ABSTRACT
Pharmacologists refer to all substances that influence the workings of the brain, that is to say, any and all mental and emotional processes-thinking, cognition, understanding, feeling, sensing, intuiting, empathizing-as psychoactive, and by definition, all psychoactive substances are drugs. Drugs have a range of effects and degrees of influence, but all can be abused. To be more specific about it, one does not abuse the drug, one abuses oneself-and others-with the use of the drug. As we already know, alcohol can be abused-by becoming physically and/or psychologically dependent, by harming oneself and the organs of one’s body through excessive use, or by getting drunk and harming oneself or placing oneself in harm’s way. It’s more difficult to abuse marijuana, but anyone who uses frequently and puts oneself into a condition that makes it difficult to perform conventional roles-studying, working, relating to others, navigating the material world-is guilty of marijuana abuse.
