Mouse Party

Access the Mouse Party interactive module. Select one mouse, influenced by the drug of your choice, and complete the simulation by viewing all of the relevant slides. Next, perform a web search on the drug you selected and locate additional resources that will help you answer the following:

• Briefly describe why you chose this drug and how many people are estimated to be using/abusing it.
• Explain how the drug influences both the brain and behavior.
• Discuss what you think (if anything) needs to be done to combat addiction to this substance and provide a rationale for your position.

Reminders:

250 words minimum original post. Due by Wednesday with 2 references in APA format

150 words minimum reply post. Due by Sunday.

Respond to a minimum of TWO classmates.

Your discussion post should answer all the questions above. Successful posts will answer each question with specific examples and details from the assigned sources. Excluding citations, posts should be a minimum of 250 words and a maximum of 350 words. Please note that you will not be able to access your classmates’ posts until you yourself have posted. Once you have made your initial post, you will then be able to read and respond to your classmates’ posts. After your initial post, you should respond to at least two classmates’ posts. Successful replies will reference course materials and contribute to new points of discussion. Each reply should be 150 words minimum.

1^st classmate post

Keisha Delaney

I chose Marijuana because according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marijuana is the most commonly used federally illegal drug in the United States, with an estimated 48.2 million people using it in 2019. Another source, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, reported that among people aged 12 or older in 2021, 18.7% (or about 52.5 million people) reported using cannabis in the past 12 months. Additionally, more than 50% of states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have legalized marijuana for medical use and states are increasingly legalizing it for non-medical adult use.

Marijuana use directly affects brain function, specifically the parts of the brain responsible for memory, learning, attention, decision-making, coordination, emotions, and reaction time. The main psychoactive ingredient in marijuana is THC, which stimulates the part of your brain that responds to pleasure, like food and sex. This unleashes a chemical called dopamine, which gives you a euphoric, relaxed feeling. Short-term effects of marijuana use include loss of coordination, slower reactions, altered sense of time, feeling relaxed or anxious, fear, distrust or panic (in some users or when taken in higher doses), increased hunger and faster heart rate.

There are several potential positive effects of using marijuana. Some therapeutic uses of marijuana include its use as an appetite stimulant for patients experiencing anorexia, AIDS, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, as an antiseizure medication to aid in the prevention of seizures in epilepsy patients, and as an antiasthmatic to improve breathing for asthma patients. Additionally, some research suggests that cannabis compounds have been able to halt the growth of tumor cells, indicating a potential use in fighting cancer.

Combating any addiction is a personal choice. It takes courage, determination, and support to overcome addiction. While the decision to seek help and overcome addiction ultimately lies with the individual, support from family, friends, and professionals can be crucial in helping someone successfully recover from addiction. There are several ways to combat addiction to marijuana. Addiction treatment providers may use several behavioral treatments to help those struggling with marijuana use, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy and contingency management. Some tips for quitting marijuana include changing your environment, setting goals, deciding on an approach (such as quitting cold turkey or tapering use), being prepared for withdrawal symptoms, keeping yourself busy, and exercising daily. It’s important to note that everyone’s journey to recovery is different and what works for one person may not work for another. Seeking professional help from a substance abuse treatment provider can be helpful in finding the right approach for you.

2nd classmate post

Darice Tillman

According to FHE Health Cocaine is the third most-used illicit drug in the United States and number two in the rest of the world. In the United States, fifteen percent of the people have reported they used cocaine a least once in their lives, and about two percent say they used cocaine a least once in the past year.

I chose this particular drug because I wanted to be more aware of how harmful the drug is. I have witnessed people use cocaine and saw how addictive the drug was, and watching the video on how the mouse responded at the mouse party intrigued me to further research the drug.

Cocaine is a powerful addictive stimulant that directly affects the brain. Scientists have discovered regions within the brain that when stimulated, produce feelings of pleasure. When cocaine was first developed, the drug was used medicinally to treat conditions, such as cholera and fatigue. Cocaine is still used in limited medical settings, marketed under the name cocaine hydrochloride which is a topical anesthetic. Cocaine increases stress hormones like cortisol in the brain, Cocaine may also cause damage to the heart by elevating a person’s blood pressure permanently, which will cause issues with the cardiovascular system.

Cocaine can be snorted as a powder, smoked as a rock, injected, or swallowed. Cocaine is a very expensive habit; a heavy cocaine user can buy a gram a day and spend close to fifty thousand dollars a year on their habit. During the 1980s and the 1990s cocaine was labeled as a drug. Although cocaine had been around before the 1980s, 1990’s era it became well-known due to its popularity at that time.

Find the right drug or alcohol abuse treatment program with the Substance Abuse Treatment Facility Locator, this is an example of an organization that may assist with help with any type of substance abuse. I am not sure if it is a way to get rid of cocaine in the United States, so I suggest staying as far from this drug as possible.