I love to teach, and my goal is to teach you about psychoactive drugs, the brain, and a bit about yourself and other humans in as comprehensive and engaging a manner as I can. The material we will cover is applicable to everyone wherever you fall on the spectrum of abstinence to addiction. This material is relevant to history, politics, pop culture, art movements, etc. which makes this a really fun course to teach! Hopefully you will work hard and have fun along with me.
The foundational knowledge you will learn in this course is:
- pharmacokinetics
- synaptic action
- brain systems
- behavior
- health/addiction
- medical application
- legal status
Applied to a range of psychoactive drugs including:
- depressants
- stimulants
- opioids/narcotic analgesics
- hallucinogens
- inhalants
- cannabis
- other psychoactive agents
With this foundational knowledge, students will be able to:
- Explain ways that specific psychoactive drugs affect thinking, behavior, perceptions, and emotions.
- Relate the effects of specific psychoactive drugs to the brain at the synaptic and systems level
- Identify the potential therapeutic benefits of specific psychoactive drugs
- Identify the potential adverse consequences of psychoactive drug use, abuse, and addiction
- Discuss, support, and/or critique definitions of abuse, dependence, and addiction
- Provide evidence-based critiques/support for current legal status of specific psychoactive drugs
- Express awareness and provide cogent analysis of the cultural role that psychoactive drugs play in contemporary and historical contexts