“Smart” Drugs

Everyone's on drugs!

Do you numb the pain of a headache with aspirin, paracetamol or ibuprofen? When you have a sore throat, do you pop into a shop and buy throat lozenges? Do you like to give yourself a bit of a boost each day with a cup of coffee or maybe you prefer tea as your morning kick start? Perhaps you like to unwind in the evening with a glass or two of alcohol? Possibly you enjoy smoking tobacco or even cannabis?

Whilst the last of these is broadly considered a drug due to its (il-)legal status in many countries, it is no more or less a drug from the perspective of science than all the aforementioned chemical substances that many of us routinely take to improve the way we feel or perform.

The whole world is at it. The ...

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