Lesson video

Thank you for joining me, in today's lesson which is all about recreational drug use.

We will be talking about the risks, the legal ramifications, and the effects of specific recreational drugs and recreational drugs in general throughout the course of this unit.

My name is Mrs. O'Neill.

Let's get started on today's lesson.

So this lesson does deal with aspects of drugs education.

And if that's sensitive to you, you might wish to consult to a trusted adult before completing it or have a trusted adult nearby.

You're going to need an exercise book or a piece of paper and a pen in order to complete today's lessons activities.

Our agenda for today, hopefully you've already completed today's introduction quiz.

If you haven't just skip back and do that before continuing with this video.

We're going to talk about the definitions and status in the law of cocaine and heroin.

The effects of those drugs.

The risks, and then I'll direct you to our exit quiz.

Our keywords for today.

Cocaine, a highly addictive drug, which acts as a short-lived central nervous system stimulant and local anaesthetic.

It's extracted from the leaves of the Coca plant and generally taken by the nose.

And crack cocaine is a smokable form of the drug.

Heroin is an opiate drug, highly addictive and usually injected.

So true or false? Both cocaine and heroin are highly addictive.

Please point to the screen now.

Indeed, that is true.

That both highly addictive drugs, medical help and support is available through the NHS for people with addictive, an addiction to these drugs let's look at the status in the law of these drugs.

Now remember the maximum penalties for drug possession, supply, which is selling, dealing, or sharing and production of these drugs would depend on the type or class of the drug.

Now, both cocaine and heroin are class A drugs.

For possessing these drugs there is a maximum punishment of seven years in prison and no limited fine.

For supplying or producing these drugs, the punishment is up to life in prison and or an unlimited fine.

So quite serious penalties there it needs to be taken into consideration before using or before becoming involved in any kind of supply of these drugs.

So, as we've said, both cocaine and heroin are the same class of drug.

Therefore some of the features in the table you see on the screen apply to both cocaine and heroin.

Please pause the video and identify which features apply to both cocaine and heroin and jot those down.

When you've done that, please press play and resume the video, thank you.

Okay, let's have a look and see if you're correct.

So both cocaine and heroin are class A drugs.

Both have a maximum seven year sentence for possession and a maximum life sentence for production and supply.

Well done if you've got those correct.

Let's look at the effects of these drugs.

So the effects of cocaine is powerful and it's a stimulant which speeds up the mind and body.

It can make people feel confident and alert initially but then they may seem also arrogant and aggressive to others.

When it wears off usually after about 30 minutes feelings may include depression, irritability, and a lack of energy, and too much too often will increase those bad effects.

So which of these options is not generally an effect of cocaine? Hunger pangs, feeling alert, seeming arrogant and irritability.

Please point to the screen now.

Hunger pangs, actually hunger pangs is an effect.

Normally we associate with cannabis use, which we covered if you were with us in our last lesson, lesson two of this unit.

True or false? Cocaine can contribute to feelings of confidence? Point to the screen now.

That's true, in the short term yes, but as it wears off, it can lead to increased irritability, lack of energy and depression.

It's a very short-term feeling and there are negative effects that will follow.

Let's look at some of the initial effects of heroin.

So short-term effects of heroin use include short-term euphoria, dry mouth, warm flush skin, arms and legs that feel heavy, upset stomach and vomiting, itching, a fuzzy brain, and switching in and out of drowsiness.

It's important to note, this is not an exhaustive list.

Let's now look at some of the effects of heroin on an ongoing basis.

Long-term heroin use can lead to collapsed veins, insomnia and menstrual problems. Heroin is highly addictive.

Over time the effects of heroin on the brain can cause cravings and strong drives keep on using.

And if it's used on a regular basis the body will build up a tolerance and you'll just have to start taking more and more.

And let me in fact, let me make clear, I'm still talking about what I would perceive as the effects of heroin.

Some of the effects of heroin definitely overlap with risks.

And we're going to talk about the risks in a minute and it is indeed some of the effects of heroin that are indeed really risky.

There is that overlap there to consider.

In your own words, based on what we talked about so far explain the concerning ongoing effects of the drug heroin.

Okay, thank you.

Hopefully you've managed to write a few sentences about the concerning ongoing effects of the drug heroin.

You might have talked about the menstrual problems, the collapsed veins, the addictive, heavily addictive nature of heroin and the tolerance that is built up.

