There are 11 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction: A history of the use and misuse of drugs in society
2. Effects of drugs on the individual and society
3. Legally restricted drugs: Stimulants and narcotics
4. Legally restricted drugs: Hallucinogens and marijuana
5. Legally restricted drugs: Steroids
6. Legal drugs: Alcohol
7. Legal drugs: Tobacco, caffeine and solvents
8. Prescription and over-the-counter drugs
9. Sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs
10. Prescription drugs for schizophrenia and affective disorders
11. Treatment and preventative education

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

• Understand the origins and changes in drug use in society;
• Identify patterns of drug-taking behaviour;
• Identify social, psychological and physical consequences of drug-taking on the individual;
• Understand the effects of stimulants and narcotics on the individual;
• Understand the effects of hallucinogens and marijuana on the individual;
• Understand the effects of anabolic steroids on the individual;
• Determine health and behavioural outcomes of alcohol use and mis-use;
• Determine health and behavioural outcomes of nicotine, caffeine and solvent use and misuse;
• Understand the effects of the major categories of OTC drugs and prescription regulations;
• Understand the effects of sedatives and anti-anxiety drugs on the brain and behaviour;

• Explain through case studies the difference between drug abuse and drug misuse;
• Explain through examples the difference between recreational and instrumental drug-taking;
• Describe major changes in drug taking behaviour from the nineteenth century to the twentieth century;
• Investigate why some people are more likely than others to engage in drug abuse behaviour;
• Contrast the difference of attitudes to drug taking between cultures;
• Differentiate between drug tolerance and behavioural tolerance;
• Differentiate between physical and psychological drug dependence;
• Describe factors contributing to physiological effects of a drug on the body;
• Learn how psychoactive drugs affect neurotransmitters;
• Consider how personal expectations influence the effects of drug taking;
• Learn how cocaine affects the mind and body;
• List side effects of long and short-term amphetamine use;
• Explain how to treat cocaine and amphetamine users;
• Explain how heroin affects the mind and body;
• Describe how narcotics been used successfully in medicine;
• Describe how opiates affect the brain;