Sugar is something everyone eats, it’s unavoidable and is present in every meal of the day. Despite this, most people are unaware of the effects sugar has on the mind and body, and those effects are scarily similar to the effects of drugs and drug-like substances. So the question is, should sugar be classified as a drug?

The Wellness Retreat and Recovery Center reports, “The brain uses dopamine as its reward system to reinforce certain behaviors. When an individual eats sugar, the brain produces huge surges of dopamine.” Large amounts of dopamine are also released when consuming drugs such as marijuana and heroin. In fact lots of people crave sugar in the early stages of sobriety because the effects are so similar.

The question of sugar being a drug is a highly debated topic and very controversial. According to the Oxford dictionary the official definition of a drug is a medicine or other substance which has a physiological effect when ingested or otherwise introduced into the body. Nurse Sandy Markus from Tahoma High School says that, “[people] get headaches from too much sugar, they can get real hyper and will come in and not feel well.” Markus also reports that sugar can have withdrawal symptoms, she says sugar withdrawal could result in, “headaches, stomach aches, shakiness, not feeling well and a need for more sugar.” These symptoms are very similar to the withdrawal effects of drugs such as weed.

Many people question why scientists debate over whether a sugar is a drug or not, the answer seems obvious. Well studies and tests on sugar are inconsistent, some results show sugar as addictive and some do not. And the after effects of consuming sugar are not nearly as severe as the effects of common drugs. This causes many debates between scientists all over the world.

So is sugar by definition a drug? The answer is yes, the body reacts to sugar just like it reacts to other drugs like Marijuana and tab. But sugar will probably never be treated like the one because it doesn’t affect the human body as severely as other drugs. Sugar is a substance people eat every day and sugar is the one drug the whole human race is hooked on.