Classifications of Drug Users

Classification of Drug Users

Drug usage, often identified synonymously with drug dependence, is an individual's utilization of drugs (oftentimes in excess amounts) that provides him/her an experience of psychological and/or physical gratification. Individual who subsist to drug dependence or usage are called drug users, and every drug user is identified and classified into various types. Types of drug users, as discussed in this paper, are mainly determined through frequency of drug dependence or usage.

Ideally, drug users may be identified based on their frequent use -- that is, a drug user may be a first timer, a regular user, or a 'drug addict,' although these classifications may be too simplistic and vague. Andy Mooneyhan, in his discussion of drug and drug dependence, classified drug users into three, namely: experimenters, compulsive, and floaters/chippers drug users. These classifications identify drug users not only on the frequency of their drug usage, but also takes into account the behavior of the user himself/herself, as will be discussed in the texts that follow.

The first classification of a drug user, the Experimenter, is defined as the individual who subsists to drug usage or engages in drug dependency because of peer pressure or curiosity. These drug users also use drugs occasionally, and may be likened to 'first timers,' who has just been acquainted with the activity and kind of drug used.

Although the Experimenter engages in drug usage occasionally, s/he, according to Goode, "is not really a drug user." This is because the individual has just been acquainted with the said activity, and to identify him/her as a drug user may not be apt for the individual since s/he has just started out; however, it cannot also be said that the Experimenter is a non-user, having engaged himself/herself with a drug activity. Thus, Goode identifies the Experimenter as a "cross" between a non-drug user and regular drug user, taking into consideration the possibility that s/he may become a potential regular drug user or may stop engaging in drug activities altogether.

The second classification of the drug user is the Compulsive user. Unlike the Experimenter, the Compulsive user is identified with frequent drug use and dependence. S/he considers drug usage as a necessity, often crossing the border from drug dependence to addiction. Leshner (2001) of the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) identifies the Compulsive user as a drug dependent who starts out from being a voluntary and regular to being a compulsive drug user. Unlike the voluntary and Experimenter user, Compulsive users use drugs in uncontrollable degrees.