Today we are addicted to many things, cigars, alcohol, opium, carbonated drinks and even food.
But the truth is that why some if they are correct to ingest and others not?
Many think it is because some are more harmful than others and people become addicted faster with catastrophic consequences and without repair.
Nowadays, more and more children have lunch and dinner with some regress or some drink produced in mass which makes it a costrumbre and the next generations will see it as if it were water, something indispensable in the day to day.
Would not you catalog them as a legal drug?
then marijuana is illegal because? Emphasizing that cigarettes hurt so many parts of the body that they get cancer and marijuana relieves pain?
Alcohol causing so many traffic accidents and problems in the home and other things is legal for that reason?
Cocaine is illegal but equally rich and poor consume it with different purposes because they do not legalize it?
Without going so far from home, coffee can be considered a drug in the same way. Have not you thought about it?
The best thing will be to know the meaning of the drug or what is labeled as a drug.
wikipedia
A drug is any substance that, when inhaled, injected, smoked, consumed, absorbed via patch on the skin, or dissolved under the tongue causes a temporary physiological (and often psychological) change in the body
In pharmacology, a pharmaceutical drug, also called a medication or medicine, is a chemical substance used to treat, cure, prevent, or diagnose a disease or to promote well-being. Traditionally drugs were obtained through extraction from medicinal plants, but more recently also by organic synthesis. Pharmaceutical drugs may be used for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders.
Merrian-webster
a : a substance used as a medication or in the preparation of medication
b according to the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
(1) : a substance recognized in an official pharmacopoeia or formulary (see formulary 3) (2) : a substance intended for use in the diagnosis, cure, mitigation, treatment, or prevention of disease prescription drugs drugs for treating high blood pressure (3) : a substance other than food intended to affect the structure or function of the body (4) : a substance intended for use as a component of a medicine but not a device or a component, part, or accessory of a device
The other point of view would be that large companies bribed the gandes countries of yesteryear to be able to market their merchandise and call it "family friend" and not as a simple extra in the basic basket or as a luxury for others.
In conclusion, one should level out what one consumes, whether it be alcohol, any type of alcohol, and others to have a healthier life and, above all, be aware of what we are ingesting.
sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drug
I think nowadays the term 'drug' as a negative should not be limited to just consumables. Sex is a drug, getting attention is a drug, gambling is a drug. Sure not every drug is bad or inherently addicting, but at this day and age gambling is propably the biggest problem of it all - and surprisingly enough most AAA videogames include a form of gambling: whether it be lootboxes or actual gambling in game. Thanks for the enlightening post!