Drugs of Abuse

The drugs most popular for recreational use:

  • caffeine and theobromine (from coffee, tea, cocoa and other plant sources) – legal in all parts of the world, but not consumed by members of some religions.
  • ethanol (ethyl alcohol, commonly referred to as simply alcohol, produced through fermentation by yeast in alcoholic beverages such as wine and beer) – illegal in several Muslim countries such as Pakistan, Libya, Sudan, Iran and Saudi Arabia; not consumed by members of some religions. It acts as a GABAA receptor agonist.
  • tobacco - mainly from tobacco smoking. Tobacco contains nicotine and beta-carbolinealkaloids.
  • cannabis (in the form of herbal cannabis or hashish). Contains cannabinoids, primarily THC – tetrahydrocannabinol. Illegal in most parts of the world.
  • opiates and opioids – in general legal by prescription only, for relief of pain. Opiates used for recreational purposes are morphine and codeine. Opioids include heroin (diacetylmorphine, not used in medicine in most countries), oxycodone, hydromorphone, hydrocodone (Vicodin), fentanyl, pethidine, tramadol and others.
  • cocaine – a euphoric stimulant derived from the coca plant in South America. Use of the stimulating coca leaf (e.g. chewing it, often with slaked lime to increase bioavailability). Cocaine is legal in Bolivia. Cocaine is illegal in most parts of the world. It was formerly used in medicine and dentistry for local anesthesia. Derivatives such as lidocaine and novocaine are now used instead.

Other popular drugs are:

  • amphetamine (Adderall), methamphetamine (Desoxyn; methamphetamine hydrochloride, aka crystal meth), methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta). These are the stimulants.
  • modafinil (Provigil) and, armodafinil (Nuvigil) areeugeronic drugs. A wakefulness-promoting agent (eugeroic) is a type of psychoactive drug which improves wakefulness and alertness, and reduces tiredness, drowsiness, and the need for sleep. These are used to help people with sleep disorders (e.g. sleep apnea) to be able to stay awake during the day. There mechanism of action is different from the stimulants and they have a much lower potential for addiction.
  • MDPV with effects similar to amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine and methylphenidate
  • MDMA – a stimulant (entactogen) and a psychedelic (phenethylamine), in ecstasy pills
  • LSD – a psychedelic tryptamine, also DMT; 2C family, DOB, DOC, DOI, DOM – psychedelic phenethylamines
  • psilocybin mushrooms (containing psilocybin and psilocin, tryptamines) and other psychoactive mushrooms
  • tranquilizers (sedatives ): barbiturates, benzodiazepines (Xanax and Klonopin), and others including GHB, known for its use as a date-rape drug, but also as a party drug.
  • kava – sedative plant
  • Dissociatives: ketamine, phencyclidine (PCP), nitrous oxide (laughing gas), alkyl nitrites (Poppers), diethyl ether
  • khat containing cathine and cathinone (stimulants)
  • over-the-counter medications (in some countries they might be prescription drugs): dextromethorphan (DXM, dissociative), codeine (opiate, often with paracetamol to discourage recreational use), some deliriants (benzydamine, dimenhydrinate and diphenhydramine) and stimulants (ephedrine and pseudoephedrine)
  • recreational designer drugs (e.g. BZP, mephedrone) and synthetic cannabis(spice)
  • salvia divinorum containing Salvinorin A producing dissociative effects and hallucinations
  • nutmeg containing myristicin – a deliriant
  • widespread plants – for example those from Solanaceaefamily (e.g. datura, deadly nightshade) which contain following deliriants: atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine (pilocarpine is antidote in overdoses)
  • inhalants – solvents, propellants and fumes of glues containing these, but also nitrous oxide (laughing gas), Poppers (alkyl nitrites), diethyl ether and others (see also the section about them)

Inhaling nitrous oxide from tanks used in automotive systems is unsafe because the toxic gas sulfur dioxide is mixed in around 100ppm, specifically to discourage recreational use. Obviously, the inventors of this did not understand the judgment and knowledge of a13 year old who is addicted to inhalants.

Routes of administration

Drugs most often associated with a particular route of administration:

  • intravenous injection (see also the article Drug injection) – morphine and heroin, less commonly other opioids or stimulants like cocaine or amphetamine, but almost every substance (with some exceptions) can be injected
  • smoking (see also the section below) – tobacco, cannabis, opium, methamphetamine, crack cocaine and heroin (diamorphine as freebase) known as chasing the dragon
  • insufflation – snuff (a form of smokeless tobacco), amphetamine and cocaine
  • inhalation – all inhalants (listed above), as the name suggests
  • chewing, absorbing sublingually, placing under the lip, etc. – some forms of smokeless tobacco (e.g. dipping tobacco, snus), LSD blotters, coca leaves with slaked lime, paan (see betel), some hallucinogens
  • intrarectal - administering into the rectum, most water soluble drugs can be used this way
  • transdermal patches with prescription drugs – e.g. methylphenidate (Daytrana) and fentanyl
  • oral intake – caffeine, ethanol, hash cakes (cannabis), nutmeg, datura, psilocybin mushrooms, coca tea, poppy tea, laudanum, GHB, ecstasy pills with MDMA and/or various other substances (mainly stimulants and psychedelics), prescription and over-the-counter drugs (ADHD and narcolepsy medications, sleeping pills, anxiolytics, sedatives, cough suppressants, benzydamine, ephedrine, pseudoephedrine, morphine, codeine, opioids and others)

Many drugs are taken through various routes. Intravenous route is the most efficient, but also one of the most dangerous. Nasal, rectal, inhalation and smoking are safer. Oral route is one of the safest and most comfortable, but of little bioavailability.

