Brown sugar

This article is about the sugar product. For other uses, see brown sugar (disambiguation).

Brown sugar crystals.

Brown sugar examples: Muscovado (top), dark brown (left), light brown (right)

Brown sugar is a sucrose sugar product with a distinctive brown color due to the presence of molasses. It is either an unrefined or partially refined soft sugar consisting of sugar crystals with some residual molasses content, or it is produced by the addition of molasses to refined white sugar.

Brown sugar contains from 3.5% molasses (light brown sugar) to 6.5% molasses (dark brown sugar). The product is naturally moist from the hygroscopicnature of the molasses and is often labelled as "soft." The product may undergo processing to give a product that flows better for industrial handling. The addition of dyes and/or other chemicals may be permitted in some areas or for industrial products.

Particle size is variable but generally less than granulated white sugar. Products for industrial use (e.g., the industrial production of cakes) may be based oncaster sugar which has crystals of approximately 0.35 mm.

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Recreational drug use

The cigarette is the common pharmaceutical form of tobacco – one of the world’s best selling drugs.^[9]

Cannabis is another commonly usedrecreational drug.^[10]

Peruvian Ayahuasca

Main article: Recreational drug use

Further information: Prohibition (drugs)

Recreational drugs use is the use of psychoactive substances to have fun, for the experience, or to enhance an already positive experience. National laws prohibit the use of many different recreational drugs and medicinal drugs that have the potential for recreational use are heavily regulated. Many other recreational drugs on the other hand are legal, widely culturally accepted, and at the most have an age restriction on using and/or purchasing them. These include alcohol, tobacco, betel nut, and caffeine products in the west, and in other localised areas of the world drugs such as Khat are common. Because of the legal status of many drugs, recreational drug use is controversial, with many governments not recognising spiritual or other perceived uses for drugs and classing them under illegal recreational use.

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Medication

Nexium pills 40 mg

(esomeprazole magnesium)

Main article: pharmaceutical drug

A medication or medicine is a drug taken to cure and/or ameliorate any symptoms of an illness or medical condition, or may be used as preventive medicinethat has future benefits but does not treat any existing or pre-existing diseases or symptoms.

Dispensing of medication is often regulated by governments into three categories—over-the-counter (OTC) medications, which are available in pharmacies and supermarkets without special restrictions, behind-the-counter (BTC), which are dispensed by a pharmacist without needing a doctor's prescription, andPrescription only medicines (POM), which must be prescribed by a licensed medical professional, usually a physician.^{[citation needed]}

In the United Kingdom, BTC medicines are called pharmacy medicines which can only be sold in registered pharmacies, by or under the supervision of a pharmacist. These medications are designated by the letter P on the label.^[8] The range of medicines available without a prescription varies from country to country.

Medications are typically produced by pharmaceutical companies and are often patented to give the developer exclusive rights to produce them, but they can also be derived from naturally occurring substance in plants called herbal medicine.^{[citation needed]} Those that are not patented (or with expired patents) are called generic drugs since they can be produced by other companies without restrictions or licenses from the patent holder.

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DRUGS

• A drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function.^[3] There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.^[4]

• In pharmacology, a drug is "a chemical substance used in the treatment, cure, prevention, or diagnosis of disease or used to otherwise enhance physical or mental well-being."^[4] Drugs may be prescribed for a limited duration, or on a regular basis for chronic disorders.^[5]

• Recreational drugs are chemical substances that affect the central nervous system, such as opioids or hallucinogens.^[5] They may be used for perceived beneficial effects on perception, consciousness, personality, and behavior.^[5][6] Some drugs can cause addiction and/or habituation.^[6]

• Drugs are usually distinguished from endogenous biochemicals by being introduced from outside the organism.^{[citation needed]} For example, insulin is a hormone that is synthesized in the body; it is called a hormone when it is synthesized by the pancreas inside the body, but if it is introduced into the body from outside, it is called a drug.^{[citation needed]} Many natural substances such as beers, wines, and some mushrooms, blur the line between food and recreational drugs, as when ingested they affect the functioning of both mind and body and some substances normally considered drugs such as DMT (Dimethyltryptamine) are actually produced by the human body in trace amounts.

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BIOTECHNOLOGY

Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts.Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose. Modern use of similar terms includes genetic engineering as well as cell- and tissue culture technologies. The concept encompasses a wide range of procedures (and history) for modifying living organisms according to human purposes - going back to domestication of animals, cultivation of plants, and "improvements" to these through breeding programs that employ artificial selection and hybridization. By comparison to biotechnology, bioengineering is generally thought of as a related field with its emphasis more on higher systems approaches (not necessarily altering or using biological materials directly) for interfacing with and utilizing living things. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines biotechnology as:^[1]

"Any technological application that uses biological systems, living organisms, or derivatives thereof, to make or modify products or processes for specific use."

In other term "Application of scientific and technical advances in life science to develop commercial products" is biotechnology.

Biotechnology draws on the pure biological sciences (genetics, microbiology, animal cell culture, molecular biology, biochemistry, embryology, cell biology) and in many instances is also dependent on knowledge and methods from outside the sphere of biology (chemical engineering, bioprocess engineering, information technology, biorobotics). Conversely, modern biological sciences (including even concepts such as molecular ecology) are intimately entwined and dependent on the methods developed through biotechnology and what is commonly thought of as the life sciences industry.

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