psychoactive substance vs consciousness-altering drug

psychoactive substance and consciousness-altering drug both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
psychoactive substance	Yes	No	No	No
consciousness-altering drug	Yes	No	No	No

As nouns, psychoactive substance and consciousness-altering drug are synonyms defined as:

psychoactive substance and consciousness-altering drug: a drug that can produce mood changes and distorted perceptions

Other synonyms of psychoactive substance include mind-altering drug, psychoactive drug.

psychoactive substance (noun)	consciousness-altering drug (noun)
a drug that can produce mood changes and distorted perceptions	a drug that can produce mood changes and distorted perceptions