Legal drug trade, as with other

goods In economics, goods are items that satisfy human wants and provide utility, for example, to a consumer making a purchase of a satisfying product. A common distinction is made between goods which are transferable, and services, which are not t ...

object of

commerce Commerce is the large-scale organized system of activities, functions, procedures and institutions directly and indirectly related to the exchange (buying and selling) of goods and services among two or more parties within local, regional, nation ...

, in opposition to smuggling or ''illegal'' drug trade, most psychotropic substances' commerce is under

control Control may refer to: Basic meanings Economics and business * Control (management), an element of management * Control, an element of management accounting * Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization * Controllin ...

and

tax A tax is a compulsory financial charge or some other type of levy imposed on a taxpayer (an individual or legal entity) by a governmental organization in order to fund government spending and various public expenditures (regional, local, or n ...

ation by world

governments A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

, regardless of the relative perceived

danger Danger is a lack of safety and may refer to: Places * Danger Cave, an archaeological site in Utah * Danger Island, Great Chagos Bank, Indian Ocean * Danger Island, alternate name of Pukapuka Atoll in the Cook Islands, Pacific Ocean * Danger Isla ...

of the goods that are the object of legislation. Legal commerce in drugs can be categorized according to the purpose of consumption (therapeutic vs recreational), type of drug involved and

phase Phase or phases may refer to: Science *State of matter, or phase, one of the distinct forms in which matter can exist *Phase (matter), a region of space throughout which all physical properties are essentially uniform * Phase space, a mathematic ...

of the trading

process A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic. Things called a process include: Business and management *Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...

, i.e.:

production Production may refer to: Economics and business * Production (economics) * Production, the act of manufacturing goods * Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services) * Production as a stati ...

, distribution or

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

Therapeutic use

Production

Drugs useful for treating diseases are the object of

pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field an ...

research Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

and

medical practice Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care practic ...

, and produced by the

pharmaceutical industry The pharmaceutical industry discovers, develops, produces, and markets drugs or pharmaceutical drugs for use as medications to be administered to patients (or self-administered), with the aim to cure them, vaccinate them, or alleviate symptoms. ...

, which in theory should be above

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

legislation prohibiting use or sole possession of the drugs termed illegal for other purposes.

Distribution

Pharmaceutical companies, through authorized dealers, guarantee the distribution of their products to their customers. Since antiquity, there have been stores specialized in drug selling. Today, they are called

pharmacies Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links healt ...

or, straightforwardly, drugstores. Certain drugs officially considered trade-able without medical supervision are also sold in non-specialized stores, such as supermarkets.

Consumption

Therapeutic drug consumption can take place in an

outpatient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care ...

setting, or during

hospitalization A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency ...

Recreational use

Production

Alcoholic beverages, containing psychoactive

ethyl alcohol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl group linked to a hyd ...

, are produced legally throughout the world. Their production supports a commercial

alcohol industry The alcohol industry is the segment of the commercial drink industry that is involved in the manufacturing, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages. Criticism The industry has been criticised in the 1990s for deflecting attention away from ...

. Consumption of alcohol is subject to regulation in most countries, namely by means of

age restrictions This article gives an outline of age restrictions. List *Age of candidacy *Age of consent *Age requirements in gymnastics *Age segregation *Defense of infancy *Legal drinking age *Legal smoking age * Legal working age *List of countries by ...

Tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, a recreational drug containing

nicotine Nicotine is a natural product, naturally produced alkaloid in the nightshade family of plants (most predominantly in tobacco and ''Duboisia hopwoodii'') and is widely used recreational drug use, recreationally as a stimulant and anxiolytic. As ...

, is produced legally in countries such as Cuba, China, and the United States. This also supports a

tobacco industry The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...

and the production of a variety of

tobacco products Tobacco is the agricultural product of the leaves of plants in the genus ''Nicotiana'', commonly termed ''tobacco plants''. All species of ''Nicotiana'' contain the addictive drug nicotine—a psychostimulant alkaloid found in all parts of the ...

, which, like alcoholic beverages, are subject to

in most countries.

Caffeine Caffeine is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the methylxanthine class. It is mainly used recreationally as a cognitive enhancer, increasing alertness and attentional performance. Caffeine acts by blocking binding of adenosine to ...

, a stimulant drug, is extracted from plants including the

coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. Seeds of ...

plant and the tea bush. It is the most widely consumed

psychoactive substance A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, psychoactive agent or psychotropic drug is a chemical substance, that changes functions of the nervous system, and results in alterations in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition or behavior. Th ...

in the world, remaining unregulated and generally recognized as safe by the

U.S. Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...

Distribution

There are authorized dealers which provide consumers with legal intoxicants, every industry developing a network of distribution to connect with its clients. Drug publicity by producers and distributors aims at increasing consumption.

Consumption

Legal drugs for recreation are taken by people in private and in public, including places devoted to drug selling for consumption ''

in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...

'', such as bars and certain

restaurants A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

Cultural biases

The above-mentioned substances represent the most important products legally produced for the purposes of mind-altering effects. Some critics argue that

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

and opioids occupy the social position of alcohol and tobacco in some non-

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

countries, where alcohol and its users could be treated in a way resembling the harassment and prosecution of illegal drug users in western countries, in cultural defiance of the UN's worldwide prohibition. They are also the most important

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the det ...

concern, as a result of

prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

of certain other drugs. Friday, 28 May 2021

References and sources

{{DEFAULTSORT:Legal Drug Trade Drug control law

Therapeutic use

Production

Distribution

Consumption

Recreational use

Production

Distribution

Consumption

Cultural biases

See also

References and sources