Encyclopedia of Drugs and Addictive Substances | Herbal Drugs - What Kind of Drug Is It?

What Kind of Drug Is It?

Some debate exists as to whether herbal remedies are actually drugs. In Buzzed: The Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy, Cynthia Kuhn and her coauthors state: "Anything you take with the intention of changing how your body acts is a drug. Any drug that comes from a plant is herbal." The U.S. Congress disagrees with this definition. In 1994, Congress classified herbal preparations as dietary supplements rather than drugs.