Recreational drug use  

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-{{Template}}+[[Image:Skull with a Cigarette (1886) - Vincent van Gogh.jpg|thumb|left|200px|''[[Skull with a Cigarette]]'' (1886) by Vincent van Gogh]]
-'''Recreational drug use''' is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational rather than [[medicine|medical]] or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear. Regardless of medical supervision, this label does not apply to the use of drugs for utilitarian purposes, such as the relief of fatigue or insomnia, or the control of appetite. +
-== Related ==+{| class="toccolours" style="float: left; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 2em; font-size: 85%; background:#c6dbf7; color:black; width:30em; max-width: 40%;" cellspacing="5"
 +| style="text-align: left;" |
 +"[[Hashish]], like all other solitary delights, makes the individual useless to mankind, and also makes society unnecessary to the individual." --''[[Les Paradis artificiels]]'' (1860) by Charles Baudelaire
 +<hr>
 +"[[Common sense]] tells us that [[Subjectivism|the things of this earth hardly exist]], and that true [[reality]] is only in [[dream]]s. To [[digestion|digest]] [[nature|natural]] (or [[artificiality|artificial]]) [[happiness]] takes first of all the courage to [[swallow]] it down. And perhaps those worthy of happiness are precisely those for whom felicity, as mortals conceive it, has ever the effect of an emetic." --''[[Les Paradis artificiels]]'' (1860) by Charles Baudelaire
 +|}
 +[[Image:The Smoker by Joos van Craesbeeckjpg.jpg|200px|thumb|right|''[[The Smoker]]'' (ca. 1654 - 1662) by Joos van Craesbeeck]]
 +[[Image:L'Absinthe (1876) - Edgar Degas.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[L'Absinthe]]'' ([[1876]]) - [[Edgar Degas]]]]
 +[[Image:Morphine.jpg|thumb|right|200px|''[[Morphine]]'' ([[1894]]) - [[Santiago Rusiñol]]]]
-By drug: [[alcohol]] - [[amphetamine]]s (speed) - [[cocaine]] - [[ecstasy]] - [[hashish]] - [[heroin]] - [[LSD]] - [[magic mushrooms]] - [[opium]] - [[poppers]] - [[pot]] - [[smoking]]+{{Template}}
-By medium: [[Drugs in literature]] - [[Drugs in music]] - [[Drugs in film]]+'''Recreational drug use''' is the use of a [[drug]] with the intention of creating or enhancing [[recreation]]al experience.
 +Drugs commonly considered capable of recreational use include [[alcohol]], [[nicotine]] and [[caffeine]].
-Related: [[addiction]] - [[consciousness]] - [[medicine]] - [[mind]] - [[prohibition]] - [[psychedelic]]+==Definition==
 +The concept of "recreational drug use" is that a person can use drugs recreationally or otherwise with reduced or eliminated risk of negatively affecting other aspects of one's life or other people's lives. Advocates of this philosophy point to the many well-known artists and intellectuals who have used drugs, experimentally or otherwise, with few detrimental effects on their lives. Responsible drug use becomes drug abuse only when the use of the substance significantly interferes with the user's daily life.
-== Psychotropics ==+Responsible drug use advocates that users should not take drugs at the same time as activities such as driving, swimming, operating machinery, or other activities that are unsafe without a sober state. Responsible drug use is emphasized as a primary prevention technique in harm-reduction drug policies. Harm-reduction policies were popularized in the late 1980s, although they began in the 1970s counter-culture where users were distributed cartoons explaining responsible drug use and consequences of irresponsible drug use. Another issue is that the illegality of drugs in itself may also cause social and economic consequences for those using them — the drugs may be "cut" with adulturants and the purity varies wildly, making overdoses more likely — and legal regulation of drug production and distribution would alleviate these and other dangers of illegal drug use. Harm reduction seeks to minimize the harm that can occur through the use of various drugs, whether legal (e.g., alcohol and nicotine), or illegal (e.g., heroin and cocaine). For example, people who inject illicit drugs can minimize harm to both themselves and members of the community through proper injecting technique, using new needles and syringes each time, and proper disposal of all injecting equipment.
-A '''psychoactive drug''' or '''psychotropic substance''' is a chemical that alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness, or behavior. Such drugs are often used in recreational drug use and as entheogens for spiritual purposes, as well as in medication, especially for treating neurological and psychological illnesses.+==See also==
 +*[[Counterfeit drug]]
 +*[[Demand reduction]]
 +*[[Drug education]]
 +*[[Entheogen]]
 +*[[Harm reduction]]
 +*[[Illegal drug trade]]
 +*[[Prohibition (drugs)]]
 +*[[Purple drank]]
 +*[[Recreational use of dextromethorphan]]
 +*[[Recreational use of ketamine]]
 +*[[List of recreational drugs]]
 +==Related==
-Many of these substances (especially the stimulants and depressants) can be habit-forming, causing chemical dependency and often leading to substance abuse. Conversely, others (namely the psychedelics) can help to treat and even cure such addictions. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_drug [Mar 2006]+:''[[substance dependence|addiction]] - [[consciousness]] - [[medicine]] - [[mind]] - [[prohibition]] - [[psychedelic]] - [[The Great Binge]]''
- +
-== Drug subcultures ==+
- +
- +
-Drug subcultures are examples of countercultures, primarily defined by recreational drug use.+
- +
-Drug subcultures may be seen as groups of people loosely united by a common understanding of the meaning and value (good or otherwise) of the incorporation into life of the drug in question. Such unity can take many forms, from friends who take the drug together, possibly obeying certain rules of etiquette, to full-scale political movements for the reform of drug laws. The sum of these parts can be considered an individual drug's "culture".+
- +
-It should be noted that there are multiple drug subcultures based on the use of different drugs - the culture surrounding cannabis, for example, is very different from that of heroin, due to the different sort of experiences and problems the drugs cause. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_subculture [Feb 2005]+
 +:''By medium: [[drugs in literature]], [[drugs in music]], [[drugs in film]]''
== Further reading == == Further reading ==
-*[[Trepanation|hole in the head]] +*[[Drug culture]]
-*''[[The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics]]''(2001) by [[Richard Davenport-Hines]]+*[[Psychoactive drug]]
 +*"''[[Artificial Paradises]]''" by [[Charles Baudelaire]].
 +*[[Trepanation|Hole in the head]]
 +*''[[The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics]]'' (2001) by Richard Davenport-Hines
*''[[Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible]]'' (2001) - Chris Bennett, Neil McQueen *''[[Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible]]'' (2001) - Chris Bennett, Neil McQueen
-*''[[Artificial Paradises: A Drugs Reader]]'' () - Mike Jay+*''[[Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market]]'' (1992) - Thomas Szasz
-*''[[Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market]]'' (1992) - [[Thomas Szasz]]+
- +
- +
-== ''The Pursuit of Oblivion: A Global History of Narcotics'' (2001) ==+
- +
-Richard Davenport-Hines offers a sharply opinionated history of drugs structured around three major premises: Human beings use drugs; for many that choice will be debilitating, sometimes fatal; and government prohibition of drugs, as opposed to regulation, is counterproductive and doomed to vainglorious failure. --Publishers Weekly+
-Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market (1992) - Thomas Stephen Szasz+
-== Artificial Paradises: A Drugs Reader () - Mike Jay ==+
-Times change--who would have thought that we'd ever see a nonjudgmental mainstream anthology of writings about mind-altering drugs? --Rob Lightner for amazon.com+
- +
-== Sex, Drugs, Violence and the Bible (2001) - Chris Bennett, Neil McQueen ==+
- +
-Here in the bi-millenial year of the most popular individual in history, Jesus Christ, it is the perfect time to take an honest and hard look at the book that pivoted him to popularity. We say this is the perfect time for this endeavor, not only because we likely won't be burnt at the stake or imprisoned for doing so, but also because here in the "Age of Information", access to the historical material that is relevant to the subject, is unquestionably more available than ever before. It is only by coming to understand the world and time in which the [[Bible]] itself developed, that we can ever understand the Bible itself. -- from the publisher+
- +
-== Our Right to Drugs: The Case for a Free Market (1992) - Thomas Stephen Szasz ==+
-"My aim" states [[Thomas Szasz]], "is to mount a critique of our current drug laws and social policies, based on the fundamental premise that a limited government, epitomized by the U.S., lacks the political legitimacy to deprive competent adults of the right to ingest, inhale, or inject whatever substance they want. . . In summary my argument is that the constraints on the power of the federal government, laid down in the Constitution, have been eroded by a monopolistic medical profession administering a system of prescription laws that, in effect, have removed most of the drugs people want from the free market. Hence, it is futile to debate whether the War on Drugs should be escalated or de-escalated, without first coming to grips with the popular and political mindset concerning the trade in drugs generated by nearly a century of drug prohibitions."--via Amazon.com 
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Skull with a Cigarette (1886) by Vincent van Gogh
Enlarge
Skull with a Cigarette (1886) by Vincent van Gogh

