People weren't walking around in a zombie-like state in the streets of America, however. That was the point.
The chinese have used opium since recorded history and some have attribute this to their general longevity. This is why I was careful to refer not to mankind but to this culture. It well may be, and I too usually point that out as uou did, the equilibrium in Chinese culture is opposite.
Regardless of that matter, however, this does not apply to this culture.
"Drugs", of which can be defined as almost everything Surely. Bread can be (re)defined as anything as well. We can agree to refer to a particular kind of paper as "bread;" or to tanks; or to buildings.
The question is not of syntax here but of semantics. Drugs are substances used for medical intervention. Only recently was the other meaning added to the dictionaries.
Agreed, but the semantics have been diluted. Are drugs only used for medical invtervention? I'm not sure.
Schedule I drugs are prohibited for such use. And we would have to believe that nicotine is not a drug since it has no approved medical use (other than for nicotine withdrawl).
When a doctor gives a shot of B12 or Iron tablets to an anemeic pateint, has that patient been given a drug? How about a grandparent drinking their evening Chamomile tea? Drug, herb, food?
I think the term is commonly used for "psychoactive drugs" ... but then again,we run into problems. Wheat Gluten has been showed to be a very profound psychoactive susbtance, especially in people with Autism. Sugar and chocolate both have psychoactive properties. How about the neutotoxic effects of Monosodium-Glutamate which is found in just about every snack food ans fast food sold to our children today. How about the demethylization of Asperatame into formaldehyde in a person's body every time they drink a Diet Coke? Are these drugs, foods, both?
So to clarify the above, do we then redefine drugs as susbstances with "debilitating psychoactive properties"?
Well, pretty much anything in sufficent quantities will produce this as well. Caffeinism is well documented in medical literature. Narcotic consumption by tolerant individuals will induce no perceptable difference in the mental state of that individual.
Basically, everyday we all consume drugs. Be it in our coffee, cigarettes, our Big Mac, our soft drinks, our cigarattes, our beer, our herbal teas, pick a food, and you can most likely trace an effect, even a psychoactive one to it. The rise of Attention Deficit Disorder, Autism, and other behavioral disorders in our children can be traced more to what is in our children's lunchtime diets, than what the playground drug dealer is trying to push.
Syntax and semantics of what is an isn't a "drug" is indeed a valid question.
P.S. Please excuse my typos and gramatical errors. I am trying to respond very quickly without proofreading :-)