From this literal definition the entirety of our lives could be defined as simply "taking drugs". We chase the high by doing various things.
The difference between taking drugs and doing these things is that the reward mechanism is the product of many years of evolution, whereas drugs can sometimes produce harmful side effects due to not being fully fine tuned to our own bodies' expectations.
The distinction would go away entirely if drugs were more sophisticated. But in that case it would pretty much be the end of life as we've hitherto experienced it.
I think it's more that experiences as "full-spectrum" - they're occurring within multiple modes - while (most) drugs are single-spectrum. Which makes sense, most drugs are only trying to affect one thing - that's the goal.
If I jump out a plane, there' a lot more going on than the adrenaline spike. If I take an epipen, there's not much more going on than the adrenaline spike.
The difference between taking drugs and doing these things is that the reward mechanism is the product of many years of evolution, whereas drugs can sometimes produce harmful side effects due to not being fully fine tuned to our own bodies' expectations.
The distinction would go away entirely if drugs were more sophisticated. But in that case it would pretty much be the end of life as we've hitherto experienced it.