Substance abuse can simply be defined as a pattern of harmful use of any substance for mood-altering purposes. Medline's medical encyclopedia defines drug abuse as "the use of illicit drugs or the abuse of prescription or over-the-counter drugs for purposes other than those for which they are indicated or in a manner or in quantities other than directed."
But the broad range of substance abuse in today's society is not that simple.
There are substances that can be abused for their mood-altering effects that are not drugs at all -- inhalants and solvents -- and there are drugs that can be abused that have no mood-altering or intoxication properties, such as anabolic steroids.
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