Recreational drug use is the use of psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes rather than for work, medical or spiritual purposes, although the distinction is not always clear.

Several behavioral psychologists who have studied this field have come to refer to it as the ‘Fourth Drive’ in that this behavior has so much force and persistence that it functions like our drives for hunger, thirst and shelter.
A distinction is frequently made between recreational use of drugs and drug abuse, although there is much controversy on where the dividing line lies on the spectrum from a drug user to a drug abuser. Some say that abuse begins when the user begins shirking responsibility in order to afford drugs or to have enough time to use them. Some say it begins when a person uses what is deemed to be excessive amounts, while others draw the line at the point of legality. Still others believe it amounts to chronic use when mental and physical health begin degenerating in the user. Some think that any intoxicant consumption is an inappropriate activity. A further distinction can be made in that it is the use of the drug that is recreational, and not the drug itself.

This category presents recreational drug literature that does not specifically fall under any other one single category of this site.