Recreational Drugs

Regardless of medical supervision, this label does not apply to the use of drugs for utilitarian purposes, such as the relief of fatigue or insomnia, or the control of appetite.

A distinction must be made between (recreational) drug use and drug abuse, although there is much controversy on where the dividing line lies on the spectrum from a drug user to a drug abuser. Some say that abuse begins when the user begins shirking responsibility in order to afford drugs or to have enough time to use them. Some say it begins when a person uses "excessive" amounts, while others draw the line at the point of legality, and others believe it amounts to chronic use when mental and physical health begin degenerating in the user. Some think that any intoxicant consumption is an inappropriate activity.

Legal aspects
In many cases, the possession and use of common recreational drugs violates the law; however alcohol, tobacco, and various over-the-counter and prescription medications with a high potential for abuse (such as OxyContin, benzodiazepines, and cough suppressants containing the hallucinogenic drug dextromethorphan) are not only legal, regulated and taxed by the government in regards to their distribution, but actively encouraged in some respects.

There are people who consider harsh restrictions placed on drug use are misguided, in that they prohibit what some consider to be victimless crimes. Compared to many illegal drugs alcohol has a high potential for increasing aggressive behavior, causing car accidents, and causing overdose deaths (commonly called alcohol poisoning).

Anti-drug attitude is less prevalent in parts of western Europe&mdash;see Drug policy of the Netherlands&mdash;and more recently in Canada, where enforcement of extant legal penalties for possession of small amounts of marijuana and other so-called "soft drugs" such as hallucinogenic mushrooms are increasingly ignored or given a low priority by law enforcement officials.

This attitude stands in marked contrast to the official policy of the United States government, which declared a "War on Drugs" under President Richard Nixon in 1972 which later intensified under Ronald Reagan, but saw its greatest increases (in budget, and in the number of arrests and prosecutions) under President Bill Clinton. The United States is considered far more stringent about enforcing penalties for "soft drug" use. The Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, is primarily responsible for illegal drug interdiction at the federal level. Despite the application of billions of dollars to eliminate the use of illegal drugs, recreational drug use remains common in the United States, and according to some studies is actually more common than in Europe where the laws are more relaxed (although, as stated, prescription drugs are abused in much greater numbers, and given almost no concern by the DEA whatsoever). Millions of illicit drug users exist in the United States who have never faced prosecution. Many American police officers don't bother enforcing possession laws on those holding small quantities of "soft drugs".

In Asia penalties vary from country to country, but can be even stricter than in the West. For example, under Singapore law, drug trafficking in over 15 g of heroin carries a mandatory death penalty.

Anti-drug activists explain that taboos on recreational drugs add an aura of mystique to their use, and encourage experimentation (i.e., the "forbidden fruit" phenomenon).

It is argued that the dangers of illicit drugs are exaggerated (especially in regards to marijuana, with most of its purported negative effects being routinely dismissed as junk science) causing some users to believe that only experimentation can give the user a sense of knowledge of the true dangers of a drug's side effects and addictive properties.

A possible side effect of this is that, anti-drug education programs exaggerate the negative effects of illicit substances, many young people may be encouraged to experiment with much more dangerous substances (such as methamphetamines) after convincing themselves they've been lied to when discovering that soft drugs may be less harmful than expected.

Some societies have moved to abandon attempts to prohibit recreational drugs, and instead have turned to a policy of harm reduction by informing users of ways to reduce common risks associated with popular drugs. Harm reduction is the official policy of the Netherlands, Brazil, and some areas of Canada such as Vancouver, which have stopped actively prosecuting end users of recreational drugs.

Instead, law enforcement efforts focus on capturing illegal dealers of "hard drugs", such as heroin and cocaine, passing out clean needles to intravenous (IV) drug users, and providing medical assistance for addicted users who wish to stop taking drugs.

Many currently legal recreational drugs (examples: alcohol, tobacco and caffeine) have been subject to prohibition throughout history, and likewise most of the currently illegal recreational drugs have been legal as recently as the early twentieth century such as with heroin, cocaine and marijuana, or even later for some newer synthetic chemicals such as LSD.

Scientific research with illicit substances has been difficult. some of them have documented medicinal properties (medical cannabis, for example, is quite popular in this field and effective in treating many disorders, and psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA may be highly effective in psychedelic psychotherapy treatments).

