Theory of drug use and abuse; neurobiology of drug effects; drug policy and law in New Zealand and the world.
| Paper title | Drugs, Behaviour, Addiction, and Policy |
|---|---|
| Paper code | PSYC330 |
| Subject | Psychology |
| EFTS | 0.1500 |
| Points | 18 points |
| Teaching period | Semester 2 (On campus) |
| Domestic Tuition Fees (NZD) | $1,141.35 |
| International Tuition Fees | Tuition Fees for international students are elsewhere on this website. |
- Prerequisite
- PSYC 210, 211 and 212
- Recommended Preparation
- PHAL 211
- Schedule C
- Arts and Music, Science
- Notes
- For students with a major or minor in Neuroscience the prerequisite is PSYC211.
- Contact
- Teaching staff
- Textbooks
“Drugs without the hot air: Making sense of legal and illegal drugs” by David Nutt.
- Graduate Attributes Emphasised
- Communication, Critical thinking, Information literacy, Research, Self-motivation.
View more information about Otago's graduate attributes. - Learning Outcomes
Students who successfully complete this paper should be able to:
- Describe the neurobiological mechanisms of action of a range of different drug classes (Information Literacy, Research)
- Describe how feature of the environment come to influence the effects of drugs, both physiologically and behaviourally (Critical Thinking, Information Literacy)
- Describe the features of drug use and abuse (routes of administration, tolerance, addiction, withdrawal) and discuss biological processes involved in these features (Critical Thinking, Information literacy)
- Critically evaluate the New Zealand drug policy using scientific evidence to inform best-practice suggestions (Communication, Critical Thinking, Research, Self- Motivation)
- Understand how different cultures and societies have used drugs throughout history (Information Literacy, Research)
- Understand the differences between models of drug abuse (Critical Thinking, Information Literacy)
- Understand how social and political factors have shaped and influenced drug policy and the “War on Drugs” (Critical Thinking, Information literacy)
- Research several different models of drug abuse, provide a written evaluation that compares and contrasts those models, and give an opinion on which models are best supported by empirical research (Communication, Critical Thinking, Research, Self- Motivation)
