Purposes




Psychoactive substances are used by humans for a number of different purposes to achieve a specific end. These uses vary widely between cultures. Some substances may have controlled or illegal uses while others may have shamanic purposes, and still others are used medicinally. Other examples would be social drinking, nootropic, or sleep aids. Caffeine is the world's most widely consumed psychoactive substance, but unlike many others, it is legal and unregulated in nearly all jurisdictions. In North America, 90% of adults consume caffeine daily.

Psychoactive drugs are divided into different groups according to their pharmacological effects. Commonly used psychoactive drugs and groups:

  • Anxiolytics
Example: benzodiazepines, barbiturates
  • Empathogen–entactogens
Example: MDMA (ecstasy), MDA, 6-APB, AMT
  • Stimulants ("uppers"). This category comprises substances that wake one up, stimulate the mind, and may cause euphoria, but do not affect perception.
Examples: amphetamine, caffeine, cocaine, nicotine, modafinil
  • Depressants ("downers"), including sedatives, hypnotics, and opioids. This category includes all of the calmative, sleep-inducing, anxiety-reducing, anesthetizing substances, which sometimes induce perceptual changes, such as dream images, and also often evoke feelings of euphoria.
Examples: ethanol (alcoholic beverages), opioids, cannabis, barbiturates, benzodiazepines.
  • Hallucinogens, including psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants. This category encompasses all those substances that produce distinct alterations in perception, sensation of space and time, and emotional states
Examples: psilocybin, LSD, DMT (N,N-Dimethyltryptamine), mescaline, Salvia divinorum, Nitrous Oxide, and Scopolamine

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