Are Alcohol and Cigarettes Drugs?

            Alcohol and cigarettes are legal and very much recreationally used by millions of Americans.  People like to talk about marijuana and say it’s bad because it’s a drug, but can alcohol and cigarettes be considered drugs as well? To find out, we must first look at the definition of the word “drug” to see what a drug really is.  According to medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com, a drug is either “a chemical substance that affects the process of the mind or body” or “a substance used recreationally for its effects on the central nervous system, such as a narcotic.”  From what I’ve seen and experienced, alcohol and cigarettes certainly fit this definition.

            Alcohol is very well known to affect the process of the mind and body.  I’m sure we’ve all been drunk before at some point and felt the effects that the alcohol leaves on us.  You get a head buzz going which gets stronger and stronger the more you drink.  They say that when someone is drunk, their judgment is the first thing to be affected.  I would say that proves that the mind gets affected and this fits the first definition.  Second, motor skills are known to be affected by alcohol and the more one drinks, the more they start to lose their balance and stumble around.  This clearly affects the process of the body, also fitting the definition of what a drug is.  According to these definitions and the information provided, alcohol is in fact technically a drug.

            Now on to cigarettes.  Cigarettes contain tobacco and nicotine, among other substances, that together are highly addictive.  Drugabuse.com says that addiction is counted as a mental illness because it “changes the brain in fundamental ways, disturbing a person’s normal hierarchy of needs and desires and substituting new priorities connected with procuring and using the drug.”  It also causes a head buzz and both of these are affecting the mind and body.

            Both alcohol and cigarettes are legal and recreationally used.  They are often overlooked in what they really are, but technically, according to the definition of drug, they are both drugs.  My question is if these are both drugs, don’t help medically in any way, and are still legal, why isn’t marijuana?