Types of drugs: know their characteristics and effects

A classification of drugs so that you know their effects on your body and mind.

Although drug use is usually associated with young people, psychoactive substances are consumed by people of very different profiles and ages, psychoactive substances are consumed by people of very different profiles and ages..

The uses made of the different types of drugs are very varied, and tell us about the versatility of this kind of substances. From the psychoactive substances consumed millennia ago to the synthetic drugs of the contemporary era, the wide repertoire of effects of drugs has led to their use in many contexts.

A little history of drugs

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

In addition, there is evidence that hemp was already being consumed in Asia at that time. In America, 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. and polytheistic religions, so that it was interpreted that hallucinations were actually ways in which alternative planes of existence became part of the environment that can be experienced.

Drugs: different uses and effects

A drug is a natural or artificial substance that alters the physical performance, perception, mood and behavior of the individual who takes it. 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 LSD or cocaine, drugs with very different effects, but both widely consumed and known for decades.

Nowadays, new drugs have gained popularity new drugs have gained popularity and some of them have jumped into the media.Despite being recreational drugs, they produce effects as peculiar as they are 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 medication 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 so because depending on the context in which the drugs are used they can have different usesAfter all, these types of substances do not have only one specific effect, but several.

If you don't know these drugs yet, you'd better read the following articles:

• "GHB": the drug used by rapists to neutralize their victims.
• Burundanga, the drug capable of overriding your willpower

The difference between drug, drug, active ingredient and medicine

In the specialized literature, it is possible to find the words drug and drug used interchangeably. Although these terms can be confusing, it is even worse when we add the concepts of active ingredient o drug. You may find different explanations of these terms in different journals (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 as follows:

• When these substances are introduced into the organism they modify one or more psychic functions. (e.g., euphoric sensation).
• They cause the person who consumes them to want to repeat their use.They have a powerful effect on the brain region of reinforcement.
• When the individual stops taking it, he/she may feel a great discomfort..
• They have no medical applicationIf 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 medicines. The medicationunlike drugs, does have a therapeutic use..

The active ingredient refers to the chemical substance 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

The 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 little better the different types of psychoactive substances..

Legal or illegal drugs

The term legal drug o illegal 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 while self-consumption of some illegal substances is sometimes permitted, the sale is punishable by severe administrative and/or criminal penalties.

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

It may happen that the legislation of one country permits the use 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 the route of use

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

• SmokedHashish, marijuana, heroin, "crack".
• OralSynthetic drugs, alcohol
• InhalantsCocaine, speed (amphetamine sulphate)
• Inhaled : glueBy glue
• Injected : glueInjected: 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 the routes of consumption

The faster the substance consumed passes into the bloodstream, 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 can be beneficial in medically controlled clinical settings.

On their effects

Finally, it should be borne in mind that although the mechanisms of action of many types of drugs are known in an approximate way and their consumption can 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 certain psychological or neurological phenomena are caused only by the administration of these substances.

After all, it is very common for those who consume drugs the 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 of a multicasual type, the result of these latent problems in interaction with the neurobiological changes produced in the nervous system after the introduction of a certain component into the body.