Drug
A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect.
[1] Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, absorption via a patch on the skin, suppository, or dissolution under the tongue.
In pharmacology, a drug is a chemical substance, typically of known structure, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect.
[2] A pharmaceutical drug, also called a medication or medicine, is a chemical substance used to treat, cure, prevent, or diagnose a disease or to promote well-being.
[3] Traditionally drugs were obtained through extraction from medicinal plants, but more recently also by organic synthesis.
[7] Psychoactive drugs are substances that affect the function of the central nervous system, altering perception, mood or consciousness.
These psychoactive drugs have been proven useful in treating a wide range of medical conditions including mental disorders around the world.
In English, the noun "drug" is thought to originate from Old French "drogue", possibly deriving from "droge (vate)" from Middle Dutch meaning "dry (barrels)", referring to medicinal plants preserved as dry matter in barrels.
[13][14] In the 1990s however, Spanish lexicographer Federico Corriente Córdoba documented the possible origin of the word in {ḥṭr}[15] an early romanized form of the Al-Andalus language from the northwestern part of the Iberian peninsula.
For example, Erbitux (cetuximab) increases the survival rate of colorectal cancer patients if they carry a particular mutation in the EGFR gene.
Mazatec shamans have a long and continuous tradition of religious use of Salvia divinorum, a psychoactive plant.
[25] Peyote, a small spineless cactus, has been a major source of psychedelic mescaline and has probably been used by Native Americans for at least five thousand years.
An increasingly used nootropic among students, also known as a study drug, is methylphenidate branded commonly as Ritalin and used for the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and narcolepsy.
[32] Serious addiction can lead to psychosis, anxiety and heart problems, and the use of this drug is related to a rise in suicides, and overdoses.
[34] Other examples include analogs of performance-enhancing drugs such as designer steroids taken to improve physical capabilities; these are sometimes used (legally or not) for this purpose, often by professional athletes.
In 1971, a second treaty the Convention on Psychotropic Substances had to be introduced to deal with newer recreational psychoactive and psychedelic drugs.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States is a federal agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the regulation and supervision of food safety, tobacco products, dietary supplements, prescription and over-the-counter medications, vaccines, biopharmaceuticals, blood transfusions, medical devices, electromagnetic radiation emitting devices, cosmetics, animal foods[42] and veterinary drugs.
In India, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), an Indian federal law enforcement and intelligence agency under the Ministry of Home Affairs, is tasked with combating drug trafficking and assisting international use of illegal substances under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.