"Hashish, like all other solitary delights, makes the individual useless to mankind, and also makes society unnecessary to the individual." --Les Paradis artificiels (1860) by Charles Baudelaire

"Common sense tells us that the things of this earth hardly exist, and that true reality is only in dreams. To digest natural (or artificial) happiness takes first of all the courage to swallow it down. And perhaps those worthy of happiness are precisely those for whom felicity, as mortals conceive it, has ever the effect of an emetic." --Les Paradis artificiels (1860) by Charles Baudelaire

The Smoker (ca. 1654 - 1662) by Joos van Craesbeeck
Enlarge
The Smoker (ca. 1654 - 1662) by Joos van Craesbeeck

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Recreational drug use is the use of a drug with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Drugs commonly considered capable of recreational use include alcohol, nicotine and caffeine.

Contents

[edit]

Definition

The concept of "recreational drug use" is that a person can use drugs recreationally or otherwise with reduced or eliminated risk of negatively affecting other aspects of one's life or other people's lives. Advocates of this philosophy point to the many well-known artists and intellectuals who have used drugs, experimentally or otherwise, with few detrimental effects on their lives. Responsible drug use becomes drug abuse only when the use of the substance significantly interferes with the user's daily life.

Responsible drug use advocates that users should not take drugs at the same time as activities such as driving, swimming, operating machinery, or other activities that are unsafe without a sober state. Responsible drug use is emphasized as a primary prevention technique in harm-reduction drug policies. Harm-reduction policies were popularized in the late 1980s, although they began in the 1970s counter-culture where users were distributed cartoons explaining responsible drug use and consequences of irresponsible drug use. Another issue is that the illegality of drugs in itself may also cause social and economic consequences for those using them — the drugs may be "cut" with adulturants and the purity varies wildly, making overdoses more likely — and legal regulation of drug production and distribution would alleviate these and other dangers of illegal drug use. Harm reduction seeks to minimize the harm that can occur through the use of various drugs, whether legal (e.g., alcohol and nicotine), or illegal (e.g., heroin and cocaine). For example, people who inject illicit drugs can minimize harm to both themselves and members of the community through proper injecting technique, using new needles and syringes each time, and proper disposal of all injecting equipment.

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Related

addiction - consciousness - medicine - mind - prohibition - psychedelic - The Great Binge
By medium: drugs in literature, drugs in music, drugs in film
[edit]

Further reading


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