SFUSD Marijuana & Drug Education Strategies December 9, 2009.

SFUSDMarijuana &

Drug Education Strategies

December 9, 2009

Getting kids to think

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Goals of drug education

• Think more deeply about the issues• Make a more informed decision• Have a positive influence on their behavior• Know that adults care and will respond• Identify kids needing help• Delay initial usage or retard usage

•Two Issues to remember w/ the adolescent brain

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Adolescent Brain Adult Brain

•Use it or Lose it

•Hard Wiring

The Developing Adolescent BrainPruning & Mylenation

How do we reach them?

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How people learn

and Knowledge

Prior Experience

Thought

Emotions

Heart

Establish credibility (Authenticity & Knowledge)

Create a resilient learning environment (expectations, caring, and participation)

Present a non-judgmental approach Stimulate discussion and serious thought,

weaving in information

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Process

Develop Credibility

•AuthenticityHave you smoked weed?

•NonjudgmentalWhat’s so bad about weed?

I’m against usage before 18 because of the immediate threats to health and welfare; disruption of the natural ecology of the brain; interference with learning the developmental tasks of dealing with boredom; stress, good times; school success; social skills and identity

I will not teach through these biases but I will share these judgments if asked

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My bias

Discuss in groups What are your biases, judgments, and thoughts about marijuana

Tetrahydrocannibinol• Hippies 1-3% THC Cannabis Sativa

cost $5-$10/ounce• Vietnam 5-10% THC Cannabis

Indica cost $5-$10/ gram• Sensimilla 10-15% THC Grown

without seeds• Purple 15-20% THC Northern

California Horticulture (Indoors)

The Brain and Cannabinoid Sites• Nucleus Accumbens• Hippocampus• Cerebellum• Amygdi

Or how we trick the brain


Sketch the synaptic space

ACOE Ralph Cantor 18www.drugabuse.gov

The power of Dopamine• Loss of dopamine• Dulling of pleasure center • Training the brain• Genetics• Difference between dopamine and Serotonin• Wizard of Oz

• Dopamine produces a feeling of pleasure • Serotonin produces a feeling of well being• Difference between pleasure and happiness• Developing skills, interest, relationships,

meaning (“getting a life”)• Wizard of Oz


Dopamine vs. Serotonin


Reward System

The reward system is responsible for seeking natural rewards that have survival valueseeking food, water, sex,

and nurturingDopamine is this system’s

primary neurotransmitter

reward

Hippocampus, say what?

• Retrieves relevant information• Stores new info it deems relevant

• Gateway between short term and long term memory

• Draws information from long term memory• Discriminates relevant new information• Trashes unimportant information• Stores new information in long term memory


Hippocampus


Amygdala (uh mig' dull uh)

• Assigns emotional relevance to our experiences and emotional connectedness to others.

• Feeling of familiarity• Novel events awaken

interest.• Regulation of fear • Feeling of awe…wow• Suckling


Dumb Down Effect• After smoking the student sense of novelty diminished. Not

excited by a new idea in class.“School is boring. Nothing interesting happens here. I can’t wait to get out of class and smoke a joint.”

• Athlete, day after, amygdala is sluggish, unable to respond quick enough to new move of opponent. One half step can make a difference. He/she has lost their edge and maybe the game.

• Airline pilots

Cerebellum• Controls internal and external

coordination

• THC and resin• Damage to cilia• Viewing the bronchi• Marijuana/tobacco connection• Blunts• The power of nicotine and endorphins


The Lungs


Aftermath of THCNext day after smoking Marijuana• Calming followed by• Irritability• Fascination by• Boredom• Sensory enhancement by• Feeling flat• Loss of short term memory• Lingering lack of clarity, can cloud a persons view of the real world.• Awe by• Spiritual depletion


Pleasure Scale

PleasurePleasure

“I feel good”“I feel good”

BoredBored

AnhedoniaAnhedonia

InterestedInterested

“I feel negative”“I feel negative”

NORMAL RANGENORMAL RANGE

DysphoriaDysphoria EuphoriaEuphoria

How well does the drug work?

How well does the drug work

Positive and Negative ReinforcementIf, in addition to producing pleasure (positive reinforcement), a drug is more addicting, if it relieves negative states: boredom, anxiety, depression or stress (negative reinforcement).


Risk of addiction


From first use to dependence

First use to “FEEL GOOD”

Some continue to compulsively use because of the reinforcing effects (e.g., to “FEEL NORMAL”)

Changes occur in the “reward system” that promote continued use


• Upsets balance and chemistry of the brain• Learning impaired • Ultimately producing opposite results • Gateway to cigarettes• Developing adolescent brain Prefrontal

Cortex, Pruning and Neuroadaptation

Concerns with Marijuana


• Non-Use is as Normal as Experimental Use • It’s not donuts – it changes brain chemistry• Use = Risk• Risk is not Evenly Distributed• Addiction is Real• Quality of Life can be diminished even without

developing addiction• Motivations for Initial vs. Continuing Use are always

different• Educate with integrity, knowledge and clarity

The Message

•What information particularly seemed useful

(process and content) ACOE Ralph Cantor 38

Groups of Three

Ralph Cantor510-653-9410

[email protected]

Contact Information

mailto:[email protected]

SFUSD Marijuana & Drug Education Strategies December 9, 2009.

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Transcript of SFUSD Marijuana & Drug Education Strategies December 9, 2009.