Think Ahead: Know the Risks of Substance Use Learning Experience
Use this engaging online activity as a learning resource.
Click “Start” to begin leading your students through fact-based information, introspective interactions and engaging activities to help them understand the risks of substance use.
The learning experience can be led in the classroom or used by students independently.
Teacher’s guide
Before your session, download the teacher’s guide for speaking notes, tips for in-class interactions and how to carry out the activities included in the lesson to fully engage your students.
Fact Sheet activity
This activity can be done as a follow up to the Think Ahead: Know the Risks of Substance Use learning experience.
Use this activity to test your knowledge by completing a fact sheet about the risks of substance use, focusing on cannabis, alcohol and opioids including the risks of mixing substances.
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Glossary
Addiction
Addiction is when someone craves the drug and continues using it despite its harmful effects. Addiction causes changes in the brain and makes it extremely hard to stop using, even if someone wants to.
Alcohol
(Sometimes called booze), alcohol is the common name for ethanol or ethyl alcohol. This is an intoxicating substance that is in alcoholic beverages like beer, wine, and spirits. Alcohol is either made through fermentation (like beer) or through distillation (like vodka).
Cannabis
(Sometimes called marijuana, pot, weed), cannabis is a plant that contains hundreds of chemical substances only found in cannabis. Over 100 of these are known as cannabinoids, which have an effect on cell receptors in the brain and body. The two most common chemicals are THC and CBD. THC is the one that makes you feel high or intoxicated and can harm brain development if it’s used daily or near daily. CBD doesn’t make you feel high but can still have effects on your brain.
Cocaine
Cocaine is a powerful and addictive stimulant, which can have serious or even fatal effects. It is made from the leaves of the South American coca bush, which are processed into a fine, white powder. Cocaine is a fast-acting drug that changes brain chemistry to create a short-term feeling of well-being (euphoria). However, there are also negative short-term mental and physical effects, such as anxiety, dizziness, vomiting. Negative long-term effects can include depression, violent behaviour, heart problems and stomach problems, and dependency. The biggest risk is overdose, which can cause death.
Code word
A secret word known by your trusted adults, friends, or family, when you need them to help you leave a situation safely. By sending the code word, or saying it on the phone, the person you've previously planned with knows to tell you that they need you right now, giving you an easy out from a potentially risky situation.
Counterfeit pills
Counterfeit (fake) pills are made to look like authentic pharmaceutical medications, such as legal opioids like codeine or oxycodone, and are illegally made. It is impossible to know exactly what is in a counterfeit pill and could be laced with harmful substances (e.g. fentanyl). This can lead to overdose and death.
Dependence
The body can become physically dependent when certain substances are used for an extended period of time. If the dose is lowered or stopped, a person can experience withdrawal symptoms.
Depressants
A type of drug that slows down the central nervous system, which can affect concentration, coordination, and ability to respond to situations around you. Larger doses can cause sleepiness, vomiting, and even death. Some examples of depressants include alcohol, benzodiazepines, cannabis, and opioids.
Drug
A medicine or other substance that impacts a person’s mental or physical state. There are lots of different types of drugs, they can be produced legally, illegally, or for medical purposes.
Edibles
Cannabis edibles are food or drinks that contain extracts of cannabis.
Fentanyl
A powerful synthetic opioid that is prescribed to treat severe pain. Fentanyl is a dangerous drug because it is 20 to 40 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine, which makes the risk of accidental overdose very high. There is no way to know how much fentanyl has been mixed into illegal drugs because you can’t see, smell or taste it. Consuming as little as a few grains of salt worth of fentanyl can kill you, and it can be mixed into illegal non-opioid drugs, like cocaine.
Harm
A type of physical or mental damage, or the potential danger. The harms of substance use can include short-term harms, long-term harms, or serious harms like poisoning, overdose, and death.
Intoxicate
Another word for the effects someone feels from a substance. After consuming drugs or alcohol, a person can become intoxicated, which means to have less control of your mental capabilities and behaviour.
Mental Health
Feeling healthy with your feelings, thoughts, and emotions. Your mental health can be impacted by many different things in your life.
