Drug

Tylenol is a brand of drug advertised for relieving pain, reducing fever, and relieving the symptoms of allergies, cold, cough, and flu.

Bayer Heroin bottle

Drug, broadly defined, is a term used for any chemical substance that when introduced to the body of a living organism has a non-food impact in altering the organism's normal functioning or structure.

The term drug lacks a precise definition and may used in different senses in medicine, pharmacology, government regulation, and common usage. The term may have a positive connotation as a chemical compound used medically in humans or animals for diagnosis, treatment, cure, mitigation, or prevention of disease, pain, or other abnormal condition. It also may have a negative connotation as a substance that affects the body or mind of humans in such a way that it implies impairment, abuse, addiction, or illegal use. Some drugs are used to create or enhance recreational experience (recreational drugs) and some are used in religious, shamanic, or spiritual contexts (entheogens).

Many chemical agents known as drugs are used both medically and for non-therapeutic purposes, such as anabolic steroids used in treatment of cancer or recovery from surgery, as well as used (generally illegally) to gain a competitive advantage by enhancing athletic performance. Morphine may be used medically as an analgesic but also is highly addictive, with among the highest abuse and dependency potential of all known drugs. Among drugs with common, often legal non-medical use as recreational drugs are alcohol, caffeine, and tobacco. Common drugs used in medicine are antipyretics (for reducing fever), analgesics (for reducing pain), and antibiotics (inhibiting germ growth).

Human creativity, interacting with the natural environment, has been able to identify, produce, and synthesize many drugs of medical significance, such as aspirin and quinine, traced to the the bark of the willow and cinchona trees, respectively, and penicillin, traced to a fungi. However, many drugs have been tied to abuse, resulting in physical, social, and psychological harm, and the illegal drug trade has been linked to violent crime and other societal harms.

Definitions

The term drug is thought to originate from the 14th century Old French "drogue" ("supply, stock, provision") possibly deriving from the Middle Dutch or Middle Low German word "droge-vate" ("dry barrels") or "droge waere" ("dry wares"), referring to medicinal plants preserved in barrels or that medicines mainly consisted of dried herbs.

The World Health Organization notes that

WHO notes "a term of varied usage" and that (1) in medcine; (2) in pharm... (3) in common usage

There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.

In pharmacology, a drug is "a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being." Drugs may be prescribed for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders.

Some governments define the term drug by law. In the United States, the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act definition of "drug" includes "articles intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in man or other animals" and "articles (other than food) intended to affect the structure or any function of the body of man or other animals." Consistent with that definition, the U.S. separately defines narcotic drugs and controlled substances, which may include non-drugs, and explicitly excludes tobacco, caffeine and alcoholic beverages.

In Canada the government has moved to remove the influence of drug companies on the medical system.^{[citation needed]} “The influence that the pharmaceutical companies, the for-profits, are having on every aspect of medicine ... is so blatant now you'd have to be deaf, blind and dumb not to see it,” said Journal of the American Medical Association editor Dr. Catherine DeAngelis.

Drugs are usually distinguished from endogenous biochemicals by being introduced from outside the organism.^{[citation needed]} For example, insulin is a hormone that is synthesized in the body; it is called a hormone when it is synthesized by the pancreas inside the body, but if it is introduced into the body from outside, it is called a drug.^{[citation needed]}

Many natural substances, such as beers, wines, and psychoactive mushrooms, blur the line between food and recreational drugs, as when ingested they affect the functioning of both mind and body. and some substances normally considered drugs such as DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) are actually produced by the human body in trace amounts.

Types of drugs

• include terminology, such as designer drug, NSAID, etc.

Recreational drugs are chemical substances that affect the central nervous system, such as opioids or hallucinogens. They may be used for perceived beneficial effects on perception, consciousness, personality, and behavior.

International drug routes

Legal drugs are not necessarily safer. A study in 2010 asked drug-harm experts to rank various illegal and legal drugs. Alcohol was found to be the most dangerous by far.

Medication

Nexium pills 40 mg
(esomeprazole magnesium)

A medication or medicine is a drug taken to cure and/or ameliorate any symptoms of an illness or medical condition, or may be used as preventive medicine that has future benefits but does not treat any existing or pre-existing diseases or symptoms.

Dispensing of medication is often regulated by governments into three categories—over-the-counter (OTC) medications, which are available in pharmacies and supermarkets without special restrictions, behind-the-counter (BTC), which are dispensed by a pharmacist without needing a doctor's prescription, and Prescription only medicines (POM), which must be prescribed by a licensed medical professional, usually a physician.^{[citation needed]}

In the United Kingdom, BTC medicines are called pharmacy medicines which can only be sold in registered pharmacies, by or under the supervision of a pharmacist. These medications are designated by the letter P on the label. The range of medicines available without a prescription varies from country to country.