Medical aspects
Although recreational drug use can cause medical complications, including death, such use is not categorized as one of the substance use disorders. When such use does not cause significant dysfunction, it is often referred to medically as "non pathologic" substance use. The substance use disorders, as a class, are diagnosed based upon social, occupational, and other parameters of function which are often impacted by ongoing use of prescribed and unprescribed drugs. For example, if an individual is using marijuana resulting in symptoms of apathy and lack of motivation, with additional results of a fall in school grades and family discord, that individual would no longer be noted as using "recreationally" or "socially." However, it may be that the individual started using the drug to self-medicate for a medical condition unrelated to any drug use. In the past tincture of cannabis was used for nervous disorders and even today is being researched with a view to licensing a modern acetate version again for such indications, so it appears to be a valid claim that this can bring some relief to some unpleasant symptoms. One issue faced by doctors is that while the creation cannabis tinctures had the effect of severely denaturing much of the problematic  delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, (THC) which can induce psychotic symptoms,  illicit sources of cannabis  usually have a high ratio of THC to the more beneficial compounds of cannabidiol and cannabinol. Therefore, in ignorance: many a doctor can make psychological psycho/social problems worse for a patient by jumping to conclusions as to the underlying primary cause and effect. Even if the doctor avoids this pitfall, the licensed medication he prescribes to replace the drug used illicitly maybe less effective or make the condition worse; thereby destroying the patients faith in his skills.

From a medical perspective, quantity and frequency of use are not part of the symptom profile for a diagnosis of either abuse or dependence. As a result, some who use significant quantities of drugs might not be diagnosed with a substance use disorder, while others who use lesser amounts might easily meet the criteria for diagnosis. It is important, however, to point out that even in the absence of a substance use disorder, recreational substance use can still cause significant difficulties. An example of this is an individual using cocaine for the first time, then suffering a cardiac arrhythmia resulting in death.

Within the standard medical definitions of abuse and dependence (i.e. addiction), the legality of a given drug does not enter into the diagnostic equation unless an individual is chronically suffering from legal difficulties secondary to ongoing substance use.

Those who have medical questions concerning their individual use could contact a specialist in Addiction Medicine.

Drugs popularly used for recreation
The drugs most popular for recreational use worldwide are, in alphabetical order, alcohol, betel nut, caffeine, cannabis, khat and tobacco.

Other substances often used for recreational purposes follow: Amobarbital (Sodium Amytal; hypnotics) Aprobarbital (hypnotic) Butabarbital (hypnotics) Butalbital (Fiorinal; sedative) Hexobarbital (Sombulex; hypnotic/anesthetic) Methylphenobarbital (Mebaral; antianxiety, anticonvulsant) Pentobarbital (Nembutal; hypnotic) Phenobarbital (Luminal; hypnotic, sedative, anticonvulsant) Secobarbital (Seconal; hypnotic) Sodium thiopental Talbutal (Lotusate; hypnotic)
 * Anti-impotence drugs such as Sildenafil (Viagra)
 * Barbiturates, including:
 * Benzodiazepines, including:
 * Klonopin (Clonazepam)
 * Valium (Diazepam)
 * Xanax (Alprazolam)
 * Restoril (Temazepam)
 * Rohypnol (Flunitrazepam)
 * Diphenhydramine hydrochloride (Benadryl)
 * Dissociative Anaesthetics, including:
 * Ketamine (2-(2-chlorophenyl)-2-(methylamino)-cyclohexanone)
 * DXM (Dextromethorphan)
 * PCP (Phencyclidine)
 * Nitrous oxide
 * GHB (Gamma-hydroxybutyrate)
 * Kava (Piper methysticum)
 * Opium (Papaver somniferum) and Opioids, including:
 * Heroin (Diacetylmorphine)
 * Morphine
 * Fentanyl, Hydrocodone, Meperidine, Oxycodone, and other prescription painkillers
 * Codeine
 * Phenethylamines, including:
 * 2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine)
 * 2C-E (4-ethyl-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine)
 * 2C-I (4-iodo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine)
 * 2C-T-7 (4-propylthio-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine)
 * Ephedrine (Ephedra)
 * MDMA (Ecstasy) (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)
 * MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine)
 * Mescaline (Peyote and other cactii)
 * Amphetamines, including:
 * Methamphetamine
 * Methylphenidate (Ritalin)
 * Stimulants, including:
 * Cocaine (and crack cocaine)
 * Tryptamines, including:
 * AMT (α-methyltryptamine)
 * DMT (Dimethyltryptamine)
 * LSA (e.g. Ololiuqui)
 * LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide)
 * Psilocybin and Psilocin (Psychedelic mushrooms)