Hard and soft drugs
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2008-07-10T23:34:20Z
Zachorious
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/* Hard drugs */ bias
{{Unreferenced|date=October 2007}}
{{Totally-disputed|date=December 2007}}
{{dablink|"Hard drugs" redirects here. For the song "Hard Drugs" by Screaming Jets, see [[Tear of Thought]].}}
[[Image:Hard and soft drugs.svg|250px|thumb|A common categorization of hard and soft drugs{{Fact|date=December 2007}}]]
'''Hard and soft drugs''' are loose categories of non-prescription [[psychoactive drug]]s. This distinction is used in both official and casual discourse. The term '''hard drug''' generally refers to drugs illegal for nonmedical use that lead to profound and severe [[addiction]], as opposed to '''soft drugs''' that has weaker or no physical withdrawal symptoms. Some so-called soft drugs are however strongly habit-forming for other reasons than physical withdrawal symptoms; the dividing up between hard and soft drugs is therefore only accepted in the legislation in certain countries, such as [[Drug policy of the Netherlands|Netherlands]]. The executive director of [[UNODC]], for example, does not accept cannabis as a soft drug. <ref>[http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/article2390867.ece Antonio Maria Costa]</ref>
Classification of alcohol and nicotine as hard drugs is also commonly rejected in most countries.{{Fact|date=January 2008}}
A large part of the distinction is a subjective, socially conceived notion of the consequences of usage for each. Depending on context, a particular drug can be categorized in many different ways for various reasons.
==Hard drugs==
Examples of ''hard drugs'' include [[heroin]], [[morphine]], [[cocaine]], [[amphetamines]], [[Alcoholic beverage|alcohol]], and [[nicotine]] ([[tobacco]]).{{Fact|date=January 2008}} Drugs in this group are generally described as being physically addictive, easier to overdose on, and/or posing serious health and social risks, including death. Most, if not all, of these drugs are [[stimulants]] or [[depressants]]. Some of these drugs (alcohol and tobacco) can be freely purchased by adults; some can be purchased only with a doctor's prescription, and two (heroin and cocaine) are generally illegal, although cocaine is sometimes used legally as a local anesthetic and heroin is legally used as an analgesic in some countries: for example, the [[United Kingdom]].
A few analgesics even stronger than heroin—notably, [[fentanyl]]—are widely used in the U.S., but are usually administered directly by doctors.
==In between "hard drugs" and "soft drugs"==
Not all drugs fit under the "hard drug" or "soft drug" label. Examples of these include [[MDMA]], [[Ketamine]], and [[caffeine]].{{Fact|date=December 2007}} MDMA shares some features with soft drugs in that it doesn't produce physical addiction. Some studies however say that it might be [[Psychologically_addictive#Psychological_dependency|psychologically addictive]], though such a claim is very controversial in the medical community.
Caffeine, although legal and unregulated in nearly all jurisdictions, does have a mild addiction potential (both physical and psychological) that can lead to [[Caffeine#Overuse|caffeinism]]. Its overdose potential is also higher than that of soft drugs, though nowhere near hard drugs. If used often, caffeine can also give rise to bodily stress, ulcers, and irregular heartbeat, which can sometimes lead to death,{{Fact|date=December 2007}} though more deaths occur from overdose. Despite this, caffeine is still safer than most hard drugs. Caffeine is the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world.
==Soft drugs==
Examples of ''soft drugs'' include [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]], [[DMT]], [[mescaline]], [[psilocybin]], and [[LSD]]. [[MDMA]] and [[caffeine]] are sometimes included as soft drugs, see above. The term soft drug is most usually applied to cannabis ([[Cannabis (drug)|marijuana]] or [[hashish]]).
The distinction between soft drugs and hard drugs is important in the [[drug policy of the Netherlands]], where [[Cannabis cultivation|cannabis production]], [[Cannabis coffee shops|retailing]] and use come under official tolerance, subject to certain conditions. Other [[drugs]] such as [[psilocybin mushrooms]] and [[LSD]] are also considered soft drugs by many because there is no evidence of physical addiction, and a toxic overdose on these substances requires in some cases, hundreds of times a normal dose. However, it is possible for one to take more than one is psychologically capable of handling, which leads to dangerous situations and [[bad trip|negative experiences]].
==See also==
* [[Drug policy of the Netherlands]]
* [[Designer drugs]]
*[[The Rhetoric of Drugs]]
==Sources==
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[[nl:Softdrug]]
[[ja:ハードドラッグとソフトドラッグ]]
[[simple:Hard and soft drugs]]
[[sr:Лаке и тешке дроге]]
[[sv:Lätta droger]]
[[Category:Psychoactive drugs]]