Medications are typically produced by pharmaceutical companies and are often patented to give the developer exclusive rights to produce them, but they can also be derived from naturally occurring substance in plants called herbal medicine.^{[citation needed]} Those that are not patented (or with expired patents) are called generic drugs since they can be produced by other companies without restrictions or licenses from the patent holder.

Aspirin or acetylsalicylic acid is a drug in the family of salicylates (carboxylic acid), often used as an analgesic (against minor pains and aches), antipyretic (against fever), and anti-inflammatory (against localized redness, swelling, heat, and pain). It has also an anticoagulant ("blood-thinning") effect and is used in long-term low-doses to prevent heart attacks.

Penicillin core structure. The "R" is the variable group. Penicillin (sometimes abbreviated PCN or pen) is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi.

Chemical structure of mescaline, the primary psychoactive compound in peyote

Spiritual and religious use

The spiritual and religious use of drugs has been occurring since the dawn of our species. Drugs that are considered to have spiritual or religious use are called entheogens. Some religions are based completely on the use of certain drugs. Entheogens are mostly hallucinogens, being either psychedelics or deliriants, but some are also stimulants and sedatives.

Self Improvement

Nootropics, also commonly referred to as "smart drugs", are drugs that are claimed to improve human cognitive abilities. Nootropics are used to improve memory, concentration, thought, mood, learning, and many other things. Some nootropics are now beginning to be used to treat certain diseases such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. They are also commonly used to regain brain function lost during aging. Similarly, Drugs such as steroids improve human physical capabilities and are sometimes used (legally or not) for this purpose, often by professional athletes.

Recreational drug use

The cigarette is the common pharmaceutical form of tobacco – one of the world’s best selling drugs.

Coffee is the most widely used psychoactive drug beverage in the world. In 1999 the average consumption of coffee was 3.5 cups per day per U.S. citizen.

File:Tempranillowine.jpg

Wine is a common alcoholic beverage.

Side effects of chronic cocaine use

Cannabis is another commonly used recreational drug.

Peruvian Ayahuasca

Further information: Prohibition (drugs)

Recreational drugs use is the use of psychoactive substances to have fun, for the experience, or to enhance an already positive experience. National laws prohibit the use of many different recreational drugs and medicinal drugs that have the potential for recreational use are heavily regulated. Many other recreational drugs on the other hand are legal, widely culturally accepted, and at the most have an age restriction on using and/or purchasing them. These include alcohol, tobacco, betel nut, and caffeine products in the west, and in other localised areas of the world drugs such as Khat are common. Because of the legal status of many drugs, recreational drug use is controversial, with many governments not recognising spiritual or other perceived uses for drugs and classing them under illegal recreational use.

Administering drugs

Drugs, both medicinal and recreational, can be administered in a number of ways. Many drugs can be administered in a variety of ways rather than just one.

• Bolus
• Inhaled, (breathed into the lungs), as an aerosol or dry powder. (This includes smoking a substance)
• Injected as a solution, suspension or emulsion either: intramuscular, intravenous, intraperitoneal, intraosseous.
• Insufflation, or snorted into the nose.
• Orally, as a liquid or solid, that is absorbed through the intestines.
• Rectally as a suppository, that is absorbed by the rectum or colon.
• Sublingually, diffusing into the blood through tissues under the tongue.
• Topically, usually as a cream or ointment. A drug administered in this manner may be given to act locally or systemically.
• Vaginally as a suppository, primarily to treat vaginal infections.

See also

Drug Portal

• Drug abuse
• Drug addiction
• Drug development
• Drug injection
• Generic drug
• Illegal drug trade
• Lifestyle drug
• List of drugs is an extensive alphabetical list of drugs by name.
• List of pharmaceutical companies
• Narcotics
• Pharmaceutical drug
• Placebo (origins of technical term)
• Prescription drug
• Prodrug
• Psychedelic plants
• Psychoactive drug
• Recreational drug use
• Responsible drug use
• War on Drugs

External links

• DrugBank, a database of 4800 drugs and 2500 protein drug targets
• The Cult of Pharmacology: How America Became the World's Most Troubled Drug Culture by Richard DeGrandpre, Duke University Press, 2006.

Template:Major drug groups Template:Drug use Template:Depressants Template:Hallucinogens

Stimulants (N06 and others) -
Caffeine | Nicotine | Modafinil/Armodafinil | Adrafinil | Fenethylline
Sympathomimetic amines (R01, A08, and others) - 4-methylaminorex | Benzylpiperazine | Cathinone | Chlorphentermine | Cocaine | CFT | Diethylpropion | Ephedrine | Fenfluramine | Mazindol | Methylone | Methylphenidate | Pemoline | Phendimetrazine | Phenmetrazine | Phentermine | Phenylephrine | Propylhexedrine | Pseudoephedrine | Sibutramine | Synephrine See also amphetamines

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Drug  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Drug"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.