also shown that marijuana is the most common drug among young adults. The legal and societal landscape regarding Cannabis has changed over the last decades, changing the perceptions, attitudes, and epidemiology of cannabis use (National Institute of Health, 2021). For instance, most states in the U.S have legalized marijuana use, thus leading to increased use. This is because the legalization of marijuana use has changed the attitudes towards Cannabis, making perceptions more accepting. Among the ethnic and racial population groups, the use of marijuana has been greater compared to the white.

The Current Legal Status of the Drug

The current federal law considers marijuana as an illegal drug. However, various states have legalized marijuana for recreational use and medical purpose. After California passed the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes, more states have had laws that conflict with the federal position, with most states legalizing the use of marijuana for recreational and medical use.

Current Events

The current events regarding marijuana have focused on marijuana legalization. Debates on the legalization of marijuana have focused on how it can be used for medical and recreational purposes and contribute to the economy. Considerable controversies have existed regarding the use and legalization of marijuana, with most states continuing to legalize the use of marijuana for medical and recreational use. For instance, Maryland House has approved Cannabis for recreational use. The bill has allowed Marylanders above 21 to possess up to 1.5 ounces of recreational marijuana without penalty.

Part 2-Educational Perspective

Prior to this class, I had little knowledge about marijuana, but now I have more than enough knowledge about marijuana. Some of the knowledge I had acquired from family and peers. My parents always educated us about the detrimental effects of substance use, especially marijuana and alcohol, common among teens. Additionally, I obtained more informational education from social media and friends who used marijuana. I could see how my peers abuse the drug during social events and their behaviors after consuming the drug through social media. My first formal education was during a guidance and counseling session in my junior years. However, the education was mainly on the side effects rather than facts and other relevant information about the drug, such as prevention of usage rather than just informing us about the drug and its side effects. For most of my peers, these sessions had no consequence or effect on them using the drug. Adopting education programs that focus on the scope of use, the effects on physical and mental development, and ways through which an individual can avoid the use of marijuana would be impactful.

The most surprising thing I learned about marijuana from the textbook is the physiological effects of marijuana use which include the effects on the brain cells, the central nervous system, cardiovascular system, and respiratory system. Students need to learn about the effects of marijuana on brain cells and how it impacts memory and learning functions. The brain development effects were the most remarkable education about the drug. Educating students about the effects of marijuana on the brain cells would play a great role in reducing the desire to consume the drug. Education them about the effects of the drug gives them the liberty to choose whether they want to consume it or not.

Commonly Used Drugs Charts

Marijuana has been listed in the drug category as one of the most commonly used drugs ((National Institute of Health, 2021). The information on the website is valuable since it begins with general information about the drug, such as the common forms of marijuana, DEA schedule, and common ingestion methods. The website further focuses on the possible health impacts with close details on the long-term and short-term effects. Finally, it highlights the treatment options such as behavioral therapies and medications. The information was useful since it focuses on the dangers and risks and addresses the treatment options for those who have already consumed the drug.

Part 3-Health related websites

The greatest challenge in finding websites is that there are many good websites with abundant information, making it difficult to differentiate a resourceful website from a resourceful website. However, the most appropriate way to differentiate a good website from a bad website was the source of information, the structure, and how often the website was being updated.

National Institute on Drug Abuse

The National Institute on Drug Abuse website was the most resourceful website with the article: https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana, which research report on marijuana drug facts. The website offers scientific research on drug use and its impacts on users and knowledge that individuals can rely on to improve their personal and public health. The website was last updated in February 2022, which makes it a more resourceful source of information. The website is an educational website that offers research information about drug facts. The website targets the general public as their audience since they are intended to create more awareness about drug use. The website quality is good since it offers resourceful information.

Medline Plus

The second most resourceful website was Medline Plus with the article on marijuana: https://medlineplus.gov/marijuana.html. The website gives the latest public health information from the center for disease control and prevention (MedlinePlus, 2021). The website was last updated in February 2022. Medline Plus is an educational website that offers the latest health research and public health information. The information on the website is intended for patients and families. The website quality is average with various links such as the summary of the drug, usage, diagnosis, therapies, and research updated information about drugs.

Medicinenet

The last website where information regarding marijuana was obtained was from Medicinenet through the article: https://www.medicinenet.com/marijuana/article.htm, which offered information on the facts of marijuana (Roxanne, 2021). The website is targeted at patients that require counseling or have addiction problems. The quality of the website is bad since it fails to give detailed information and facts on marijuana. The website was last updated in 2020, which shows that most of the information on the websites is outdated compared to other websites.

References

MedlinePlus (2021). Marijuana. MedlinePlus. U.S. National Library of Medicine. Available at: https://medlineplus.gov/marijuana.html

National Institute of Health. (2021). Marijuana DrugFacts. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at: https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/marijuana

Roxanne Dryden-Edwards, M. D. (2021, December 23). Marijuana (Cannabis) effects on brain and body, treatment & symptoms. MedicineNet. Available at: https://www.medicinenet.com/marijuana/article.htm

Schneider, M. M. (2020). Current Trends in Marijuana Methods of Ingestion and Associated Problems Among Young Adult Marijuana Users. The University of Northern Colorado.

Venturelli, P. J., & Fleckenstein, A. E. (2017). Drugs and Society. Jones & Bartlett Learning.