KENDRIYA VIDYALAYA, IIT

CHENNAI 600036

BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

DRUG ADDICTION
2017-18

SUBMITTED BY:

MAHESH WARAN V

XII A CBSE Roll

No. -

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 Certificate
This is to certify that this Biology
Investigatory Project on the topic Drug
Addiction has been successfully completed by
Mahesh of class XII A under the guidance
of Ms.Vedapathi in particular fulfilment of
the curriculum of Central Board of
Secondary Education {CBSE} leading to the
award of annual examination of the year
2017-18.

Teacher-In-Charge External Examiner

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 Acknowledgements
I have taken efforts in this project. However, it would not
have been possible without the kind support and help of
many individuals.

I would like to thank my principal Dr.N.Manikaswamy

and school for providing me with facilities required to do
my project.

I am highly indebted to my Biology teacher, Ms.Vedapathi,

for her invaluable guidance which has sustained my efforts
in all the stages of this project work.

I would also like to thank my parents for their continuous

support and encouragement.

My thanks and appreciations also go to my fellow

classmates and the laboratory assistant in developing the
project and to the people who have willingly helped me out
with their abilities.

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 Index
S.No. Content Page
No.
Certificate/bon 2
afide
2. Aim/Objective 6

3. Project Report on Drugs Dependence 7

4. Introduction to "drugs addiction" 8

5. Classification of Drugs 9

6. Combinations of Drugs and Alcohol 10

7. How does drug addiction begin? 11

8. Social Disease 12
Use of Drugs
9. Tobacco 13

10. Alcohol 15

11. Conclusion 17

12. Bibliography 17
14. End of project 18

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5
 Objective

To study drugs, their

classification, addictive
nature, and prevention from
addiction.

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Project Report on Drugs

Dependence

Drugs are prescribed by physicians for the prevention

or treatment of diseases, or for increasing the physical
and mental performance and are withdrawn as soon as
the desired effect is achieved. Repeated use of certain
drugs on a periodic or continuous basis may make the
body dependence. Such drugs are called psychotropic
drugs. They act on the brain and alter behavior,
consciousness, and capacity of perception. Hence, they
are also termed mood-altering drugs. Some people start
taking drugs without medical advice due to one reason
or the other and become drugs dependent.

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 INTRODUCTION TO

"DRUGS ADDICTION"

Drug Addiction phrase is made by two words:

(I) Drug
(II) Addiction.

What is meant by a drug?

Any substance, other than food, used in the prevention, diagnosis, all
aviation or treatment of a disease is called a drug. A drug may also be
defined as a chemical which, when taken in some way after the body
function. The drug is also known as a medicine. Generally, the term drugs
applied to any stimulating or depressing substance that can be habituating
or addictive.

Meaning of Addiction
Addiction is the habitual, psychological and physiological dependence on
a substance or practice. Which is beyond voluntary control. A person who
is habituated to a substance or a practice, especially a harmful one, is called
an addict.

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Classification of Drugs
There are a large number of drugs on which people become dependent.
These are classified into four major groups: sedatives and tranquilizers,
opiate narcotics, stimulants and hallucinogens.

Type of Drug Examples Effect

Sedatives and Barbiturates, Depress CNS activity
Tranquillizers Benzodiazepines give a feeling of
Calmness,
relaxation,
drowsiness.

Opiate Narcotics Opium, Morphine,

Suppress brain
Codeine, Heroin
activity relaxed
pain.
Stimulants Amphetamines, Make a person more
Caffeine, Cocaine wakeful,
alert and active,
cause excitement.

Hallucinogens LSQ, Mescalin, Alter thoughts,

psilocybin, feeling, and
Ganja, Charas, perceptions.
Hashish.

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 Combinations of Drugs and

Alcohol

Some addicts use mixtures of drugs to have immediate kid or charge.

