Recreational drug use

Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational rather than 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.

History

The recreational use of drugs has been popular throughout human history.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The most widespread recreationally used drug used to be alcohol. Beer and wine were produced in Persia and in the Mediterranean before recorded history. Popular theory seems to agree that people first consumed and enjoyed the effect of rotten fruit, which would contain some alcohol. Modern research in the jungle has shown this to be the case with animals. Nicotine, the psychoactive constituent of tobacco, was first used by Europeans in the sixteenth century, but was used ritually in the Americas centuries prior. Caffeine has a long history of human consumption as well, and may have overtaken alcohol as the most popular recreational drug. Despite relatively recent proscription as an illegal drug in much of the world, cannabis retains its historical popularity. Cannabis, like alcohol, has been used by virtually every culture in recorded history.

Related Topics:
Alcohol - Beer - Wine - Nicotine - Tobacco - Caffeine - Cannabis

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Recreational use of opium (extracted from the immature seed pods of a species of poppy) was once common in Asia, and from there spread to the West. Its use peaked in the nineteenth century, when the British Empire and other Western powers used military power to force China to legalize its import from India and other British colonies (see Opium Wars). Cocaine and heroin were sold as patent medicines in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and marketed as treatments for a wide variety of ailments.

Related Topics:
Opium - Poppy - Nineteenth century - British Empire - China - Opium Wars - Cocaine - Heroin - 19th - 20th

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Many other substances were once commonly used as recreational drugs, but fell from favor for various reasons. Islam forbids the consumption of alcoholic beverages, and many religions discourage the recreational use of drugs. In the 20th century some Western countries, notably the United States, have criminalized the use of many recreational drugs, and used diplomatic, economic and military pressure on other countries to do the same. Thus, for example, the Japanese hemp plant — once widely grown as a source of textile fiber — was wiped out during the American occupation after World War II, and today only survives in a handful of strictly controlled bio-conservation plots.

Related Topics:
Islam - Alcoholic beverages - 20th century - United States - Hemp - World War II

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~