# Attention TV writers: There is no such psychoactive controlled substance as "drugs" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034 "2012-03-07T14:42:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/1 "2012-03-07T14:42:46Z")
There are many such, and each affects its users very differently from the others. So let’s never hear again how a character is doing “drugs” or has a problem with “drugs” or this bag contains “drugs” without further specification, shall we? I mean, what is this shit, springfieldozine? ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/2 "2012-03-07T14:46:12Z")
Right! For us non-Americans, I always have to take from the contents if they mean prescription drugs or the other kind. I always have to make a little mental adjustment when a _drug_ store is mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/3 "2012-03-07T15:29:24Z")
I support this rant. For pete’s sake, you wrote a whole script already so just make up a name and some effects. “Your Honor, the suspect was using zenegrifid, known on the street as Black Wings, which is known for making the user violent and delusional.” Most drug names look like someone just picked 15 random letters out of a hat anyway. ETA it’s like when someone on a TV show goes into a bar and orders “a beer.” Make up a name, writers! It’s your job! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/4 "2012-03-07T17:56:07Z")
It’s a perfectly legitimate usage, and there’s absolutely no justification to be bothered by it. “Drug” is defined by the OED as > [@OED](#): > > b. A substance with intoxicating, stimulant, or narcotic effects used for cultural, recreational, or other non-medicinal purposes. In later use freq.: spec. a controlled substance used illegally and often habitually. Freq. in pl. First cite is from 1668. So it shows that the writers have read a dictionary, but you haven’t. It is part of the language because it’s a useful term, and the person speaking doesn’t necessarily know what drugs the person is using, nor is the particular drug relevant, anyway. It’s reflecting how people actually speak, which is the job of a writer. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/5 "2012-03-07T18:12:27Z")
[“What _kind_ of drugs, Denny!??”](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zoqky3GoFCQ) ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/6 "2012-03-07T18:20:54Z")
The reason “drugs” is lazy writing is that there’s a difference between pot and heroin. “Becky’s on drugs! Omigod!” “Wait, is Becky sneaking out to smoke pot by the bleachers during study hall, or is she turning tricks for crack?” “Beats me, she’s on drugs!” “So pot, cocaine, heroin, whatever, it’s all drugs.” “Exactly.” ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/7 "2012-03-07T18:23:19Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s a perfectly legitimate usage, and there’s absolutely no justification to be bothered by it. Yea, I find it a weird complaint as well. I don’t live in a TV show, but I hear IRL people use the term “drugs” in the sense the OP is complaining about pretty frequently. Obviously in some settings you want to be more specific, but generally “drugs” seems to work well enough for plenty of people outside the TV world. But then, reality has crappy writers. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/8 "2012-03-07T18:24:52Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s a perfectly legitimate usage, and there’s absolutely no justification to be bothered by it. > > “Drug” is defined by the OED as > > First cite is from 1668. > > So it shows that the writers have read a dictionary, but you haven’t. > > It is part of the language because it’s a useful term, and the person speaking doesn’t necessarily know what drugs the person is using, nor is the particular drug relevant, anyway. It’s reflecting how people actually speak, which is the job of a writer. Ooh, the OP hasn’t read a dictionary! The writers _I_ want to read use the language in a more interesting way. Practically speaking, when talking about drugs, people usually _are_ more specific (unless they are utterly clueless); there are considerable differences between heroin, cocaine, marijuana, prescription drugs, yohimbe, ecstasy, etc. And I didn’t learn that from the OED… ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/9 "2012-03-07T18:28:40Z")
No, I’m not on board with this complaint. There are some situations in which it matters what kind of drugs a character is doing, and plenty where it doesn’t matter or the characters wouldn’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/10 "2012-03-07T18:35:21Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > It’s reflecting how people actually speak, which is the job of a writer. Is it? In my personal experience, no one ever talks about “doing drugs,” or “getting drugs,” or so-and-so being a “drug addict.” They talk about what specific substance they’re using. They “smoke pot,” or “get some 'shrooms,” or “is a meth addict.” Outside of policy and law enforcement debates (and Hollywood) I don’t usually hear people refer to “drugs” without any further elaboration or specificity. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/11 "2012-03-07T18:57:37Z")
I agree with the OP. Saying they found drugs is like saying the defendant is accused of committing crime. On the next Law and Order: He’s a criminal, he is doing crime. Let’s arrest him and charge him for crime. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/12 "2012-03-07T19:16:37Z")
Writers can’t be more specific, lest they be suspected of having first-hand knowledge. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/13 "2012-03-07T19:20:51Z")
