The act of administering drugs, either medicinally or illicitly, often referring to secretly giving someone substances without their knowledge.
From Old French 'drogue' of unknown origin, possibly from Dutch 'droog' (dry) referring to dried medicinal herbs. The sinister connotation developed as the word expanded beyond legitimate medicine.
The mysterious origin of 'drug' reflects humanity's ancient relationship with psychoactive substances - we've been using them so long that we've forgotten where the word came from. The shift from healing to harming shows how the same substances can be medicine or poison depending on context and consent.
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