Many of the drugs that we will cover in this course have serious risks and long-term side-effects. Efforts in the DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) and similar programs tried unsuccessfully to discourage drug use in children and young adults. These programs often were based on scare tactics and only highlighted the dangerous parts of drug use which teens found to be disingenuous. The goal here is to create informative and honest content to educate young adults about a potentially dangerous drug – this project should not ignore the desired effects and should focus on how a drug influences their brains and bodies.
Potential Drugs for Presentation: Heroin, Fentanyl, Cocaine, Methamphetamine, Adderall
The presentation should cover the following points:
• How does the drug work?
• What are the risks (from a biological lens)? **This is the biggest section for this project**
• Are there long-term health effects?
• What do you do in case of addiction and/or overdose?
DETAILS FOR PROJECT:
Create a presentation tailored to a general audience and NOT an expert in the drug you choose.
• Include a brief summary (1-2 slides or equivalent) on the drug and its mechanism of action. The majority of your presentation should NOT come from the video lectures from the course, but from independent research and should include a minimum of 3 studies from the primary literature (USE PUBMED AS A RESOURCE FOR LITERATURE)that support your presentation. 25% of the project will be based on accessibility to a non-expert, creativity and keeping the interest of your audience!
• Create a script for me to record a video (maximum of 12 minutes) to cover the basic information about the drug and the questions listed for each project (see above). The video should be accompanied by visual aids (e.g. powerpoint slides, whiteboard drawings, etc). Please be as creative as possible!
