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A common categorization of hard and soft drugs^{citation needed}

Hard and soft drugs are loose categories of non-prescription psychoactive drugs. 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 Netherlands.

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 mainstream considered hard drugs include heroin, morphine, cocaine, amphetamines, alcohol, and nicotine. 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 can be freely purchased by adults; some can be purchased only with a doctor's prescription, while other, like 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.

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.^{citation needed} 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, 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 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,^{citation needed} 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, 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 (marijuana or hashish).

The distinction between soft drugs and hard drugs is important in the drug policy of the Netherlands, where cannabis production, 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 can lead to negative experiences.

See also

• Drug policy of the Netherlands
• Designer drugs
• The Rhetoric of Drugs

Sources

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• This page was last modified on 6 September 2008, at 18:29.

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