Simultaneous use of drug and alcohol may produce dangerous effects,
including death. When barbiturates and alcohol are taken together, each
doubles the effect of the other. A mixture of cocaine and heroin called
speedball gives a spontaneous kick of cocaine and prolonged pleasure of
heroin.
Combination Effect
1. Alcohol + Barbiturates Markedly increased the
depressant effect.
2. Alcohol + Antihistamines Marked drowsiness
3. Alcohol + Valium Dramatically increases sedative
effect.
4. Alcohol + Marijuana or Decreased coordination
Hashish increased reaction time
Impaired judgment.
5. Alcohol + Aspirin Increased changes of damage to
gastric mucosa.

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 How does drug

addiction begin?

There are many factors that lead people to drug addiction.

1. Curiosity: Frequent references to drugs by public media create
curiosity for having a personal experience of the drugs.
2. Fr iends pr essur e : Frequent appreciation of drug experience
by friends allures others to start the use of drugs.
3. Frustration and Depression: Some people start taking drugs to
get relief from frustration and depression.
4. The desire for More Work: Students sometimes take drugs to
keep awake the whole night to prepare for the examination. It is not
desirable as it may cause a mental breakdown.
5. Looking for a Different World: A wrong notion that the drugs
open up a new world tempts some young octets to start taking-drugs.
6. Relief from Pain: A prolonged use of pain-relieving drugs with
physicians advice at times leads to addiction.
7. Family History: Children may take to drugs by seeing their elders
in the family.
8. Excitement and Adventure: The young take to drugs to satisfy
their instinct for excitement and adventure.

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 Social Disease - Smoking,

Drinking, and Use of Drugs

Smoking and drinking and use of drugs frequently or

regularly are social diseases. They adversely affect the health
of the addicts and the society. Young people take to these
habits for fun, show off or curiosity, as an adventure or
feeling of freedom, or as a gesture of defiance against the
elders who themselves indulge in these activities but check
the youngsters. Other factors that make people take to these
vices are the inability to face problems of life indifference
shown by members of the family and encouragement or
pressure by friends. A temporary escape from the life
problems and mental relaxation felt on taking the drugs in
the beginning increase persons interest in them. Soon they
become habitual and find in difficult to leave. The daily dose
to get the desired effect increases with time.
As in other countries, the menace of drug addiction is
spreading in India also. A large number of our young men
and women have taken to intoxicants. About 87.6 per cent
drug addicts are between the ages of 14 and 25 years.

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 Tobacco
Sources:
It is a native of South Africa, where the
Red Indian first started smoking. Now
the tobacco plant has spread the world
over. It has large, quote to lanceolate
leaves and terminal clusters of tubular, white or pink flowers.
Modes of Use:
Tobacco is used for smoking, chewing and snuffing. Its main
stimulating component is poisonous volatile alkaloid nicotine,
which causes addiction. Nicotine synthesis occurs in the roots of the
plant but it is stored in the leaves. The leaves contain 2 to 8%
nicotine. Inhaling tobacco smoke from cigars, cigarettes, biddies,
pipes and hubble-bubble is called smoking. The cigar is a roll of
tobacco leaf. The cigarette is cut tobacco wrapped in paper. Bidi is
tobacco wrapped. In a piece of leaf. Tobacco smoke is drawn
directly from the pipe and through water is hubble-bubble. Smoking
may give some temporary relief to the strained nerves but in the
long run, it proves a dangerous health hazard. The quantity of
nicotine contained in one cigar may prove fatal if injected
intravenously into a person. When smoked only 10% of the smoke
is inhaled. Hence, no immediate ill effect is observed. Smokers may
develop a physiological craving for nicotine and then they cannot
give up smoking.

