‘Drugs’ have a definitional problem. What is a drug and what isn’t? I consider soap and most cosmetics to be drugs. They are sold in Drugstores and they are intended to have an effect of some sort on the skin, whether to make it smell less or look younger. The same with all the stuff we put in our mouths to make them smell better or do something to our teeth. They seem to me to be drugs.
This blog is about a question in my mind. Or on my mind. Why are we, Americans and people like us, such heavy users of drugs?
Where does it come from? Many tribal people use colored clay or paint on their skin and decorate their bodies. Some societies cover up women so completely that their is no call for makeup or relevant body drugs. Men in much of the world use less drugs in the form of make-up than women. Why. The Japanese put much more drugs in their body but less ON their bodies.
When it comes to other drugs such as pot, alcohol, tobacco, opium and heroin there is a strong male bias in their usage. Across national boundaries. Why?
This is highly relevant to commerce because this strange division of drug usage has big consequences in the world of commerce. What is going on?
I hope you get the answer before I do.