# Is sugar a drug? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 25, 2000, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sugar-a-drug/17553 "2000-02-25T19:20:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2000, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sugar-a-drug/17553/21 "2000-02-28T04:59:00Z")
On the lighter side… > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Keeves: > **People refer to caffeine and alcohol as “drugs” and no one complains. What is it that makes them drugs? I imagine that this is because these things change a person’s heartbeat, thought processes, and similar things. Wouldn’t this also apply to sugar? Don’t school teachers complain about children on a “sugar high”? What’s the difference?** Wouldn’t it also apply to sex? > [@](#): > > **DISCLAIMER: Just so no one complains that I have a hidden agenda, let me state openly: Some people claim that it is hypocritical for marijuana and heroin to be illegal while alcohol is allowed, because alcohol is a drug too. My view is that _everything_ is a drug, to a greater or lesser degree, and society has a responsibility to choose a cut-off point somewhere on that sliding scale. American society has chosen to put caffeine on the okay side of the scale, marijuana on the illegal side, and alcohol on the border (being legal for adults but not for children). I say that although we might disagree about where the line should be placed, there is nothing inherently hypocritical about having the line to begin with.** The only line that should be drawn is when one individual initiates an action that harms or threatens harm to another by behaving recklessly, being negligent or by intent. For me, what, if any, substance was in their body doesn’t matter. To carry that one step further, if it doesn’t matter then, why should it matter when they don’t pose a threat nor harm any one else? * * * You can stand tall without standing on someone. You can be a victor without having victims. -Harriet Woods- ---
**Author:** ![Holly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/48db29/32.png) [@Holly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Holly)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2000, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sugar-a-drug/17553/22 "2000-02-28T09:14:00Z")
Oxygen is a drug. A nurse can’t technically administer oxygen to a patient unless it’s ordered by a physician. The percentage of oxygen is specified in the order. In home health, when a patient uses oxygen at home, we have to list it on the medication record with his other drugs. Although oxygen is a natural thing, high concentrations of it are not. One does not normally encounter 100% O2 in nature. It’s certainly possible to harm a patient by misusing oxygen. ---
**Author:** ![aschrott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/aca169/32.png) [@aschrott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aschrott)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2000, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sugar-a-drug/17553/23 "2000-02-28T17:03:00Z")
It seems to me that what a person uses it for is the most important aspect of any substance. I can’t say that sugar _is_ a drug, but I know lots of people who use it like one (think of the nervous guy next to you at work with the bag of M&M’s and a coke on his desk), and its effects can be as far-reaching as any pharmaceutical. When people get caught up in deciding what something “is”, they tend to get stupid. Medical marijuana is not legal in most places because marijuana “is” a drug–with a capitol “d”. The distinction of purpose gets ignored. Sugar “is” food. However huge doses of it are unhealthy and unneccessary, and it’s use goes far beyond that of basic sweetening or the meeting of caloric needs. People self-medicate with it. Common sense gets neglected because we’re so busy putting labels and definitions on things. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-sugar-a-drug/17553.md?page=1)