A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent, or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance that changes the function of the nervous system and results in alterations of perception, mood, cognition, and behavior. These substances have various applications, including medical use like psychedelic therapy, recreationally, or for spiritual reasons. Some categories of psychoactive drugs may be prescribed by physicians and other healthcare practitioners because of their therapeutic value.
An assortment of psychoactive drugs, including both street drugs and medications: Cocaine Crack cocaine Methylphenidate (Ritalin) Ephedrine MDMA (ecstasy) Peyote (mescaline) LSD blotter Psilocybin mushroom (Psilocybe cubensis) Salvia divinorum (salvinorin A) Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) (Unscheduled drug) Amanita muscaria mushroom (muscimol) Tylenol 3 (acetaminophen/codeine) Codeine with muscle relaxant Pipe tobacco (nicotine) (Unscheduled drug) Bupropion (Unscheduled drug)
Alcohol is a widely-used psychoactive drug. The global alcoholic drinks market was expected to exceed $1 trillion in 2013. Beer is the world's third-most popular drink, after water and tea.
Zoloft (sertraline) is an SSRI antidepressant.
Historical image of legal heroin bottle
The war on drugs is the policy of a global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the United States. The initiative includes a set of drug policies that are intended to discourage the production, distribution, and consumption of psychoactive drugs that the participating governments, through United Nations treaties, have made illegal.
Mexican troops during a gun battle in Michoacán, 2007. Mexico's drug war claims nearly 50,000 lives each year.[citation needed]
California Attorney General Kamala Harris visiting the U.S.–Mexico border on March 24, 2011, to discuss strategies to combat drug cartels
The U.S. military invasion of Panama in 1989