Hard and soft drugs
Overview
Psychoactive drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, or psychotropic is a chemical substance that crosses the blood–brain barrier and acts primarily upon the central nervous system where it affects brain function, resulting in changes in perception, mood, consciousness, cognition, and behavior...
s that are addictive
Substance use disorder
Substance use disorders include substance abuse and substance dependence. In DSM-IV, the conditions are formally diagnosed as one or the other, but it has been proposed that DSM-5 combine the two into a single condition called "Substance-use disorder"....
and perceived as especially damaging and drugs that are believed to be non-addictive (or minimally addictive) and with fewer dangers associated with their use. The term "soft drug" is considered controversial by its critics because it implies that the drug causes no or insignificant harm.
The distinction between soft drugs and hard drugs is important in the drug policy of the Netherlands
Drug policy of the Netherlands
The drug policy of the Netherlands officially has four major objectives:# To prevent recreational drug use and to treat and rehabilitate recreational drug users.# To reduce harm to users....
, where cannabis production
Cannabis cultivation
This article presents common techniques and facts regarding the cultivation of the flowering plant cannabis, primarily for the production and consumption of marijuana buds. Cultivation techniques for other purposes differ...
, retailing and use come under official tolerance, subject to certain conditions.
