Alphabetical Listings of Drugs
All substances listed here have been declared a public concern by government
officials, medical caregivers, or news media. If a listing mentions another
drug’s name inbold type, that drug has an entry of its own in this section of
the book.
Some drugs have similar effects. For example, most anabolic steroids pro-
mote development of male characteristics when used by females. If an indi-
vidual anabolic steroid is known to have that effect, that information is given
in the individual listing. Such a style might make some entries seem repetitive
if someone is looking up one anabolic steroid after another, but this approach
improves the odds of important information being communicated. A cross-
reference style that expects readers to flip back and forth among pages to “see
this” or “see that” in order to avoid repetition might work for scientists, but
for readers of this book, ease of usage is more important.
Although many drugs of abuse are described in this section, many others
exist that are not included here. The choice of which to include and which to
leave out was based on several factors. The first was whether a drug is listed
in the U.S. government schedule of controlled substances. Another factor was
whether a drug is abused even though it is not a controlled substance. Still
another factor was whether enough data exist in the scientific literature to
provide solid information. With some drugs described here, scientific infor-
mation is scanty concerning particular aspects of a given drug, such as poten-
tial for causing cancer; that lack is specifically noted where relevant in drug
descriptions.
Drugs are alphabetized by common name. Listings are arranged in the fol-
lowing manner:
Pronunciation:The proper way to pronounce a substance’s name is given here.
Sometimes alternative pronunciations are included.