The following Venn diagram attempts to organize the most common psychoactive drugs into intersecting groups and subgroups based upon pharmacological classification and method of action. Items within each subgroup are proximitied close to those of most similar action, and also follow a general placement in accordance with the legend below the diagram. Primary intersections are represented via color mixing. (Note: this is a work in progress. Please discuss errors, changes and suggestions on the talk page).
Legend
edit- Blue: Stimulants generally increase in potency to the upper left.
- Red: Depressants generally increase in potency to the lower right.
- Green: "Hallucinogens" are psychedelic to the left, dissociative to the right, generally less predictable down and to the right, and generally more potent towards the bottom.
- Pink hue: The so called "antipsychotics". A new and controversial addition to the chart.
Sub-sections
edit- White: Overlap of all three main sections (Stimulants, Depressants and Hallucinogens) — Example: cannabis exhibits effects of all three sections.
- Magenta (purple): Overlap of Stimulants (Blue) and Depressants (Red) — Example: nicotine exhibits effects of both.
- Cyan (light blue): Overlap of Stimulants (Blue) and Psychedelics (Green) — Primary psychedelics exhibit a stimulant effect
- Yellow : Overlap of Depressants (Red) and Dissociatives (Green) — Primary dissociatives exhibit a depressant effect