Drugs: Alcohol, CBD, Psilocybin, & Opioids (Upper-Intermediate)

ESL/EFL Level: Upper-Intermediate (B2/C1)
Lesson Topics: alcohol, marijuana, CBD, psilocybin, the opioid crisis
Skill Focus: Reading, Vocabulary, Speaking
Approximate Class Time: 1.75 hours
Lesson Plan Download: drugs-alcohol-opioids-upper-intermediate-072023.docx
Lesson Overview:

  • After warm-up questions, students read a passage about drugs, with a focus on the harms of alcohol, the potential benefits of CBD, the popularity of microdosing psilocybin and LSD, and the opioid crisis in Canada and the United States. As post-reading activities, students complete a recall activity and answer comprehension questions. Finally, students match key vocabulary to definitions and then create three discussion questions.
  • Next, students debate whether current laws about alcohol consumption should be changed. The debate is followed by a community forum roleplay scenario about San Francisco's opioid crisis. This is followed by two lighter scenarios related to alcohol abstention and being arrested overseas for marijuana use.
  • Afterward, students complete an activity requiring them to draw the line between acceptable and unacceptable drugs. To reinforce vocabulary, students then do a sentence completion and collocation activity. The last page also contains four thought-provoking quotations related to drugs and a matching activity about drug slang.  Finally, the lesson ends with a few discussion questions.
  • Note/Warning: This passage was written with adult learners in mind. It presents a fairly open view of the potential benefits of CBD and microdosing psychedelic drugs. It assumes that students come from a culture where alcohol consumption is widely accepted. If you are teaching children or students with a very conservative view of drug use, this lesson likely isn't appropriate.

Several bottles of alcohol

UPPER-INTERMEDIATE (B2/C1) EFL Lesson Plan on Fears & Drugs

Warm-up Questions

  1. In your opinion, is there anything wrong with drinking alcohol?
  2. What drugs, legal or illegal, do people often use where you live?
  3. How do you relax and relieve stress?

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-- Lesson plan on drugs and alcohol written by Matthew Barton of EnglishCurrent.com (copyright). ChatGPT helped in generating a rough draft for parts of the reading passage and providing answer keys. Site members may photocopy and edit the file for their classes. Permission is not given to rebrand the lesson, redistribute it on another platform, or sell it as part of commercial course curriculum. For questions, contact the author.

Post-Reading Tasks

Possible answers to comprehension questions:

  1. …
  2. …
  3. The passage mentions that research shows Gen Z is drinking 20% less than Millennials, who in turn drink less than previous generations.
  4. CBD differs from smoking marijuana in terms of its effects because it does not produce the "high" associated with THC, the psychoactive component of marijuana. Instead, CBD is known for its ability to alleviate symptoms and conditions such as pain, anxiety, and sleep issues.
  5. ….
  6. Microdosing refers to the practice of taking very small amounts of psychedelic substances, such as psilocybin or LSD, below the threshold that would induce a full psychedelic experience. The aim is to experience subtle cognitive and emotional benefits without the strong hallucinations associated with a full dose.
  7. False. Fentanyl is considered one of the main factors contributing to the crisis, as it is a synthetic opioid that has led to high rates of overdose deaths.

Vocabulary Answers: 1-H, 2-i, 3-C, 4-F, 5-E, 6-A, 7-L, 8-D, 9-B, 10-J, 11-G, 12-K

Collocation Answers: 1-c, 2-e, 3-d, 4-f, 5-b, 6-a, 7-g

Drug-related terms: weed-marijuana, brewski-beer, juice-steroids, acid-LSD, booze-alcohol

Endnotes:

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