Despite the fact that drug use is often associated with the youngest, psychoactive substances are consumed by people with very diverse profiles and of different ages .

The uses made of the different types of drugs are very varied, and tell us about the versatility of this class of substances. From the psychoactive substances consumed thousands of years ago to the synthetic drugs of the contemporary era, the wide repertoire of effects of drugs has meant that they are used in many contexts.

A Little History of Drugs

Since the beginning, man has always consumed substances that have affected his nervous system. In fact, there is knowledge that around 3000 BC some opiates were already being used.

Moreover, there is evidence that hemp was already being consumed in Asia at that time. In the Americas, coca leaves were used as an analgesic and, on the same continent, the Aztecs made use of some fungi such as peyote. Some types of hallucinogenic drugs have also been used in rituals linked to shamanism and polytheistic religions, so hallucinations were interpreted as actually being ways in which alternative planes of existence became part of the environment that can be experienced.

Drugs: different uses and effects

The drug is a natural or artificial substance that alters the physical performance, perception, mood and behaviour of the individual who uses it. These effects on people can be very varied, and these substances can have different uses, which means that there are different types of drugs. Surely we have all heard of LSD or cocaine, drugs with very different effects, but both have been widely used and known for decades.

Currently, new drugs have gained popularity and some have jumped to the media , because despite being types of recreational drugs, they produce effects as peculiar as dangerous: bath salts, known as the cannibal drug, or Flakka, also called “Hulk drug”, are some examples.

There are even drugs that have different functions, such as GHB. This drug, which is used as a drug for the treatment of narcolepsy (under the trade name of XYREM ), also has a recreational use and, incredible as it may seem, is used by rapists to neutralize their victims, just like Burundanga. This is because depending on the context in which the drugs are used they can have different uses ; in the end, these types of substances do not have just one concrete effect, but several.

If you are not yet familiar with these drugs, you may want to read the following articles:

  • “GHB”: the drug rapists use to neutralize their victims
  • Burundanga, the drug that can make your will disappear

The difference between drug, drug, active ingredient and medication

In the specialized literature we may find the word drug and drug used interchangeably. Although these terms can be confusing, it is even worse when we add the concepts of active ingredient or drug . You may find different explanations of these terms in different (even specialised) journals, but in this article we have focused on the explanation of World Health Organisation (WHO).

The word drug refers to any chemical substance that is capable of altering consciousness, perception, mood, and behavior. The conditions that must be met for a substance to be classified as a drug are as follows:

  • When these substances are introduced into the body they modify one or more psychic functions (e.g. feeling of euphoria).
  • They make the person who consumes them want to repeat their use , as they have a powerful effect on the brain region of the booster.
  • When the individual stops taking it, he may feel great discomfort .
  • They have no medical application , and if they do, they can be used for non-therapeutic purposes.

While some authors use the term drug to refer to any drug, others also use it to refer to medications. The drug , unlike drugs, does have a therapeutic use .

The active ingredient refers to the chemical that produces the effect on the organism . In the case of the drug ecstasy, the active ingredient would be the chemical MDMA . There are drugs that combine different active ingredients and sometimes there may be drugs that even use excipients.

How drugs are classified

Types of drugs can be classified in different ways: according to whether they are legal or illegal, according to their routes of consumption, according to their effects on the nervous system. Let’s see how they are classified in order to know a bit better the different types of psychoactive substances .

Legal or illegal drugs

The term legal or illegal drug has to do with the legislation of the country where the substance is consumed. The term illegal refers to the fact that its use is not permitted by the legislation of that country. And although the own consumption of some illegal substance is sometimes allowed, the sale is punished with severe administrative and/or criminal sanctions.

The legal drugs are allowed, and there is usually an economic purpose for their use . For example, taxes levied on tobacco or alcohol.

It may be that the legislation of one country allows the consumption and sale of a drug that is prohibited in another country, as in the case of marijuana, which is permitted in the Netherlands but not in Spain.

Classification according to consumption route

Since the variety of drugs is very wide, according to their route of consumption, they can be classified in different ways:

  • Smoked : hashish, marijuana, heroin, “crack”
  • Oral use : synthetic drugs, alcohol
  • Inspired : cocaine, speed (amphetamine sulphate)
  • Inhaled : glue
  • Injected : heroin

Classification according to their effect on the nervous system

Drugs can also be classified according to their effect on the nervous system:

Nervous system depressants

  • Alcohol
  • Hypnotics: Sleeping Pills and Barbiturates
  • Anxiolytics: benzodiazepines
  • Opiates: heroin, morphine, codeine and methadone
  • Tranquilizers
  • Inhalants

Nervous system stimulants

  • Amphetamines
  • Nicotine
  • Cocaine and other derivatives
  • Xanthines: caffeine theobromine

Psychedelic or disruptive substances

  • Hallucinogens: LSD, mescaline…
  • Cannabinoids: hashish, marijuana…
  • Ecstasy, ketamine

Some considerations on consumption patterns

The faster the substance consumed passes into the bloodstream, the faster and more intense the effects are usually. However, this does not mean that the types of drugs injected are worse than the rest; it should be remembered that some may be beneficial in physician-controlled clinical settings.

About its effects

Finally, it must be taken into account that although the mechanisms of action of many types of drugs are known in an approximate way and their consumption may be associated with the appearance of very relevant symptoms that worsen the quality of life of people, it is also true that in practice it is complicated to determine whether a certain psychological or neurological phenomenon is caused only by the administration of these substances.

In the end, it is very common for those who use drugs the most to have a history of mental disorders (favoured by a mixture of genetic predispositions and contextual factors), so in many cases what happens after consumption is of a multi-casual type, the result of these latent problems in interaction with the neurobiological changes produced in the nervous system after a certain component has been introduced into the body.

Bibliographic references:

  • Crocq M.A. (June 2003). “Alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and mental disorders”. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 5 (2): pp. 175 – 185.
  • Bloomquist, E. (1971). Marijuana: The Second Trip. California: Glencoe.
  • Lingeman, R. R. (1974). Drugs from A-Z: A Dictionary. New York: McGraw-Hill.