barbiturate

Etymology

See barbituric.

noun

1. (organic chemistry) Any salt or ester of barbituric acid.
2. (pharmacology) Any of derivatives of barbituric acid that act as depressants of the central nervous system and are used as sedatives or hypnotics.
   Coordinate term: benzodiazepine
   Following the “Summer of Love” in 1967, amphetamines and barbiturates began to replace psychedelics as the dominant drugs used in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco, and increasing numbers of individuals were treated at the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic for complications following barbiturate use. 1977, Donald R. Wesson, David Elvin Smith, Barbiturates, their use, misuse, and abuse, New York: Human Sciences Press, page 9