Recreational drugs

DEFINITION: Recreational drugs are drugs used casually for entertainment and other purposes, in contrast with medicinal, spiritual, and performance-enhancing uses.

History of Use

The non-technical term recreational drug identifies the casual use of drugs. The term, which became common in the 1990s, is now frequently employed in the mass media and in popular discourse. The concept of using drugs for recreational purposes differentiates such use from the four other established uses and effects: medicinal, spiritual, addictive, and performance-enhancing.

While such distinctions can usefully serve to denote the type of use, they do not neatly classify the types of drugs used because the same drug can be used for more than one such purpose. For example, most of the legal drugs that are used recreationally, especially nicotine, alcohol, and caffeine, are often also addictive. Also, many prescription drugs used for medicinal purposes can also be used recreationally and are addictive. Likewise, many illegal drugs, such as cocaine and heroin, are used recreationally and are addictive. Drugs such as LSD (acid), MDMA (Molly/Ecstasy), mescaline (peyote), and marijuana are used for spiritual and recreational purposes, and the latter is also commonly used for medicinal reasons.

Several of the drugs now used recreationally have been used throughout the history of civilization. Alcohol was first fermented in West Asia about 8000 BCE, marijuana was used in Asia as early as about three thousand years ago, and mushrooms containing the psychedelic chemical psilocybin have been available to humans for thousands of years. Initially, these drugs were used for medicinal and religious purposes, and recreational use emerged as a deviation.

Recreational drug use is endemic throughout all historical eras and geographic regions, but the particular drugs used vary widely across different cultures, places, and times. Alcohol and marijuana have been the two most prevalent across time and culture. Both have been the target of many unsuccessful attempts at prohibition. Among other drugs that have been in widespread recreational use for several centuries are coffee, tobacco, and opiates.

In the United States during the 1950s, two groups of prescription drugs were commonly used beyond their medicinal purposes: barbiturates, which were used as tranquilizers, and amphetamines, which were used as stimulants. Amphetamine came to be known casually as speed and was increasingly used recreationally through the 1960s and later. Also, LSD, which had been synthesized in 1943, was studied for its medicinal and therapeutic uses in the 1950s and early 1960s. Successful outcomes were indicated in the treatment of felons and alcoholics. Some performance-enhancement uses also were studied, mostly for artistic creativity. During the 1960s, the spiritual use of LSD became more common. With this widening pattern of use, LSD also came to be used recreationally, especially among college students, and it was made illegal in 1966.

Psychedelics derived from plants, especially mescaline and psilocybin, also became popular around the mid-1960s. Again, these substances were used first for spiritual purposes, which had been their long-standing function among the indigenous peoples in the United States and Mexico; a wider use by youth included recreational pursuits. Marijuana use also increased dramatically in the 1960s and early 1970s.

During the late 1970s, especially among the disco and punk music subcultures, the use of amyl nitrates (poppers) as inhalants became common. The 1980s saw the spread of ecstasy, especially among clubgoers. Though research showed that ecstasy may have medicinal value as an aid to marital or relationship therapy, it was made illegal in 1985. Later research indicated that ecstasy may also have medicinal value in treating post-traumatic stress disorder and cluster headaches.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century, methamphetamine became a common drug of choice. Since the mid-twentieth century, the two most commonly used recreational drugs have been alcohol and marijuana, especially by youth, with the popularity of other drugs rising and falling.

The recent history of recreational drug use shows that the particular drugs used recreationally have tended to rise and fall according to their fashion for specific times and subcultures. Trends in the United States likewise vary by age, race, and social class. Among children and adolescents living below the poverty line, solvent inhalants, especially glues and aerosols, are commonly used recreational drugs. Among low-income and working-class urban adolescents and young adults, heroin and crack cocaine are major drugs of choice. Among low-income individuals in rural areas and the working class, methamphetamine is common.

