6 ms·

I think you meant 30 µg (micrograms). And it is indeed tiny. Even for LSD "the only drug measured in micrograms", a typical dose is around 100µg. Most drugs (b

by GuB-42 5y ago

I think you meant 30 µg (micrograms). And it is indeed tiny. Even for LSD "the only drug measured in micrograms", a typical dose is around 100µg. Most drugs (both the legal and illegal kind) are in the tens of milligram range.

swlp21 5y ago
I don't think it is correct to say only one drug is measured in µg. Levothyroxine (for underactive thyroid) is typically administered in µg doses - but patient confusion with the more common mg means most medical staff will translate any mg dose a patient claims to be taking to µg automatically. It may be atypical, but it's certainly not rare for drugs to be µg doses.
- krustyburger 5y ago
  I think the earlier commenter meant ‘drug’ as in street drug. But though that may have once been true, these days there are plenty of other designer drugs that come in tiny doses, many of them not as friendly as LSD.
  - Kiro 5y ago
    I don't understand why both are called drugs in English. My language also has the word "drugs" but it's used exclusively for street drugs.
    - eru 5y ago
      Drugs having to be government approved is a relatively recent development. Perhaps about a hundred years, give or take. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Opium_Convention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Opium_Convention The English language just hasn't caught on, yet. At least not completely. In eg German, people generally differentiate between Medikamente and Drogen, but they still have a Drogerie which is essentially the same as a drug store.
      - OJFord 5y ago
        'Medicine'? 'Medications'? 'Prescriptions'? I'd say 'drugs' does lean quite strongly towards the illicit kind. If a doctor asked me if I was 'taking any drugs', I would assume they wanted to know in confidence about anything recreational; not prescriptions/off the shelf medicine.
        eru 5y ago
        Yes, it depends on context. Eg if your wife asks you whether you've taken your drugs yet, she means the same thing as meds.
      - weinzierl 5y ago
        > In eg German, people generally differentiate between Medikamente and Drogen, but they still have a Drogerie which is essentially the same as a drug store. To add a little additional context 'Drogerie' mostly sells hygiene products, supplements and the like. They only sell 'Medikamente' which are allowed to be sold over the counter in Germany, which basically is Aspirin and everything that is even more harmless. You will not find the kind of drugs you typically get in a CVS in a German Drogerie. Every serious drug is only sold in what is called 'Apotheke' = pharmacy. In Germany Apotheke (pharmacy) and Drogerie (drug store) are very different. I think there is no real distinction between drug store and pharmacy in English, but I'm not sure. There is also Reformhaus which is pretty similar to a small Drogerie with a focus on healthy living. EDIT: I checked my claim about the Aspirin and it seems I'm wrong. They are not even allowed to sell that. But it kind of reinforces my point: Drogerie doesn't really sell drugs in the sense the word is used in English.
        unanswered 5y ago
        > I think there is no real distinction between drug store and pharmacy in English, but I'm not sure. This is... oversimplified, at least. I'm sure usage differs by region, even within the United States, but where I am a "drug store" is a convenience store which either contains or historically contained a pharmacy (in the latter case, there appears to be a decent chance the store is an historical soda fountain/cafe). A pharmacy is a place where one buys prescription medications, often only being a section/counter of a larger store. I would never use the terms interchangeably: one does not buy household goods at a pharmacy, nor does a place become a "drug store" by the filling and sale of prescription medication.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
Black101 5y ago
> LSD "the only drug measured in micrograms" Carfentanil is probably more potent then LSD, here is a lethal dose: https://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wosu2/files/styles/x_large/public/201705/heroin_fentanyl_carfentanil.jpg https://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wosu2/files/styles/x... "For pain relief, a unit of carfentanil is one hundred times as potent as the fentanyl, five thousand times as potent as heroin, and ten thousand times as potent as morphine, despite having only 14 to 135 times the affinity for the mu receptor."
- TwoBit 5y ago
  That carfentanil looks like about a milligram, but impossible to say without knowing its density.
  - Black101 5y ago
    "The New York Times warns that a particle of carfentanil as small as a grain of salt or piece of dust can be deadly and that the drug is lethal in a dose as minuscule as 0.02 milligrams. " so about 1/50th of a milligram is deadly... not sure what's the maximum dose before it kills you
  - tpm 5y ago
    1.0 µg of carfentanil is equivalent to 10 mg of morphine
ngcc_hk 5y ago
Read through some of the links in the linked article it must be micrograms.

