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Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. 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 despite degenerating mental and physical health 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; this is often considered an exercise in hypocrisy in that alcohol, tobacco, and various over-the-counter and prescription medications with a high potential for abuse (such as OxyContin, NyQuil, and cough supressants 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 (especially alcohol; the most heavily used and abused substance in the world, especially between people aged 19-24). Additionally, many prevalent prohibitionist figures in the American War on Drugs, such as William Bennett, Rush Limbaugh, and Richard Nixon, have themselves unapologetically abused drugs, alcohol, and other forms of indulgent behavior (Bennett, former U.S. Drug Czar, lost over $8,000,000 because of his gambling addiction).

Perhaps the greatest irony of the drug war is that it is essentially prohibiting victimless crimes; in this sense, its actual intent largely remains a mystery. By contrast, alcohol increases aggressive behavior in human beings and heavy use regularly results in drunk-driving accidents, in which people are often killed, and domestic abuse amongst family members of alcoholics; most other drugs seem to affect the body in an opposite manner. Scientific research and experimentation into illicit substances is incredibly difficult due to their illegality, although some of them have documented medicinal properties (marijuana, for example, is quite popular in this field and effective in treating many disorders, and psychedelics such as LSD and MDMA are highly effective in psychotherapy treatment).

This attitude is less prevalent in western Europe—see "Drug policy of the Netherlands"—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 is 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 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 quanities 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.

Some theorize that the taboos on recreational drugs add an aura of mystique to their use, and encourage experimentation (i.e., the "forbidden fruit" phenomenon). This phenomenon was prevalent in the 1920s during the American alcohol prohibition. It is argued that the dangers of illicit drugs are widely exaggerated (especially in regards to marijuana, with most of its purported negative effects being routinely dismissed as junk science), and actual experimentation can give the user a sense of knowledge of the true dangers of a drug's side effects and addictive properties. An unfortunate side effect of this is that, considering that anti-drug education programs are known to exaggerate the negative effects of illicit substances, many young people encourage themselves to experiment with much more dangerous substances (such as methamphetamines) after convincing themselves they've been lied to when discovering softer drugs, such as marijuana, are nowhere near as harmful as expected.

A few societies have abandoned what they feel are unsuccessful attempts to prohibit recreational drugs, and instead turned to a policy of harm reduction by informing users of ways to reduce common risks associated with popular drugs, and providing medical assistance for drug users who wish to stop using drugs (similar approaches are used to sex-education). 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.

Medical aspects

Although recreational drug use can cause medical complications, including death, such use is not categorized as one of the substance use disorders. 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 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 maybe 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. The problem today is: that whilst the very act of creating the tincture of old, 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 underling 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 arrythmia 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:

See also

References


  • Dale Pendell, Pharmakodynamis: Stimulating Plants, Potions and Herbcraft: Excitantia and Empathogenica, San Francisco: Mercury House, 2002.
  • Pharmako/Poeia: Plant Powers, Poisons, and Herbcraft, San Francisco: Mercury House, 1995.

External links

Drugs | Drug culture | Ethics | Moral panics | Psychoactive drugs

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Recreational drug use".

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