Recreational drug use

[2] What controlled substances are considered generally unlawful to possess varies by country, but usually includes cannabis, cocaine, opioids, MDMA, amphetamine, methamphetamine, psychedelics, benzodiazepines, and barbiturates.

[1] Some of the most common theories are: genetics,[12] personality type, psychological problems, self-medication, sex, age, depression, curiosity, boredom, rebelliousness, a sense of belonging to a group, family and attachment issues, history of trauma, failure at school or work, socioeconomic stressors, peer pressure, juvenile delinquency, availability, historical factors, or socio-cultural influences.

[13][14][15] Regardless of genetics, mental health, or traumatic experiences, social factors play a large role in the exposure to and availability of certain types of drugs and patterns of use.

[14] They tend to view using drugs as part of a general lifestyle that involves belonging to a subculture that they associate with heightened status and the challenging of social norms.

The ability to use botanical chemicals to serve the function of endogenous neurotransmitters may have improved survival rates, conferring an evolutionary advantage.

A typically restrictive prehistoric diet may have emphasized the apparent benefit of consuming psychoactive drugs, which had themselves evolved to imitate neurotransmitters.

[17] Chemical–ecological adaptations and the genetics of hepatic enzymes, particularly cytochrome P450, have led researchers to propose that "humans have shared a co-evolutionary relationship with psychotropic plant substances that is millions of years old.

[22][23][24][25][26] Some scientific studies in the early 21st century found that a low to moderate level of alcohol consumption, particularly of red wine,[27] might have substantial health benefits such as decreased risk of cardiovascular diseases, stroke, and cognitive decline.

[28][29][30] This claim has been disputed, specifically by British researcher David Nutt, professor of neuropsychopharmacology at the Imperial College London, who stated that studies showing benefits for "moderate" alcohol consumption in "some middle-aged men" lacked controls for the variable of what the subjects were drinking beforehand.

Young adults and college students reported the recreational prevalence of cannabis, among other drugs, at 20-25% while the cultural mindset of using was open and curious.

[46] Despite acknowledgement that drug use was greatly growing among America's youth during the late 1960s, surveys have suggested that only as much as 4% of the American population had ever smoked marijuana by 1969.

[47] The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 classified marijuana along with heroin and LSD as a Schedule I drug, i.e., having the relatively highest abuse potential and no accepted medical use.

[44][48] Most marijuana at that time came from Mexico, but in 1975 the Mexican government agreed to eradicate the crop by spraying it with the herbicide paraquat, raising fears of toxic side effects.

[48] The "zero tolerance" climate of the Reagan and Bush administrations (1981–1993) resulted in passage of strict laws and mandatory sentences for possession of marijuana.

Beginning in 1982, the Drug Enforcement Administration turned increased attention to marijuana farms in the United States, and there was a shift to the indoor growing of plants specially developed for small size and high yield.

[44][50][51][52] Subcultures have emerged among users of recreational drugs,[53] as well as alternative lifestyles and social movements among those who abstain from them, such as teetotalism and "straight edge".

[54] Since the early 2000s, medical professionals have acknowledged and addressed the problem of the increasing consumption of alcoholic drinks and club drugs (such as MDMA, cocaine, rohypnol, GHB, ketamine, PCP, LSD, and methamphetamine) associated with rave culture among adolescents and young adults in the Western world.

[61] The prevalence of recreational drugs in human societies is widely reflected in fiction, entertainment, and the arts, subject to prevailing laws and social conventions.

[62][63][64][65] In video games, for example, drugs are portrayed in a variety of ways: including power-ups (cocaine gum replenishes stamina in Red Dead Redemption 2), obstacles to be avoided (such as the Fuzzies in Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island that distort the player's view when accidentally consumed), items to be bought and sold for in-game currency (coke dealing is a big part of Scarface: The World Is Yours).

[66] Drug trafficking, gang rivalries, and their related criminal underworld also play a big part in the Grand Theft Auto video game franchise.

A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis by Murrie et al. found that the rate of transition from opioid, alcohol and sedative induced psychosis to schizophrenia was 12%, 10% and 9% respectively.

Their recreational appeal exists mainly due to their anticholinergic properties, that induce anxiolysis and, in some cases such as diphenhydramine, chlorpheniramine, and orphenadrine, a characteristic euphoria at moderate doses.

Hallucinations and possibly delirium resembling the effects of Datura stramonium can result if the drug is taken in much higher than therapeutic doses.

Some further examples of the brand name prescription opiates and opioid analgesics that may be used recreationally include Vicodin, Lortab, Norco (hydrocodone), Avinza, Kapanol (morphine), Opana, Paramorphan (oxymorphone), Dilaudid, Palladone (hydromorphone), and OxyContin (oxycodone).

The following are examples of tranquilizers (GABAergics): Stimulants, also known as "psychostimulants",[94] induce euphoria with improvements in mental and physical function, such as enhanced alertness, wakefulness, and locomotion.

Common effects may include increased alertness, awareness, wakefulness, endurance, productivity, and motivation, arousal, locomotion, heart rate, and blood pressure, and a diminished desire for food and sleep.

Yet the most popular, and at the same time most stigmatized, use of psychedelics in Western culture has been associated with the search for direct religious experience, enhanced creativity, personal development, and "mind expansion".

The use of psychedelic drugs was a major element of the 1960s counterculture, where it became associated with various social movements and a general atmosphere of rebellion and strife between generations.

[101] Most inhalant drugs that are used non-medically are ingredients in household or industrial chemical products that are not intended to be concentrated and inhaled, including organic solvents (found in cleaning products, fast-drying glues, and nail polish removers), fuels (gasoline (petrol) and kerosene), and propellant gases such as Freon and compressed hydrofluorocarbons that are used in aerosol cans such as hairspray, whipped cream, and non-stick cooking spray.