Everything about Hard And Soft Drugs totally explained
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. The executive director of
UNODC, for example, doesn't accept cannabis as a soft drug.
Classification of alcohol and nicotine as hard drugs is also commonly rejected in most countries.
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,
alcohol, and
nicotine (
tobacco). 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.
Ketamine is sometimes thought of as being a hard drug, as it's the only addictive
hallucinogen; it's also possible to
overdose when taking the substance.
By some, all strong psychedelics (
LSD,
Magic Mushrooms,
Mescaline,
Salvia, etc.) are considered to have the potential to be in this grouping, because of the perceived possibility that psychological trauma or personality change can result from their use. However, scientific studies don't support this.
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. 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. It is also easier to overdose on than many soft drugs, though not as much as many hard drugs.
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, 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,
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's no evidence of physical addiction, and a toxic overdose on these substances requires in some cases, hundreds of times a normal dose. However, it's possible for one to take more than one is psychologically capable of handling, which leads to dangerous situations and
negative experiences.
Further Information
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