What is the difference in the use of the terms “drug”, “chemical”, and “substance”?
A drug (example: aspirin) is a chemical that produces a pharmacological and a toxicological effect in the body. Most drugs produce therapeutic or unwanted effects on the body. A chemical (example: toluene) is an organic or inorganic substance that produces more of a toxicological (poisonous) effect on the body than a drug. A substance (examples: gasoline, food) is something that is a catch-all term, but when used with “abuse” is generally a very vague term. Thus there is overlap among these terms, but they should not be used synonymously.