Beginning in the 2010s, opioid use increased across social classes, accounting for more than 70 percent of overdose deaths. Drug dealers and manufacturers began adding fentanyl to more expensive drugs like heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine to increase their profits and make the drugs more addictive. This significantly increased the opioid crisis in the US and Canada, increasing addiction rates and overdose deaths. The uncertainty in purchasing illicit substances in the 2020s was higher than ever before.

Though alcohol use steadily declined through the first two decades of the twenty-first century, marijuana use among teens increased 245 percent between 2000 and 2020. As states legalized its recreational use, marijuana became more accessible to obtain. Among teenagers, cocaine use is less common than marijuana use, and though less common, abuse of prescription drugs, such as Adderall, Vicodin, and OxyContin, does occur. However, by the mid-2020s, long-term trends beginning in the 2000s held relatively steady, with 5 to 7 percent of teenagers using illicit substances other than marijuana. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), teens who abuse prescription painkillers often do so in combination with alcohol and other drugs. Teens also use heroin, crystal meth, and MDMA (ecstasy and Molly), although their use has declined. Though the use of most illicit drugs declined in the late 2010s and early 2020s, overdose deaths among teens increased significantly from 2010 to 2020. Also during this time, teen use of synthetic designer drugs like the synthetic cannabinoids K2 and Spice began rising. These drugs mimic the effects of other drugs and are relatively inexpensive and easy to obtain.

Effects and Potential Risks

Given the extremely wide range of drugs that are used recreationally, the number of effects and potential risks is similarly large. It is possible to classify recreational drugs in terms of their effects on cognition, affect, or sensation. Furthermore, it is possible to specify whether they enhance or diminish such capacities.

LSD, for example, is used to enhance cognition, ecstasy to enhance effect, and marijuana to enhance sensation; cocaine and methamphetamine provide both a euphoric effect and stimulation of cognition, whereas heroin provides a euphoric mood while leading to a drowsy cognitive state; alcohol typically enhances effect while decreasing cognition and sensation, and so forth. Such attempts at classifying the effects of drugs, however, falter upon the dilemma that, for most drugs with psychoactive effects, the exact effects are not universal but rather vary considerably based upon two factors not tied to the drug itself: the mental state of the individual using the drug and the setting in which they use the drug.

Just as the effects of so wide a range of drugs cannot be univocally specified, neither can their potential risks. For most drugs, one potential risk is the danger of dependence. Such addictive potential varies considerably across the spectrum of drugs used recreationally. Those that are legal—alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine—have the most widespread patterns of addiction. Among the illegal drugs with the greatest potential for addiction are heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine. The drug whose use is most commonly prosecuted, marijuana, has been shown to have no addictive potential, though the possibility of a nonphysical or psychological dependency among some users remains disputed.

Beyond their addictive potential, many of the drugs used recreationally pose a range of health risks, especially in the context of long-term heavy use. Alcohol, in particular, has been linked to organ damage, especially of the liver. Smoking nicotine cigarettes, cigars, and vapes is linked to lung cancer. Individuals who smoke are twenty-five times more likely to die from lung cancer than individuals who do not smoke. Among illegal drugs, methamphetamine use can lead to brain damage and dental problems, cocaine to cardiovascular problems, and heroin to heart, lung, and liver damage. Many studies show a complex but close association between recreational drug use and mental health problems; combined with genetic factors, many experts believe drug use and mental illness reinforce each other in many cases.

Additional risks arise because of the illegal status of many recreational drugs. For example, additional unknown, harmful effects can arise. Additional risks arise because of the illegal status of many recreational drugs. For example, additional unknown, harmful effects can arise. Blood-borne diseases like human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B, and hepatitis C are often caused by using, reusing, and sharing needles for intravenous drugs. Also, adulterated or impure substances purchased on the black market can cause serious harm. The risk of arrest and the consequences of a conviction also must be counted among the harms in this category.

Bibliography

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