Street drugs refer to chemicals ingested for their mind- or body-altering properties rather than for medical purposes. In other words, most recreational drug use is pursuant to "getting high" and occasionally for other reasons, such as the case with anabolic steroids, which are used for assistance in building muscle mass or to enhance athletic performance. According to "The Legalization of Drugs," the qualifier for recreational drug use is that it does not treat illness.
History
According to Paul Gahlinger in "Illegal Drugs," recreational drug use is simply a reflection of human inquisitiveness. Little else can explain the discovery of most drugs that are not derivative of pharmaceuticals. Gahlinger cites bufotenine as an example, which is a biotoxin derived from the mucosal excretions of some toad species, but also exists in mammals, mushrooms and plants. The discovery of bufotenine's psychoactive properties are nebulous at best and likely required a high degree of risk.
Many recreational drugs began as medicinal treatments or attempts to synthesize medication. This is why many latter-day recreational drugs are synthetic and others require processing. It also blurs the distinction between medicinal and recreational drugs. Gahlinger mentions that pharmacological science determines medicinal drugs based on whether they treat, cure, prevent or diagnose disease or otherwise, enhance physiological or psychological well-being.
Types
The function of both medicinal and recreational drugs is to alter physical and mental states. You can determine a drug's function by its stratification. According to Gahlinger, drug types include antidepressants, depressants, cannabis, hallucinogens, stimulants and steroids.
Function
The Good Drugs Guide website lists drug types. Antidepressants, often originating as pharmaceuticals, inhibit neurological processes, block receptors or reduce certain naturally occurring chemicals. Doctors prescribe them for psychological disorders such as depression, dysthymia and biopolar disorder. They also produce what some consider pleasant feelings, leading to their recreational use. Cannabis generally refers to any substance containing tetrahydrocannabinols, or THC. Cannabis has some medical application but remains controversial, especially because the most common method of ingestion is through smoking. Effects include sedation, appetite stimulation and respiratory alterations. Depressants stifle the central nervous system, causing sedation or numbness. Steroids are hormones in a lipid base injected into muscle to build muscle mass. Stimulants are among the most addictive drugs and work in reverse of depressants and boost the central nervous system. Hallucinogens alter mental processes and refer to dissociatives, deliriants and psychedelics. Dissociatives reduce sensory perception, resulting in experiences without stimulus. Psychedelics inhibit selective perception and cause the brain to perceive and process all possible stimuli. Deliriants cause hallucinations.
Dangers
The Good Drugs Guide indicates the dangers of drug types. Overuse and overdose of antidepressants are not fatal but can cause irreversible psychological damage resulting in terminally altered mood states. Overuse and overdose of depressants can be fatal, of cannabis can cause health difficulties and issues with short-term memory, of anabolic steroids can lead to addiction as well as undesirable physiological and psychological alterations, and of stimulants can cause undesirable psychological as well as physiological alterations and can be fatal. Overuse and overdose of dissociatives and psychedelics do not cause any lasting effects and can only be fatal indirectly from injury resulting from intoxicated behavior. Overuse and overdose on deliriants often cause death.
Common Street Drugs
According to The Good Drug Guide, the most common illegal street drugs include cannabis, cocaine and crack cocaine, ecstasy or MDMA, heroin and other opiates, magic mushrooms or shrooms, methamphetamines like crystal meth, acid or LSD, anabolic steroids and various pharmaceuticals sold by someone who is not a pharmacist or without prescription. According to Gahlinger, the most common legal street drugs include salvia divinorum, which consists of smoked dried leaves causing very short but very intense hallucinations and physiological changes like heavy sweating; alcohol; caffeine; nicotine; amanita muscaria, a mushroom that is hallucinogenic when dried and eaten; betel nuts, which act as a stimulant when chewed; and broom, or cystisus scoparius, which causes intoxication and euphoria when dried and smoked, but is toxic when eaten.
References
- "The Legalization of Drugs"; Douglas N. Husak and Peter De Marneffe; 2005
- "Illegal Drugs: A Complete Guide to their History, Chemistry, Use and Abuse"; Paul M. Gahlinger; 2004
- The Good Drugs Guide: Drug Types