Morphine
An opioid used to treat pain. Morphine is a type of true opiate, meaning it is a naturally occurring substance extracted from opium, which is derived from the resin of the poppy plant. A variety of pharmaceutical products are prepared from morphine, like heroin and oxycodone.
Naloxone
Naloxone is a fast-acting medication used to temporarily reverse the effects of opioid overdoses. Naloxone can begin to take effect within 2 minutes. While naloxone is only active in the body for 30 to 120 minutes, the effects of most opioids last longer. This means that the effects of naloxone are likely to wear off before the opioids are gone from the body, which causes breathing to stop again. If a response to an initial dose is not seen within 2-3 minutes, subsequent doses can safely be given.
Opioid
Opioids—like fentanyl, morphine, oxycodone and hydromorphone—are prescribed medications that are used to treat pain. There are also illegal opioids, which are made, shared, or sold illegally.
Overdose
In this module, when we talk about an overdose, we are referring to an overdose from opioids. Opioid drugs affect the part of your brain that controls your breathing. When you take more opioids than your body can handle (overdose), your breathing slows. This can lead to unconsciousness and even death.
Oxycodone/OxyContin
Oxycodone is a type of opioid used to treat severe pain. OxyContin is the brand name of a medication developed in 1995 to provide long-lasting pain relief. The medication was widely prescribed and became associated with dependence. OxyContin has been removed from the Canadian market, but similar products do exist.
Peer pressure
When someone is trying to get you to do something you wouldn’t normally do.
Percocet
Percocet is a pain-relieving drug that combines oxycodone (an opioid) with acetaminophen (the drug in Tylenol).
Poisoning
In this module, when we talk about poisonings, we are referring to cannabis and/or alcohol poisoning. These occur when someone consumes more cannabis or alcohol than their body can handle. The effects of a cannabis poisoning are unpleasant and dangerous. Alcohol poisoning is a medical emergency resulting in suppressed breathing to the point of causing death.
Stimulants
A type of drug that speeds up the central nervous system that can cause your heart to beat quicker, your blood pressure to go up, and make it difficult to sleep. Larger doses can cause anxiety, seizures, and stomach pain. Some examples of stimulants include amphetamines, caffeine, cocaine, ecstasy, and nicotine.
Substance
When we talk about a substance today, we mean alcohol, cannabis, and drugs including opioids and illegally produced drugs.
Substance use disorder
A treatable medical condition that affects the brain and involves compulsive and continuous use despite negative impacts to a person, their family, friends and others.
THC
Delta-9-tetra-hydro-cannabinol, also known as THC, is the most researched cannabinoid and causes the feeling of being “high”, along with a range of other effects including impaired memory, anxiety, hunger, paranoia, red eyes, dry mouth, and an increased heart rate. The greater the THC level, the greater the risk of experiencing these effects.
Tobacco
A plant whose leaves contain a drug called nicotine. Tobacco is often smoked, usually in a cigarette.
Vaping
Vaping is a way to use cannabis or nicotine that has risks and can expose you to chemicals that can harm your brain and lungs.
Disclaimer:
Health Canada has a responsibility to communicate health and safety messaging to Canadians. Older youth in Canada (ages sixteen and seventeen, or in grades eleven and twelve) are below the legal age of consumption for substances like cannabis and alcohol, thus prevention is the primary goal for this age group.
However, studies show that youth in Canada often begin consuming substances before the legal age of consumption, and that some consume illegal substances as well. Because of this, we have a duty to communicate ways to reduce the risks of using substances to this age group, to reduce the chances of potentially fatal overdoses and poisonings.
What you will find in this module is information on the risks of using substances, the benefits to choosing not to use substances, as well as important safety information that can save the life of a young person who does use substances, or who knows others who do.
Prior to hosting the Think Ahead: Know the Risks of Substance Use program, it is recommended to review the following resources for an overview on opioids: Resources.
This module is intended for educators to guide students through a classroom experience and optimized for desktop use. If viewed on mobile, it is recommended to use landscape view for best results. An accessibility toggle is available to adjust text size and layout on smaller mobile screens.