Drugs which can be smoked

Plants:

  • tobacco
  • cannabis
  • salvia divinorum
  • opium
  • datura and other Solanaceae (formerly smoked to treat asthma)
  • possibly other plants (see the section below)

Substances (also not necessarily psychoactive plants soaked with them):

  • methamphetamine
  • crack cocaine
  • black tar heroin
  • phencyclidine (PCP)
  • synthetic cannabinoids (see also: synthetic cannabis)
  • dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
  • 5-MeO-DMT
  • many others, including some prescription drugs

Psychoactive plants, mushrooms and animals

Minimally psychoactive plants which contain mainly caffeine and theobromine:

  • coffee
  • tea (caffeine in tea is sometimes called theine) – also contains theanine
  • guarana (caffeine in guarana is sometimes called guaranine)
  • yerba mate (caffeine in yerba mate is sometimes called mateine)
  • cocoa
  • kola

Most known psychoactive plants:

  • cannabis – cannabinoids
  • tobacco – nicotine and beta-carbolinealkaloids
  • coca – cocaine
  • opium poppy – morphine, codeine and other opiates
  • salvia divinorum – salvinorin A
  • khat – cathine and cathinone
  • kava – kavalactones
  • nutmeg – myristicin

Solanaceae plants – contain atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine

  • datura
  • deadly nightshade atropa belladona
  • henbane
  • mandrake (Mandragora)
  • other Solanaceae

Cactuses with mescaline:

  • peyote
  • Peruvian torch cactus
  • San Pedro cactus

Other plants:

  • kratom – mitragynine, mitraphylline, 7-hydroxymitragynine, raubasine and corynantheidine
  • ephedra – ephedrine
  • damiana
  • Calea zacatechichi
  • Silene capensis
  • valerian – valerian (the chemical with the same name)
  • various plants like chacruna, jurema, vilca, and yopo – 5-MeO-DMT
  • Morning glory and Hawaiian Baby Woodrose – lysergic acid amide (LSA, ergine)
  • Ayahuasca
  • Tabernanthe iboga ("Iboga") – ibogaine
  • Areca catechu (see: betel and paan) – arecoline
  • Rauvolfia serpentina – rauwolscine
  • yohimbe (Pausinystalia yohimbe) – yohimbine, corynantheidine
  • probably many others

Mushrooms:

  • psilocybin mushrooms – psilocybin and psilocin
  • various Amanita mushrooms – bufotenin
  • Amanita muscaria – ibotenic acid and muscimol
  • Claviceps purpurea and other Clavicipitaceae – ergotamine (not psychoactive itself but used in synthesis of LSD)

Psychoactive animals:

  • psychoactive toads – bufotenin, Bufo alvarius (Colorado River toad or Sonoran Desert toad) also contains 5-MeO-DMT
Depressants (Sedatives)

Depressants are psychoactive drugs that temporarily diminish the function or activity of a specific part of the body or mind. Examples of these kinds of effects may include anxiolysis (decrease anxiety), sedation, and hypotension. Due to their effects typically having a "down" quality to them, depressants are also occasionally referred to as "downers". Stimulants or "uppers", which increase mental and/or physical function, are in stark contrast to depressants and are considered to be their functional opposites.

Depressants are widely used throughout the world as prescription medicines and as illicit substances. When these are used, effects may include anxiolysis, analgesia, sedation, somnolence, cognitive/memory impairment, dissociation, muscle relaxation, lowered blood pressure/heart rate, respiratory depression, anesthesia, and anticonvulsant effects. Some are also capable of inducing feelings of euphoria. Depressants exert their effects through a number of different pharmacological mechanisms, the most prominent of which include facilitation of GABA and/or opioid activity, and inhibition of adrenergic, histamine and/or acetylcholine activity.

Antihistamines

Antihistamines (or "histamine antagonists") inhibit the release or action of histamine. "Antihistamine" can be used to describe any histamine antagonist, but the term is usually reserved for the classical antihistamines that act upon the H1 histamine receptor. Antihistamines are used as treatment for allergies. Allergies are caused by an excessive response of the body to allergens, such as the pollen released by grasses and trees. An allergic reaction causes release of histamine by the body. Other uses of antihistamines are to help with normal symptoms of insect stings even if there is no allergic reaction.

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. Most addicts do not get a euphoria from these drugs though there is the rare addict that does get high especially when using something like Benadryl at higher than recommended doses. Hallucinations and possibly delirium resembling the effects of Datura stramonium can result if the drug is taken in much higher than therapeutical dosages.

The most common unsupervised use of antihistamines in terms of volume and percentage of the total is perhaps in parallel to the medicinal use of some antihistamines to stretch out and intensify the effects of opioids and depressants. The most commonly used are hydroxyzine (Vistaril and Atarax), mainly to stretch out a supply of other drugs, as in medical use. For all of the above reasons, the use of medicinal scopolamine for recreational uses is also seen.