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Addiction Info Staying Drug Free
Addiction Info Staying Drug Free
Glossary | |
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| There are 109 entries in the glossary. | |
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| Term | Definition |
| CNS | Central Nervous System |
| CNS depressants |
A class of drugs that slow CNS
function, some of which are used to treat anxiety and sleeping disorders; includes
barbiturates and benzodiazepines. |
| Coca | The plant, Erythroxylon, from which cocaine is derived. Also refers to the leaves of this plant. |
| Cocaine | A highly addictive stimulant drug derived from the cocoa plant that produces feelings of euphoria. Also see Crack. |
| Codeine | A natural opioid compound that is a relatively weak, but still effective, opiate analgesic. It has also been used to treat other problems (e.g., to relieve coughing). |
| Crack Cocaine | A chemically altered form of cocaine that is smoked. |
| Craving | A powerful, often uncontrollable desire for drugs. |
| Dendrite | The specialized branches that extend from a neuron's cell body and function to receive messages from other neurons. |
| Denial | Unconsciously refusing to admit that someone is addicted. Denial occurs among addicts themselves and among those who are close to them. |
| Depressants | Drugs that relieve anxiety and produce sleep. Depressants include barbiturates, benzodiazepines, and alcohol. |
| Designer drug | An illegally manufactured chemical whose molecular structure is altered slightly from a parent compound to enhance specific effects. Examples include DMT, DMA, DOM, MDA and MDMA (ecstasy) |
| Dopamine | A brain chemical, classified as a neurotransmitter,found in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, motivation, and pleasure. |
| Drug | Any substance, other than food, that changes the function or structure of the body or mind when ingested. Drugs essentially are poisons. The degree they are taken determines the effect. A small amount acts as a stimulant. A greater amount acts as a sedative. A larger amount acts as a poison and can kill one dead. This is true of any drug. Each has a different amount at which it gives those results. |
| Drug abuse | The use of illegal drugs or the inappropriate use of legal drugs. The repeated use of drugs to produce pleasure, to alleviate stress, or to alter or avoid reality - or all three. |
| Drug-free treatment | A approach to helping addicts recover from addiction without the use of medication. |
| Ecstasy | Ecstasy (MDMA) A chemically modified amphetamine that has hallucinogenic as well as stimulant properties. |
| Enzyme | Enzymes are complex proteins that cause a specific chemical change in other substances, without being changed themselves. |
| Ethanol (Ethyl Alcohol) | Ethanol is the member of the alcohol series of chemicals which is used in alcoholic beverages. It is less toxic than other members of this series, but it is a central nervous system depressant and has a high abuse potential. |
| Glucose | A simple sugar that the brain uses as its major source of energy. |
| Habilitate | The process of teaching the skills needed for successful living. Habilitation helps people recover from addiction by teaching life skills that were never learned because drug use interfered with the learning and maturation process. Habilitation is especially important for addicts who started drug use young. |
| Habituation | The result of repeated consumption of a drug which produces psychological but no physical dependence. The psychological dependence produces a desire (not a compulsion) to continue taking drugs for the sense of improved well-being. |
| Hallucinations | Perceptions of something (such as a visual image or a sound) that does not really exist. Hallucinations usually arise from a disorder of the nervous system or in response to drugs (such as LSD). |
| Hallucinogens |
A diverse group of drugs that alter
perceptions, thoughts and feelings. Hallucinogens do not always produce
hallucinations. These drugs include LSD, mescaline, MDMA (ecstasy), PCP, and
psilocybin (magic mushrooms). |
| Hashish | The concentrated resin of the marijuana plant. |
| Hepatitis | Inflammation of the liver. |
| Glossary V2.0 | |
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