Can "distinguish" be used as an in-place replacement for "classify" or "categorize"?

Question

By "in-place replacement" I mean to replace the word without changing the sentence structure. For example:

To distinguish narcotics as either soft or hard.

Can we say that?

In other words, can "distinguish" be used with "as either... or" instead of "between... and"?

I know I could say "to classify" or "to categorize" but I think that these words convey a notion of a somewhat elaborate (or at least non-trivial) process, while I want to convey the meaning of a very simple and direct action.

Another word that I am also not sure I could use is "to differentiate". I think "differentiate" really needs "between... and", right? I can hardly imagine being able to say "To differentiate narcotics as either soft or hard."

The actual (technical) sentence I am working on, if it matters, is "we achieve so-and-so by distinguishing connections as either inputs or outputs."

Answer 1

I think the word you need is identifying. Identify means:

to perceive or state the identity of (someone or something) (M-W)

If you identify someone or something, you name them or say who or what they are.

• They identified six plants as having potential for development into pharmaceutical drugs. (Collins)

Distinguish something as something is possible, but less common. It basically means distinguishing that something from the rest, like this other ELU post shows:

Jim looked out the window of the moving car and saw a variety of large buildings dotting the landscape, each with a large mural facing the road. One had a picture of an octopus. Another had a picture of helicopter. Jim didn't know what they all meant, except for one, which had the picture of a happy cow. Jim distinguished it as an old dairy. Here the context implies that Jim is distinguishing this building from the rest of the buildings. He does this by identifying it as an old dairy, whereas he could not identify the other buildings.