Languages:
The term “active ingredient” is mostly used in drugs to name the substance which is pharmaceutically active.
The term “active substance” is also used in biocidal products to name the component which actually kills, or otherwise controls pests or bacteria.
It is not necessarily the largest or most hazardous component of the product. Some products may contain more than one active ingredient or substance. Non-active ingredients are often called inert ingredients. (Source: GreenFacts)
A change in body function or cell structure that might lead to disease or
health problems.
(Source:
ATSDR
Glossary of Terms
The term alcohol refers to a family of chemicals that occur widely in nature and are mass-produced for use in antifreezes, fuels and some manufacturing processes.
Alcohol is commonly used to refer to alcohol-containing drinks such as wine, beer and spirits. In this case the alcohol, ethanol, has been produced by a process called fermentation. Consumption of excessive amounts of alcohol can lead to drunkenness and may be harmful to health. (Source: GreenFacts)
A chronic disease characterized by a
strong craving for alcohol, a constant or periodic reliance on use of
alcohol despite adverse
consequences, the inability to limit drinking, physical illness when drinking is
stopped, and the need for increasing amounts of alcohol to feel its effects.
(Source:
NIH
Understanding Alcohol glossary
The Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse changes lives by bringing people and knowledge together to reduce the harm of alcohol and other drugs on society.
For more than 25 years, we have provided guidance and advice on addictions and substance use to public, private and non-governmental organizations. View the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse Act to see our official beginnings, spearheaded by CCSA’s founding chair, H. David Archibald.
Our Vision is that all people in Canada live in a healthy society free of alcohol- and other drug-related harm.
Our Mission is to provide national leadership and advance solutions to address alcohol- and other drug-related harm.
Together with our partners, we are working to improve the health and safety of Canadians. We will achieve this goal by nurturing a knowledge exchange environment where research guides policy and evidence-informed actions enhance effectiveness in the field.
(Source:
www.ccsa.ca/eng/pages/default.aspx
Any one of a group of diseases that occur when cells in the body become abnormal and have the potential to spread and establish growth in nearby tissues and other parts of the body (malignancy). (Source: GreenFacts )
A generic term for several psychoactive preparations of the marijuana (hemp) plant, Cannabis sativa. They include marijuana leaf (in street jargon: grass, pot, dope, weed, or reefers), bhang, ganja, or hashish (derived from the resin of the flowering heads of the plant), and hashish oil.
Cannabis can be rolled with tobacco in a spliff or joint, smoked on its own in a pipe or bong, or eaten as part of a cake or cookie.
Cannabis intoxication produces a feeling of euphoria, lightness of the limbs, and often social withdrawal. It impairs driving and the performance of other complex, skilled activities; it impairs immediate recall, attention span, reaction time, learning ability, motor co-ordination, depth perception, peripheral vision, time sense (the individual typically has a sensation of slowed time), and signal detection. Other signs of intoxication may include excessive anxiety, suspiciousness or paranoid ideas in some and euphoria or apathy in others, impaired judgement, bloodshot eyes, increased appetite, dry mouth, abnormally rapid heart rate, as well a feeling of tiredness and lack of energy.
Although it is mostly quite mild, some forms of cannabis such as skunk are very strong and smokers can have a hallucinogenic reaction.
There are reports of cannabis use precipitating a relapse in schizophrenia.
Acute anxiety and panic states and acute delusional states have been reported
with cannabis intoxication; they usually remit within several days.
(Source: GreenFacts, based on WHO
Lexicon of alcohol and drug terms
Having to do with the ability to think and reason. This includes the ability
to concentrate, remember things, process information, learn, speak, and
understand.
(Source:
NCI
cancer.gov dictionary
Depression is a mental condition affecting an individual’s mood.
It is characterized by a range of negative feelings such as sadness, loneliness, despair, low self-esteem and guilt.
A depressed person may lose interest in many aspects of life and no longer find pleasure in activities and relationships. (Source: GreenFacts)
Dopamine is a chemical substance produced in the body to transmit signals between nerve cells. It is found in parts of the brain responsible for the regulation of movement, balance and walking as well as those involved in memory and learning.
Difficulty in going to sleep or getting enough sleep.
(Source:
NCI
cancer.gov
dictionary
Chemical responsible for the transfer of information along the nervous system. (Source: IPCS )
The frequency of a disease may be measured in two (standard) ways:
Any of a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, and accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioural, or intellectual disturbances.
Schizophrenia is associated with dopamine imbalances in the brain and defects
of the frontal lobe and is caused by genetic, other biological, and psychosocial
factors.
(Source:
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Chemical messenger [(neurotransmitter)] in the brain that affects emotions,
behavior, and thought
(Source: University of Maryland Medical Center
Women’s Health Glossary
Bacteria develop “tolerance” if they become less affected by a biocide so that higher concentrations of the biocide are needed to stop them multiplying. (Source: GreenFacts)
Exposure to contingencies and stress, and the difficulty in coping with them.
(Source:
Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 
Withdrawal refers to the physical and mental symptoms drug-dependent people experience when they stop taking the drug they depend upon or when they drastically reduce its use. (Source: GreenFacts)
This summary is free and ad-free, as is all of our content. You can help us remain free and independant as well as to develop new ways to communicate science by becoming a Patron!
BECOME A PATRON!