recreational drug
nounDefinition of recreational drug
: a drug (such as cocaine, marijuana, or methamphetamine) used without medical justification for its psychoactive effects often in the belief that occasional use of such a substance is not habit-forming or addictive
Examples of recreational drug in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
And while some people stock up on liquid courage, consumption of large quantities of alcohol or recreational drugs is bad on several fronts, Keck says. — Kate Santich, orlandosentinel.com, "Hurricane Dorian anxiety? Here’s how to stop it from spinning out of control," 30 Aug. 2019 Police in Denmark's capital announced Monday that 24 were caught riding under the influence of alcohol and four were caught riding under the influence of recreational drugs. — Robert Gearty, Fox News, "Copenhagen police target drunk and stoned electric scooter riders," 9 July 2019 Reich declared that Consciousness III was represented by the counterculture of the 1960s, its free lifestyle and its use of recreational drugs. — Steve Rubenstein, SFChronicle.com, "Law professor Charles Reich, author of ‘Greening of America,’ dies at 91," 5 July 2019 But those efforts stalled when the U.S. federal government — in light of the growing popularity of ecstasy as a recreational drug — designatedit a Schedule I drug in 1985. — Will Stone, Scientific American, "MDMA, Or Ecstasy, Shows Promise As A PTSD Treatment," 21 Aug. 2019 Stopping demand Jacobs’ hope is that debunking this myth will stop the spread of demand for pangolin scales as a recreational drug and analgesic. — National Geographic, "Pangolin scales are not a party drug, say researchers," 9 Aug. 2019 Recent years have seen authorities in major Chinese cities step up their efforts to crack down on recreational drug use, including spot drug tests at bars and nightclubs. — Ben Westcott, Nanlin Fang And Simon Cullen, CNN, "Four UK citizens arrested in China days after drug crackdown involving foreigners," 12 July 2019 All recreational drug users should have the opioid overdose antidote naloxone on hand. — Terry Demio, Cincinnati.com, "ODs kill 10 in 5 days as first responders handle 54 runs in Hamilton County over weekend," 24 June 2019 Authorities in major cities, including Beijing, have been known to carry out spot drug tests at bars and nightclubs in a bid to clamp down on recreational drug use. — Ben Westcott, CNN, "Beijing says US legalization of marijuana is a 'threat to China'," 17 June 2019These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'recreational drug.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for recreational drug
recreational drug
noun
rec·re·a·tion·al drug
| \ ˌrek-rē-ˈā-sh(ə-)nəl-
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Medical Definition of recreational drug
: a drug (as cocaine, marijuana, or methamphetamine) used without medical justification for its psychoactive effects often in the belief that occasional use of such a substance is not habit-forming or addictive