Drug Identification and Recognition: Depressants, Antidepressants, and Inhalants

Course Overview: Drug Identification and Recognition: Depressants, Antidepressants and Inhalants, an eLearning course in a series of Drug Identification modules, explores commonly abused depressants, sedatives, antidepressants, and inhalants. The other courses in this series include Stimulants, The Opioid Crisis in America, Hallucinogens, and Dissociative Anesthetics.

As reported by the US Surgeon General in 2015, 1.5 million Americans aged 12 or older reported misusing sedatives in the past year. Furthermore, 6.1 million individuals reported misusing tranquilizers such as Xanax®. Especially concerning, many of these individuals mix sedatives and/or tranquilizers with alcohol, a depressant in its own right. This risky behavior increases the potential for overdose which can occur when critical areas in the brain that control breathing, heart rate, and body temperature stop functioning.

The learning modules explore current trends relating to these substances, examine side effects and symptoms of abuse, discuss the synergistic effects of depressants mixed with alcohol, and review common and household items used for inhalant properties. Key topics in this course include muscle relaxers, GHB, solvents, interactions with alcohol, and the growing use among younger populations.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify commonly abused depressants, sedatives, antidepressants, and inhalants
• Discuss the current trends relating to these substances
• Summarize the side effects and/or symptoms of abuse for depressants, antidepressants, sedatives, and inhalants
• Describe the synergistic effect that occurs when depressants are mixed with alcohol
• Identify the household and other common items that are used for their inhalant properties

Target Audience: Law enforcement, criminal justice professionals, service providers, corrections professionals, court system personnel, social workers, behavioral health/treatment providers, and other community stakeholders.

Cooperative Partners: This tuition-free online training was developed by the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2017-CK-WXK-007 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Learning Hours: 1 hour including the pre-test and post-test.

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