The first chapter aims to demystify what drugs are, regardless of whether they are artificially labeled as legal or illegal. It seeks to broaden the profoundly distorted perspective of prohibitionism by clarifying terms and meanings misrepresented over more than a century of prohibition, as well as simplistic and unscientific classifications and ideas that emphasize the harms of problematic use while ignoring the diverse forms of consumption that exist, including ancestral practices with undeniable benefits. The chapter also offers a historical overview of drugs as a universal social practice, demonstrating that they have been consumed since early human history and that, until antiquity, societies developed effective ways of addressing the issue through realistic social controls. This situation changed dramatically when certain substances became powerful commodities. Finally, the chapter considers key frameworks that shaped the ways drugs were produced, distributed, and consumed, ultimately addressing the origins of the prohibitionist movement worldwide.