Drugs of Abuse

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Drugs of Abuse

Drugs that are used and abused by humans for nonmedical purposes can be grouped into several major categories. The drugs in each category have similar effects on the user, even though they may differ in the way they produce those effects. The major categories include:

1. alcohol (ethanol)
2. nicotine and tobacco
3. depressants (barbiturates, benzodiazepines)
4. stimulants (amphetamines, cocaine)
5. marijuana
6. opioids (morphine, heroin, methadone)
7. psychedelics (LSD, mescaline, ecstasy)
8. inhalants (glue, nitrous oxide)
9. phencyclidine (PCP)

This article describes and discusses drugs from each category. The discussion begins with alcohol and tobacco, which are both legal and relatively easy to obtain. The worldwide use and abuse of these drugs is far more widespread than all the other categories of abused drugs combined. Next in the discussion is depressants used as prescription drugs. Doctors write more prescriptions for diazepam (Valium) and the related benzodiazepines each year than for any other drug. The discussion then turns to illegal, or illicit, drugs. The illicit use of heroin, cocaine, and other drugs remains a major social, legal, financial, and health problem in the United States in the twenty-first century. However, fewer people are physically dependent on illegal drugs than on the legal drugs listed above.

It is important to remember that individuals often take several drugs from different categories.

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