In the past there was a limit to the substances that could have been abused or experimented with. For example, during the first and second world wars, alcohol and cigarettes were the most commonly used with cigarettes being used by a large percentage of the population

During the so called ‘hippy’ era marijuana and other hallucinogenic drugs, such as LSD were popularly used, widening the spectrum of drug abuse. The seventies saw more widespread cocaine usage with this becoming increasingly used in the eighties, together with ecstasy and meth.

All of the drugs mentioned above are still used today despite the fact that they are illegal, difficult to acquire, harmful and for some, expensive. Today, however, people are becoming more and more resourceful and inventive with what drugs they experiment with. Now the worries are not only for drugs that are available through illegal selling on the street but also those that can be found in people’s medicine cabinets.

We can treat addiction to many over-the-counter substances, these include: