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Article: Drugs and Narcotics
- Article from:
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law
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DRUGS AND NARCOTICS
Drugs
are articles that are intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease in humans or animals, and any articles other than food, water, or oxygen that are intended to affect the mental or body function of humans or animals.
Narcotics
are any drugs that dull the senses and commonly become addictive after prolonged use.
In the scientific community, drugs are defined as substances that can affect a human's or animal's biological and neurological states. They may be organic, such as the chemical tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which occurs naturally in marijuana; or synthetic, such as amphetamines or sedatives, which are ...