You may have talked about other things as well and you might have from your own knowledge, some knowledge of some of the more intense risks that we're going to go on to talk about in a moment.

And you might have added that in if you've got that prior knowledge already.

So risks.

Risks of both drugs that we are talking about today you can see on the screen.

Both drugs are highly addictive and there is another unit in the Oak RSHE lesson suite all about addiction.

And you can look at those lessons and find out more about addiction in general, if that is of interest to you.

Risks of cocaine.

Risk to the heart, especially if there's any pre-existing health conditions like high blood pressure.

You often hear of people who have died of heart related disease or heart attacks, et cetera.

Who may have a contributing factor maybe cocaine use.

Damage to the cartilage in the nose.

So the cartilage in the nose can be affected.

It can be damaged.

And indeed the septum that skin separates your nostril can actually be eaten away by longterm cocaine use.

Depression and paranoia.

And cocaine is often mixed with another unknown drug or substance when supplied, which makes it dangerous because you would not know what you are taking.

So that is one of the key dangers is that how often it is mixed with other unknown substances.

The risks of heroin.

Overdose, leading to coma and death.

It can be really easy even for long-term users of heroin to overdose.

And as a result, death can occur.

Infections of the heart lining, skin infections, a higher chance of getting HIV/AIDS which will develop from HIV, potentially hepatitis.

And those higher risk of getting those diseases is through and shared needle use, which is something that some users of heroin may resort to particularly with heavy addictions.

Liver, kidney, and lung disease and some mental disorders.

These are not complete lists of the risks involved.

Both drugs are very, very risky and that is why they are class A illegal drugs in order to protect people from those risks.

So I'd like to pause the video.

There are five images on the screen.

Each image matches most predominantly either with cocaine or heroin.

So on your sheets of paper, I'd like to write down the letter of the image and I'd like you to write down which drug that image we would associate with in terms of a risk.

Please pause the video to do that now and press play when complete.

Okay, let's have a look at the answers.

So we have A picture of a nose there that associates with cocaine, because as we talked about the cartilage in the nose can become damaged through long-term use of cocaine.

B, matches heroin.

We can see veins on that image and collapsed veins is one of the effects and risks that we have talked about.

C, we have a blood pressure monitor and we talked about how use of cocaine particularly with a pre-existing condition like high blood pressure can be a heightened health risk.

If someone with that condition is to take cocaine.

D we have a picture there of internal organs with heroin we talked about how diseases of the heart as well as diseases of some of the other organs can occur as a result of heroin use.

And E, I've given this image the category of cocaine, it's represent the anxiety and the depression that can come on the back of use of cocaine.

However, that being said, we did also talk about how heroin can lead also to mental disorders so if you put heroin A, and you put one or either of those drugs or both then I would certainly accept that as correct.

So taking into account all of those risks I would like you to now in your own words, explain the risks of cocaine and heroin.

In a few sentences on your piece of paper or in your exercise book.

Please pause the video to complete that now.

Thank you.

So your final, main activity of today, again, we're trying to bring together everything that we've covered today to reflect on and to try to remember the key facts.

So you go into copy the outline and there's three different branches off the centre cocaine and heroin title you're going to put, so you're going to put the law, risks and effects.

And I'd like you to train up three examples for the law, for risks and for effect of cocaine and heroin.

I started you off here with an effect heroin, vomiting.

Please pause the video to complete this task.

Then press play just to complete the final parts of the lesson.

Okay, so if you need any support at all with drug use, with advice, or you want to know more you can access support through your own school, school nurse, referral, or referral from your school to drug or alcohol services is possible.

You can speak to a trusted adult.

You can call Child line.

If you have a look for the Mix or NSPCC online you will be able to access their services too find out a little bit more about where to access support.

The NHS website has lots of information, all about different types of drugs on where and how to access help.

So please do consult the NHS websites if you need any further information whether that's just because you're interested in finding out more, or whether you yourself, or a friend or family member needs help, and you want to find out how you can point them in the right direction.

Thank you so much for joining me in the series of three lessons on recreational drug use.

This is now the end of the unit.

Of course, there are many other drugs, illegal drugs that you may want to find out more about.

And again, I would point you in the direction of the NHS website.

Thank you so much for joining me.

Hope to see you in another Oak Academy RSAT lesson soon.