How to say "drug" in Japanese

• ドラッグCommon
  nounThe loanword from English; it is heard mainly for drugs in the sense of narcotics and other substances taken for their effects, and is seldom the word for ordinary medicine.
• 薬物やくぶつCommon
  nounThe neutral, general word for a drug as a substance; this is what you hear in medical, scientific and legal discussion, and it also covers drugs of abuse.
  警察けいさつは学校がっこうで大量たいりょうの薬物やくぶつを押収おうしゅうした。↗

  The police seized a large quantity of drugs at the school.
• 薬剤やくざいCommon
  nounA technical term for a medicine or medicinal agent; it belongs to pharmaceutical and scientific writing rather than everyday talk about taking a drug.
• 薬品やくひんJLPT N2approx.Common
  nounMedicine thought of as a product or chemical preparation rather than as a substance; this is the word for medicines you buy and use, and it also covers chemical products generally.
  この薬品やくひんは日光にっこうに当あてないようにしなさい。↗

  Don't expose this chemical to direct sunlight.
• 麻薬まやくCommon
  nounSpecifically narcotics: habit-forming, legally controlled drugs. This is the word of law-enforcement and news reporting about illegal drugs, and it is not used for ordinary medicine.
  私達わたしたちは国民こくみんから麻薬まやくを追放ついほうしなければならない。↗

  We must rid the nation of drugs.

For medicine, choose 薬品 or the more technical 薬剤; for a drug as a substance, including drugs of abuse, use 薬物; 「ドラッグ」 is the loanword for such drugs, and 麻薬 means narcotics specifically.

Usage comparisons are AI-assisted and cross-checked by multiple models; for study reference only

• ドラッグdrug
• 薬物やくぶつdrug
• 薬剤やくざいmedicine
• 薬品やくひんmedicine
• 麻薬まやくnarcotic
• 薬やくdope
• 一服を盛るいっぷくをもるto poison
• 剤ざいmedicine
• 治療薬ちりょうやくtherapeutic agent
• 医薬いやくmedicine
• 薬くすり(illegal) drug