Recreational drug use  

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By medium: drugs in literature, drugs in music, drugs in film

Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear.

The psychopharmacologist Roland Siegel, who has studied this field, refers to intoxication as the 'Fourth Drive,' arguing that the human instinct to seek mind-altering substances has so much force and persistence that it functions like the human drives for hunger, thirst and shelter.

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By drug: alcohol - amphetamines (speed) - cocaine - ecstasy - hashish - heroin - LSD - magic mushrooms - opium - poppers - pot - smoking


Drug subcultures

Drug subcultures are examples of countercultures, primarily defined by recreational drug use.

Drug subcultures are 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".

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, sentiment amongst the crowd attracted to the drug in question, as well as the problems the users encounter.

Drugs also play an important role in various other subcultures, such as reggae music, rastafari and hippy movements. Many artists, especially in the 20th century, used various drugs and explored their influence on human life in general and particularly on the creative process, see "Artificial Paradises" by Charles Baudelaire.

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Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Recreational drug use" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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