Yeah, nobody would ever suspect a Hollywood screenwriter of doing drugs. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/14 "2012-03-07T19:24:18Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Is it? In my personal experience, no one ever talks about “doing drugs,” or “getting drugs,” or so-and-so being a “drug addict.” They talk about what specific substance they’re using. They “smoke pot,” or “get some 'shrooms,” or “is a meth addict.” Outside of policy and law enforcement debates (and Hollywood) I don’t usually hear people refer to “drugs” without any further elaboration or specificity. Just to add another data point, I frequently hear people talk like that. In my experience, it is not uncommon to hear of someone (or someone’s parent/kid/neighbor) having a “drug problem” or being a “drug addict.” Sure, in certain settings those terms might prompt a follow up question, like, 'what kind of drugs?" but the fact remains, I have frequently heard folks refer to “drug addiction/problems,” especially when being intenitonally vague. Of course there is a bit of a chicken-or-the-egg question – do folks talk like that because they hear it on TV? Certainly the folks who say it ironically do. Although, I agree that it is silly in the context of a police procedural to think a cop would inventory a “bag of drugs,” I have no problem thinking that a cop would talk about a “drug bust” or a “drug dealer” or that a prosecuter might says someone was holding drugs. > [@Marley23](#): > > Yeah, nobody would ever suspect a Hollywood screenwriter of doing drugs. Hey, what are you doing? Nobody talks like that! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/15 "2012-03-07T19:51:13Z")
On that note: Dear Mr. Police Officer. If the suspect is carrying a pound of cocaine in his car, you did not confiscate “narcotics” from him. Narcotics are drugs which put you to sleep or make you drowsy. Cocaine is not a narcotic. Methamphetamine is not a narcotic. Heroin is a narcotic. But this battle is perhaps lost. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/16 "2012-03-07T19:52:03Z")
The “drugs” thing doesn’t bother me, but I _always_ notice when a TV show character walks into a bar and says, “I’ll have a beer” (sometimes it’s “I’ll have a draft”). I’ve been a regular at several bars during the 19 years that I’ve been drinking legally, and I have never in my life asked for “a beer”\* or “a draft.” If the bartender knows what you drink they’ll either simply hand you one or they’ll confirm your order (“Stella?”) before handing you one. I get that the writers don’t want to/can’t name a particular brand, but it bugs me every time. \*I did once say “beer me” to my favorite bartender, but it was my third or fourth one and I was making a _Cheers_ joke. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/17 "2012-03-07T20:14:03Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > The “drugs” thing doesn’t bother me, but I _always_ notice when a TV show character walks into a bar and says, “I’ll have a beer” (sometimes it’s “I’ll have a draft”). It’s a perfectly legitimate usage, and there’s absolutely no justification to be bothered by it. “Beer” is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as > [@m-w.com](#): > > An alcoholic beverage usually made from malted cereal grain (as barley), flavored with hops, and brewed by slow fermentation. Which is clearly the sort of beverage one would expect to find in a bar. So it shows that the writers have spent time hanging out with **RealityChuck** and reading the dictionary, but you haven’t. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/18 "2012-03-07T20:18:35Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Is it? In my personal experience, no one ever talks about “doing drugs,” or “getting drugs,” or so-and-so being a “drug addict.” They talk about what specific substance they’re using. They “smoke pot,” or “get some 'shrooms,” or “is a meth addict.” Outside of policy and law enforcement debates (and Hollywood) I don’t usually hear people refer to “drugs” without any further elaboration or specificity. I’ve seen plenty of counterexamples. “My daughter started doing drugs” or “I started doing drugs and messed up my life.” Here’s a[youtube video](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Jbe50C3q14) that uses the phrase. Here is [Doctor Phil](http://drphil.com/articles/article/294) using the phrase (I’m not a fan of his, but he does use the phrase). Here’s someone [asking about her daughter.](http://www.circleofmoms.com/moms-of-teenagers/17-yo-daughter-doing-drugs-lying-skipping-school-591789) It’s all very well to say “smoke pot” if you know they’re smoking pot, but if you don’t know what drugs someone is using, would you say “smoke pot” or “is a meth addict” or “getting 'shrooms”? “Doing drugs” is used when you don’t know exactly what a person is taking. It’s the generic term to mean “taking some sort of illegal drug.” ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/19 "2012-03-07T20:24:57Z")
😃 ---
**Author:** ![miss\_elizabeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/838e76/32.png) [@miss\_elizabeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/miss_elizabeth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034/20 "2012-03-07T20:51:34Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > It’s a perfectly legitimate usage, and there’s absolutely no justification to be bothered by it. > > “Beer” is defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary as > > Which is clearly the sort of beverage one would expect to find in a bar. > > So it shows that the writers have spent time hanging out with **RealityChuck** and reading the dictionary, but you haven’t. I was racking my brain, trying to think of an insult that wouldn’t get me warned, but you nailed it. Bravo. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-tv-writers-there-is-no-such-psychoactive-controlled-substance-as-drugs/615034.md?page=2)