CLASSIFICATION OF DRUGS OF ABUSE

1. GATEWAY DRUGS

Gateway drugs are introductory, habit-forming

substances that give way to more severe drug use down
the road. They are typically milder, fairly-accessible
substances – for example, alcohol or marijuana – that are
first used in adolescence or young adulthood. These easy-
to-get, easy-to-use drugs familiarize young users with first
feelings of intoxication. Over time, it is thought that young
users gain confidence and decide.

2. DEPRESSANT DRUGS
Depressant substances reduce arousal and
stimulation. They do not necessarily make a person feel
depressed. They affect the central nervous system,
slowing down the messages between the brain and the
body.1

They can affect concentration and coordination.

They slow down a person’s ability to respond to
unexpected situations. In small doses they can cause a
person to feel more relaxed and less inhibited.

3. STIMULANT DRUGS
Stimulant, any drug that excites any bodily
function, but more specifically those that stimulate the
brain and central nervous system. Stimulants induce
alertness, elevated mood, wakefulness, increased speech
and motor activity and decrease appetite. Their
therapeutic use is limited, but their mood-elevating
effects make some of them potent drugs of abuse.
4. NARCOTICS
A substance used to treat moderate to severe
pain. Narcotics are like opiates such as morphine and
codeine, but are not made from opium. They bind to
opioid receptors in the central nervous system.
Narcotics are now called opioids.
A drug that produces analgesia (pain relief),
narcosis (state of stupor or sleep), and addiction
(physical dependence on the drug). In some people
narcotics also produce euphoria (a feeling of great
elation).

5. HALLUCINOGENS
Hallucinogens are a diverse group of drugs
that alter a person’s awareness of their surroundings
as well as their own thoughts and feelings. They are
commonly split into two categories: classic
hallucinogens (such as LSD) and dissociative drugs
(such as PCP). Both types of hallucinogens can cause
hallucinations, or sensations and images that seem
real though they are not. Additionally, dissociative
drugs can cause users to feel out of control or
disconnected from their body and environment.

6. INHALANTS
Inhalants are volatile substances that
produce chemical vapors that can be inhaled to
induce a psychoactive, or mind-altering, effect.
Although other abused substances can be inhaled,
the term "inhalants" is used to describe a variety of
substances whose main common characteristic is
that they are rarely, if ever, taken by any route other
than inhalation. This definition encompasses a broad
range of chemicals that may have different
pharmacological effects and are found in hundreds
of different products. As a result, precise
categorization of inhalants is difficult. One
classification system lists four general categories of
inhalants — volatile solvents, aerosols, gases, and
nitrites — based on the forms in which they are often found in household, industrial, and
medical products.