Assignment Task:
Submit a 2-page reflection on the Myths and Facts activity. In your reflection:
Identify at least one myth that you had previously believed to be true. Is it challenging for you to now accept the true information, and why?
Describe the information on which you based your answers (e.g., prior knowledge, past experiences, media portrayals).
Explain how you plan on ensuring your information is accurate as a social worker. Need Assignment Help?
Exploring Myths and Facts:
In the following three activities, you will encounter statements pertaining to substances, substance use disorders, and treatment. Some of the statements are myths that have persisted in society due to false information, conjecture, and bias, and others are facts based on evidence. Read each statement and determine whether you believe it to be myth or fact. Then, read the accompanying explanation.
Activity 1: Substance Use Disorders and Treatment
People with substance use disorders must hit "rock bottom" before they can be helped.
Myth. People with substance use disorders can meaningfully engage in treatment and recovery at any stage of their journey.
You can tell if someone has a substance use disorder just by looking at them. Myth. People with substance use disorders do not have one specific or obvious "look." It can also impact anyone, including professionals who are high functioning.
A person with alcohol use disorder must abstain for life or they will relapse.
Myth. Some individuals with alcohol use disorder can drink in limited quantities without relapsing into active addiction.
The abstinence approach is not necessarily the most effective treatment option.
Fact. The abstinence approach works for some-but not all-people with substance use disorders. Other approaches such as controlled drinking or harm reduction, paired with therapy, can be effective.
Activity 2: Cannabis, Nicotine, and Inhalants
Use of cannabis leads to harder drugs (it is a "gateway drug").
Myth. Cannabis use does not always lead to other, illegal drug use.
Vaping can be as addictive as cigarette smoking.
Fact. Both vaping and cigarette smoking contain nicotine, which is an addictive substance.
Sniffing glue or huffing paint is relatively harmless compared to doing "real" drugs.
Myth. Sniffing glue, huffing paint, and inhaling other household chemicals affect the brain just as illegal drugs do and therefore pose similar risks for harm.
Because cannabis is natural, it is less addictive than other drugs.
Myth. Though cannabis is a natural herb, it is still an addictive substance and poses the same risk for dependency as pharmaceutically derived substances.
Rates of tobacco use among children and adolescents remain high.
Fact. Tobacco restrictions might create the illusion of use rates going down among children and adolescents. However, these rates remain high, partially due to new methods through which to smoke tobacco (e.g., vaping).
Activity 3: Heroin, Cocaine, Amphetamines, and Prescription Drugs
People who try heroin will typically become addicted.
Myth. Not everyone who tries heroin becomes addicted.
People can become addicted to prescription drugs.
Fact. Certain prescription drugs are extremely addictive, including painkillers in the opioid class such as oxycodone and morphine.
Meth addiction only affects certain racial and socioeconomic groups.
Myth. In popular cultural belief, methamphetamine grossly impacts rural, White populations of low socioeconomic status. However, this is not the reality.
Penalties for use of crack tend to be more severe than for powder cocaine.
Fact. Crack cocaine use is typically penalized more harshly than use of powder cocaine, a holdover from the War on Drugs era.
Making naloxone (Narcan) publicly available encourages heroin use.
Myth. The introduction of publicly available naloxone has saved the lives of many who would have otherwise overdosed. Rather than encouraging substance use, it gives people the tools to mitigate harm.
Ritalin is a performance enhancer that may make a person do better on a test.
Fact. Ritalin is a drug often prescribed to those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). It is a stimulant that can result in hyperfocus and attention; therefore, it is often used to stay up and study.