Drugs, hallucinogens, narcotics, stupefacients: a very inaccurate and arbitrary terminology: 

One of the main problems regarding drugs is the inadequate and arbitrary use of the terminology, which is a demonstration of the widespread ignorance that exists in this subject.

In contemporary culture the use of the word "hallucinogens" referring to all psychoactive plants is widespread. However, most of the compounds normally classified as (illegal) drugs ARE NOT hallucinogens.

Another word commonly used refering to psyhoactive substances is "narcotics" . This term is not accurate either. Many products thar are consideered “illegal drugs” have an effect which is precisely the opposite. It is the case of cocaine, which, as we know, is a stimulant of the central nervous system and IT IS NOT narcotic at all. Derived words like narcotraficker, narco-gangs or narco-criminals. concerning the illegal marketing of cocaine, are equally inadequate.

Another commonly used term, with a rather vague meaning, is “stupefacient" (substances that cause stupor). The word "stupor" means “numbness, insensitivity”. From that point of view we can say that there are many drugs that produce "stupor" in that sense, but most of them can be legally consumed.

The term "drug" is also very general and inadequate to describe illegal compounds. Botanical pharmacology calls “drug” simply the part of the plant that is consumed with pharmacological purposes. In a generic sense drug is used for substances having biological effects on the body the characteristics and intensity of which vary depending on the substnce itself, the dose and the person receiving it According to the dose, a “drug”may be "medicine" or "poison". In fact, any substance is nott medicine or poisons, only the dose is.

As for the quality of "addictive" attributed to certain banned substances, it is totally inappropriate. Many of the illegal "drugs" are not addictive, whereas there are a large number of legal products producing strong addictions.

In short, the vocabulary of prohibition is consistently vague and contradictory. The only reasons that determine the designation of a substance as an illicit drug are historical and cultural in nature and concern to irrational dogmatic qualifications promoted by sectors beyond scientific logic.

In fact, to refer to the issue objectively, it will be required to name accurately the psychoactive substances presently considered as “drugs” as well as the relativity of their uses and effects. Only in this way the conceptual precision required will be achieved to address the issue in a reasonable and scientific manner.

D.Anton, Peoples, Drugs and Serpents, Piriguazú Ediciones