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Effect of Nicotine:
Nicotine is a low concentration.
(i) Stimulates conduction of nerve
impulses.
(ii) Relaxes the muscles.
(iii) Releases adrenaline, increasing heart beat rate and pressure.
(iv) Increased blood pressure due to smoking chances the risk of
heart diseases.
(v) Retards foetal growth in expecting mothers and
(vi) Causes tobacco addiction. High concentration of nicotine
paralyzes nerve cells.
Other Harmful components of Tobacco Smoke:
Besides the poisonous nicotine, the tobacco smoke contains carbon-
monoxide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and tar.
Other Effects:
(i) Smoking effects economy: A smoker not only waste money but
also runs the risk of burns and fires.
(ii) Smoking mars personality: Teeth may become stained. Lips may
get discolored and breath becomes foul. A person with a cigarette
hanging from the mouth looks odd.
(iii) Smoking is annoying to others: Cigarette smoke is quite
annoying to non-smokers. It may prove even more harmful to
them. A smoker should avoid smoking. When in the company of
non-smokers. A smoker makes the person nearby persons passive
smokers through inhaling smoke released by him.

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 Alcohol
Sources:
Ethyl alcohol, or ethanol, flammable, colorless liquid having a penetrating
odour and burning taste. It is one of the products of the distillation of
fermented grains, fruit juices and starches with the help of yeast enzymes. It
is the principal constituent and the intoxicating principle of wines.
Modes of Use:
Alcohol is taken in low concentration, as the beer, toddy, and wine and in
relatively high concentration as arrack, brandy, whiskey, rum, gin, vodka
etc.
Addiction:
Addiction to alcohol is called alcoholism. Alcoholics are found in all society
section of society. Alcohol causes intoxication and thus, acts as a poison.
They drinkers begin with small doses, but many of them soon start
consuming large doses and become addicts. By the time they realize that
drinking in adversely affecting them, it is too late to give it up.
Why People Take to Drinking:
The drinkers offer one or more of the following reasons for starting drinking.
(i) Social pressure
(ii) Desire for excitement
(iii) Feeling of independence
(iv) Liking of taste
(v) Desire to escape from such realities of life as disappointments and
failures and
(vi) The desire to offset the hardships and monotony of daily life.

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What happens when Alcohol is
consumed?
Alcohol is quickly absorbed in
the stomach and upper part of
small intestine and reaches all
the tissues in minutes. Its
oxidation starts at once and a
large amount of heat in
produced. Since heat is not
needed in the body, it is taken up by the blood and carried to the skin for
dissipation. Since the receptors of heat are located in the skin, the rush of
blood to the skin gives a false impression of warmth in the body. The blood
supply of internal organs is greatly reduced resulting in fall of temperature
in them. The energy released by alcohol is not used in any life process.
Rather the energy derived from food is used up in ridding the body of excess
heat.
Is Alcohol A Stimulant?
Many people take alcohol for stimulation. Actually, alcohol is a depressant,
a substance which dulls the senses. It reduces the efficiency of every tissue
the body. Any feeling of lift a person may claim to feel is a mistaken
impression or an attempt to justify the act in his own mind.

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 Conclusions
Drug use and addiction cause a lot of disease and disability in the
world. Recent advances in neuroscience may help improve policies
to reduce the harm that the use of tobacco, alcohol and other
psychoactive drugs impose on society.

Bibliography
See H. Abadinsky, Drug Abuse (1989); H. T. Milhorn, Jr., Chemical
Dependence (1990); D. Baum, Smoke and Mirrors: The War on Drugs and
the Politics of Failure (1996); M. Massing, The Fix (1998); J. Jonnes,
Hepcats, Narcs, and Pipe Dreams: A History of America's Romance with
Illegal Drugs (1999); publications of the Drugs & Crime Data Center and
Clearinghouse, the Bureau of Justice Statistics Clearinghouse, and the
National Clearinghouse for Alcohol and Drug Information.
NCERT Class 12 Lab Manual
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.google.co.in
https://www.scribd.com
https://www.slideshare.com
Class 12 NCERT Textbook
Reference articles from various blogs.

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End of
Project
Thank you!
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