[e-drug] Essential drug or essential medicine?

[B.Futter@ru.ac.za]

E-DRUG: Essential drug or essential medicine?
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Hi Wilbert,

Always good to read your comments on the electronic mail!

I have always had a theory about the differences between the 
linguistic importance of "drug" and "medicine" which I feel should 
not be underestimated.  

As a non-pharmacist I always used to disriminate between the two on 
the grounds that drugs were illegal substances that were abused 
whilst medicines were legal and good for you.  After 15 years in the 
Pharmacy faculty I know better.   

However, I also am now aware, more than ever of the risks of taking 
medicines/drugs.  My theory is that there are a group of people who 
want to encourage the consumption of medicine.  They  feel (or know) 
that public acceptance of medicine as being good for you (and 
therefore not to be worried about) is likely to be enhanced if it is 
referred to as "medicine" rather than drugs.  

I appreciate that linguistic interpretation has many influences 
(culture, education, standard use etc) but it always worries me when 
there is a push to change from drugs to medicine.

Cheers

Billy

Billy Futter
Associate Professor
Faculty of Pharmacy
Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
email B.Futter@ru.ac.za
phone 046 603 8494
fax  046 636 1205


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