Psychoactive drug

**History and Regulation of Psychoactive Drugs:**
– Psychoactive drug use dates back at least 10,000 years.
– Medicinal use is a significant aspect of psychoactive drug history.
– Governments began banning recreational drug use in the 20th century.
– Legal measures and moral debates surround drug use and regulation.
– The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961) established international drug legality rules.
– Various nations implement laws based on drug schedules to combat drug addiction.

**Types and Effects of Psychoactive Drugs:**
– Anxiolytics, empathogen-entactogens, stimulants, depressants, and hallucinogens are different types of psychoactive drugs.
– Drugs alter perception, mood, cognition, and behavior.
– Some substances induce pleasant changes in consciousness and mood.
– Addiction and physical or psychological dependence can result from drug use.
– Misuse, dependence, and addiction led to legal measures and moral debates.

**Therapeutic Use and Legality of Psychoactive Drugs:**
– Some psychoactive drugs are prescribed for therapeutic purposes.
– Drug rehabilitation combines psychotherapy and support groups.
– Medication, including psychoactive substances, may be used in addiction treatment.
– Governmental controls aim to reduce problematic medical drug use.
– Legal measures regulate drug manufacture, supply, and prescription.

**Uses and Effects of Psychoactive Drugs:**
– Psychoactive drugs are used for anesthesia, pain management, mental disorders, recreation, and ritual/spiritual purposes.
– Drugs affect neurochemistry, leading to mood, cognition, perception, and behavior changes.
– Exposure to substances can alter neuron structure and function.
– Sensitization and desensitization processes may lead to drug dependence.
– Physical dependence on certain drugs can worsen symptoms upon withdrawal.

**Military Applications and Animal Impact of Psychoactive Drugs:**
– Psychoactive drugs have been used in military applications as non-lethal weapons.
– Animals consume psychoactive plants, berries, and fermented fruit.
– Nervous systems of animals contain receptors for psychoactive chemicals.
– Traditional legends mention animals introducing humans to psychoactive plant use.
– Animals and psychoactive plants seem to have co-evolved.

Psychoactive drug (Wikipedia)

A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent, or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance that changes the function of the nervous system and results in alterations of perception, mood, cognition, and behavior. These substances may be used medically, recreationally, for spiritual reasons (for example, by altering one's consciousness, as with entheogens for ritual, spiritual, or shamanic purposes), or for research. Some categories of psychoactive drugs may be prescribed by physicians and other healthcare practitioners because of their therapeutic value.

An assortment of psychoactive drugs, including both street drugs and medications:

Some psychoactive substances may be used in detoxification and rehabilitation programs for people who may have become dependent upon or addicted to other mind-altering or mood-altering substances. Drug rehabilitation attempts to reduce addiction through a combination of strategies such as psychotherapy, support groups, and sometimes medication such as psychoactive substances.

Psychoactive substances often bring various changes in consciousness and mood that the user may find rewarding and pleasant (e.g., euphoria or a sense of relaxation) or advantageous in an observable or measurable way (e.g., increased alertness). Substances that are rewarding and thus positively reinforcing have the potential to induce a state of addiction – compulsive drug use despite negative consequences. In addition, sustained use of some substances may produce physical or psychological dependence, or both, associated with somatic or psychological-emotional withdrawal states, respectively.

Psychoactive drug misuse, dependence, and addiction have resulted in legal measures and moral debate. Governmental controls on manufacture, supply, and prescription attempt to reduce problematic medical drug use. Ethical concerns have also been raised about the overuse of these drugs clinically and about their marketing by manufacturers. Popular campaigns to decriminalize or legalize the recreational use of certain drugs (e.g., cannabis) are also ongoing.