Types of drugs: know their characteristics and effects

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

The uses that are made of the different types of drugs are very varied, and they speak to us of the versatility of this class of substances. Since the psychoactive substances consumed millennia ago, synthetic drugs of the contemporary era, the wide repertoire of drug effects has led to them being used in many contexts.

A little history about drugs

Man, from the beginning, has always consumed substances that have affected his nervous system. In fact, there is knowledge that around the year 3000 BC. C. some were already used opiates.

In addition, there is data that shows that at that time, in Asia, hemp was already being consumed. In America, coca leaves were used as an analgesic and, on that same continent, the Aztecs made use of some mushrooms such as peyote. Some types of hallucinogenic drugs have also been used in rituals linked to shamanism

and polytheistic religions, so that hallucinations were actually construed as forms 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 physical performance, perception, mood and behavior of the individual who consumes 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 the LSD or cocaine, drugs with very different effects, but both widely used and known for decades.

Currently, new drugs have gained popularity and some have made it to the media, because despite being types of drugs for recreational use, they produce effects as peculiar as they are dangerous: bath salts, known as the cannibal drug, or the 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), it also has a recreational use and, incredible as it may seem, it is used by rapists to neutralize their victims, just like Burundanga. This is so because depending on the context in which drugs are used they can have different uses; After all, these types of substances have not just one specific effect, but several.

If you still do not know these drugs, you better read the following articles:

• "GHB": the drug rapists use to neutralize their victims
• Burundanga, the drug capable of overriding your will

The difference between drug, drug, active ingredient and medicine

In specialized literature it is possible that we find the word drug Y drug used interchangeably. Although these terms can be confusing, it is even worse when we add the concepts of active principle or medicine. It is possible that you will find different explanations of these terms in different magazines (even specialized ones), but in this article we have focused on the explanation of the World Health Organization (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 the following:

• When these substances are introduced into the body, they modify one or more psychic functions (for example, feeling euphoric).
• They cause the person who consumes it to want to repeat its use, as they have a powerful effect on the brain region of the reinforcement.
• 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 drugs. The medicine, unlike drugs, it does have a therapeutic use.

The active principle make reference to the chemical that produces the effect on the body. In the case of the drug ecstasy, the active principle 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

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

Legal or illegal drugs

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

The legal drugs yes they are allowed, and there is usually an economic purpose for its use. For example, taxes collected from tobacco or alcohol.

It may happen 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 allowed in the Netherlands but not in Spain.

Classification according to its 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"
• Orally: synthetic drugs, alcohol
• Inspired: cocaine, speed (amphetamine sulfate)
• Inhaled: glue
• Injected: heroin

Classification according to its effect on the nervous system

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

Nervous system depressants

• Alcohol
• Hypnotics: pills to fall asleep and barbiturates
• Anxiolytics: benzodiazepines
• Opioids: 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 the routes of consumption

The more quickly the substance consumed passes into the blood, the faster and more intense the effects tend to be. However, this does not mean that the types of drugs that are injected have worse effects than the rest; It should be remembered that some may be beneficial in clinician-controlled clinical settings.

About its effects

Finally, it must be taken into account that although the mechanisms of action of many types of drugs and their consumption may be associated with the appearance of very relevant symptoms that worsen people's quality of life, it is also true that In practice, it is difficult to determine if a certain psychological or neurological phenomenon is caused only by the administration of these substances.

After all, it is very common for those who use drugs most to have a history of mental disorders (favored by a mixture of genetic predispositions and contextual factors), so that in many cases, what happens after consumption is multicasual, the result of these latent problems in interaction with the neurobiological changes produced in the nervous system after introducing a certain component.