What Are Drugs?

The medical definition of drugs is defined as a substance that is taken into the body, which modifies one or more of its functions. The dictionary defines drugs as substance that treats or prevents relief from symptoms of disease. If we are to take a much earlier look at the definition of drugs and take a look at its derivation, it can be seen to come from the Greek word pharmakon, which gave us words as pharmacy and pharmacological. The word means both medication and poison. Another derivation is from the Latin word venenum, which means drug, potion, and poison. In both of these early cultures, drugs are described as medication and poisons.

Looking at the word intoxicate, it shows the derivation of this word coming from the Greek word toxika, which was poison used for arrows, and toxic is defined as being poisonous. In that time period, when someone was described to be intoxicated, they were described as being poisoned. Typically today, the word intoxicated is used to describe an individual who is under the influence of either drugs or alcohol. The general viewpoint of drugs today is not of poisons, but as what forms of side effects take place. It is commonly known that most, if not all drugs will cause some form of side effect. These side effects can be both negative and positive side effects, depending on how the drug is used.

The term side effect is widely recognized as term to address drug and alcohol addiction. The side effects from drugs are basically the harm that is caused to a person, which outweigh any mental or physical good the drugs can do for that person. Unfortunately most people when they get addicted to these poisons don’t normally want to harm themselves physically and emotionally. However, the side effects that come with illegal drug use are sometimes more devastating than what the user had anticipated. However it is looked at, drugs are essentially poisons, and these are the poisons that are being put into our body. If more knowledge is put out about the truth about drugs, people can make more educated decisions.

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Works cited – Smith Gary W., Derry Hallmark. Helping Someone Overcome Addiction. Narconon of Oklahoma, Oklahoma USA, 2003