by GuB-42 5y ago

swlp21 5y ago

I don't think it is correct to say only one drug is measured in µg. Levothyroxine (for underactive thyroid) is typically administered in µg doses - but patient confusion with the more common mg means most medical staff will translate any mg dose a patient claims to be taking to µg automatically. It may be atypical, but it's certainly not rare for drugs to be µg doses.

krustyburger 5y ago
I think the earlier commenter meant ‘drug’ as in street drug. But though that may have once been true, these days there are plenty of other designer drugs that come in tiny doses, many of them not as friendly as LSD.
- Kiro 5y ago
  I don't understand why both are called drugs in English. My language also has the word "drugs" but it's used exclusively for street drugs.
  - eru 5y ago
    Drugs having to be government approved is a relatively recent development. Perhaps about a hundred years, give or take. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Opium_Convention https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Opium_Convention The English language just hasn't caught on, yet. At least not completely. In eg German, people generally differentiate between Medikamente and Drogen, but they still have a Drogerie which is essentially the same as a drug store.
    - OJFord 5y ago
      'Medicine'? 'Medications'? 'Prescriptions'? I'd say 'drugs' does lean quite strongly towards the illicit kind. If a doctor asked me if I was 'taking any drugs', I would assume they wanted to know in confidence about anything recreational; not prescriptions/off the shelf medicine.
      - eru 5y ago
        Yes, it depends on context. Eg if your wife asks you whether you've taken your drugs yet, she means the same thing as meds.
    - weinzierl 5y ago
      > In eg German, people generally differentiate between Medikamente and Drogen, but they still have a Drogerie which is essentially the same as a drug store. To add a little additional context 'Drogerie' mostly sells hygiene products, supplements and the like. They only sell 'Medikamente' which are allowed to be sold over the counter in Germany, which basically is Aspirin and everything that is even more harmless. You will not find the kind of drugs you typically get in a CVS in a German Drogerie. Every serious drug is only sold in what is called 'Apotheke' = pharmacy. In Germany Apotheke (pharmacy) and Drogerie (drug store) are very different. I think there is no real distinction between drug store and pharmacy in English, but I'm not sure. There is also Reformhaus which is pretty similar to a small Drogerie with a focus on healthy living. EDIT: I checked my claim about the Aspirin and it seems I'm wrong. They are not even allowed to sell that. But it kind of reinforces my point: Drogerie doesn't really sell drugs in the sense the word is used in English.
      - unanswered 5y ago
        > I think there is no real distinction between drug store and pharmacy in English, but I'm not sure. This is... oversimplified, at least. I'm sure usage differs by region, even within the United States, but where I am a "drug store" is a convenience store which either contains or historically contained a pharmacy (in the latter case, there appears to be a decent chance the store is an historical soda fountain/cafe). A pharmacy is a place where one buys prescription medications, often only being a section/counter of a larger store. I would never use the terms interchangeably: one does not buy household goods at a pharmacy, nor does a place become a "drug store" by the filling and sale of prescription medication.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]

Black101 5y ago

> LSD "the only drug measured in micrograms" Carfentanil is probably more potent then LSD, here is a lethal dose: https://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wosu2/files/styles/x_large/public/201705/heroin_fentanyl_carfentanil.jpg https://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net/p/wosu2/files/styles/x... "For pain relief, a unit of carfentanil is one hundred times as potent as the fentanyl, five thousand times as potent as heroin, and ten thousand times as potent as morphine, despite having only 14 to 135 times the affinity for the mu receptor."

TwoBit 5y ago
That carfentanil looks like about a milligram, but impossible to say without knowing its density.
- Black101 5y ago
  "The New York Times warns that a particle of carfentanil as small as a grain of salt or piece of dust can be deadly and that the drug is lethal in a dose as minuscule as 0.02 milligrams. " so about 1/50th of a milligram is deadly... not sure what's the maximum dose before it kills you
- tpm 5y ago
  1.0 µg of carfentanil is equivalent to 10 mg of morphine

ngcc_hk 5y ago

Read through some of the links in the linked article it must be micrograms.