Drug
Contents
Key Stage 2
Meaning
A drug is something that affects the way the body works.
About Drugs
- Drugs can be medicine to make us better or they can be harmful.
- All drugs have side effects.
- Drugs can change the way you think and make you do things you wouldn't normally.
- The drugs we take that are not medicine are:
Examples
| Alcohol | Caffeine | Nicotine |
 |
 |
 |
| Alcohol changes the way you think. It slows your reactions and also makes you more confident. This causes you to be clumsy and make mistakes. Too much alcohol damages your liver. | Caffeine speeds up your reactions, makes your heart beat faster and makes you feel more awake when you're tired. | Smoking causes you to feel more relaxed and calm but also makes you feel more alert. Nicotine in cigarettes is very addictive making it difficult to quit. Over a long time smoking can lead to breathing problems and eventually lung cancer. |
Key Stage 3
Meaning
A drug is a chemical that affects the way the body works.
About Drugs
- Drugs can be medicine to make us better or they can be harmful.
- All drugs have side effects.
- Drugs can change the way you think and make you do things you wouldn't normally.
Medicine
Some common medicine types you may have heard of:
- Pain Killers - They can reduce pain or even make it go away.
- Antibiotics - They weaken bacteria when you have an infection.
- Antihistamines - They reduce the symptoms of hayfever.
Legal Drugs
The legal drugs we take that are not medicine are:
- Alcohol - Slows your reactions and makes you over confident.
- Caffeine - Speeds up your reaction speed.
- Nicotine - Makes you feel relaxed but speeds up your heart rate.
Illegal Drugs
Some dangerous illegal drugs that you may have heard of:
- Cannabis - Can make you feel happy or paranoid but makes you lazy and can lead to psychosis.
- Cocaine - Speeds up your reactions and makes you more confident but is extremely addictive, makes you feel depressed when you don't have any and damages the blood vessels that it touches leading the tissue in the affected area to die. It can lead to the loss of teeth, disintegration of the nose and can cause the bones in the face to crumble.
- Heroin - Makes you feel happy and sleepy but is extremely addictive, makes you feel depressed when you don't have it, can lead to infections that need amputation and spreads diseases like HIV.
- LSD - Gives you hallucinations that can seem amusing or can seem very scary. Hallucinations might include: Thinking you're invincible so you walk into traffic on the motorway. Believing spiders are chasing you and jumping out of a window to escape them. Feeling constantly thirsty and drinking so much water that it kills you.
- These drugs are illegal because they are so much more dangerous than caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. What makes them even worse is that the people that sell them may have added other ingredients that can be even more harmful.
Key Stage 4
Meaning
A drug is a chemical which affects the metabolic processes which take place in cells.
About Drugs
- Drugs used in the treatment of disease are called medicines.
- Drugs fit into several categories:
- Painkillers - Reduce the sensation of pain.
- Hallucinogens - Cause the user to see, hear and feel things which are not real.
- Narcotics - Any drug which makes the user feel sleepy.
- Stimulant - A drug which decreases reaction time making the user appear faster.
- Depressant - A drug which increases reaction time making the user appear slower.
- Medicinal Drugs - Any drug taken to improve health.
Medicine
Some common medicine types you may have heard of:
- Pain Killers - They can reduce pain or even make it go away.
- Antibiotics - They weaken bacteria when you have an infection.
- Antihistamines - They reduce the symptoms of hayfever.
Legal Drugs
The legal drugs we take that are not medicine are:
- Alcohol - Slows your reactions and makes you over confident.
- Caffeine - Speeds up your reaction speed.
- Nicotine - Makes you feel relaxed but speeds up your heart rate.
Illegal Drugs
Some dangerous illegal drugs that you may have heard of:
- Cannabis - Can make you feel happy or paranoid but makes you lazy and can lead to psychosis.
- Cocaine - Is a stimulant and makes you feel more confident but is extremely addictive, makes you feel depressed afterwards and damages the blood vessels that it touches leading the tissue in the affected area to die. It can lead to the loss of teeth, disintegration of the nose and can cause the bones in the face to crumble.
- Heroin - Makes you feel happy and sleepy but is extremely addictive, makes you feel depressed when you don't have it, can lead to infections that need amputation and spreads diseases like HIV.
- LSD - Gives you hallucinations that can seem amusing or can seem very scary. Hallucinations might include: Thinking you're invincible so you walk into traffic on the motorway. Believing spiders are chasing you and jumping out of a window to escape them. Feeling constantly thirsty and drinking so much water that it kills you.
- These drugs are illegal because they are so much more dangerous than caffeine, alcohol and nicotine. What makes them even worse is that the people that sell them may have added other ingredients that can be even more harmful.
References
AQA
- Drug, pages 128-9, 156, GCSE Biology; Student Book, Collins, AQA
- Drug; efficacy, page 156, GCSE Biology; Student Book, Collins, AQA
- Drugs, page 269, GCSE Chemistry; Student Book, Collins, AQA
- Drugs, page 88, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy 1, Hodder, AQA
- Drugs, pages 134, 135, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy; Biology, CGP, AQA
- Drugs, pages 140, 141, GCSE Biology, CGP, AQA
- Drugs, pages 48, 49, GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Drugs, pages 51, 52, GCSE Biology; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Drugs, pages 90-3, GCSE Biology, Hodder, AQA
- Drugs; antibiotics, pages 88-9, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy 1, Hodder, AQA
- Drugs; development of, page 49, GCSE Combined Science; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Drugs; development of, page 52, GCSE Biology; The Revision Guide, CGP, AQA
- Drugs; discovery and development of, pages 90-1, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy 1, Hodder, AQA
- Drugs; painkillers, page 90, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy 1, Hodder, AQA
- Drugs; testing, page 137, 138, GCSE Combined Science Trilogy; Biology, CGP, AQA
- Drugs; testing, pages 143, 144, GCSE Biology, CGP, AQA
Edexcel
- Drugs, page 71, GCSE Combined Science, Pearson Edexcel
- Drugs, page 99, GCSE Biology, Pearson, Edexcel