Hallucinogenics in a Nutshell ___________________________________________________________________________________
Hallucinogens are powerful mind-altering drugs. They have the ability to cause changes in a person’s perception of reality. They affect the cerebral cortex of the brain, which controls the body’s sensory motor functions. They also disrupt the chemical messages that are sent from the brain to the rest of the body. Normally, neurotransmitters take messages from nerve cell (neuron) to nerve cell. When neurotransmitters attach to neurons, the message is relayed and the neuron cell changes in that way. Hallucinogenic substances cause these messages to be altered and deliver false messages or relay messages to the wrong parts of the body. This is called synaptic scrabbling. When this happens, the user may experience sensations that seem real such as seeing sounds and hearing colors, but they are not. We will talk about this again later on. Hallucinogenic substances are found in mushrooms, cactus plants and others are manufactured synthetically. The physical and psychological effects of these drugs depend on factors such as the user’s mood at the time of ingestion, environment, weight, height, gender and the expectations of the user. Although most hallucinogens do not create a physical dependence, they have an unknown potential for psychological dependence. PCP, for example, can bring about a very high psychological dependence.
LSD __________________________________
As I previously mentioned, LSD is a chemical that is extracted from ergot, a fungus that grows on grains. It was used medically to treat alcoholism, mental illness and cancer, but the results were so inconsistent that they discontinued using the drug therapeutically. Today, it is sold illegally in the streets under such names as Acid, Microdot, Trips, Barrels, Blotters, Lids, Cubes, California Sunshine, Wedges, Windowpane and Mellow Yellow. CRITICAL POINT: The effects of LSD depend largely on the amount taken. LSD causes dilated pupils; can raise body temperature and increase heart rate and blood pressure; and can cause profuse sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors. LSD can be found on the streets in the form of capsules, tablets, clear liquid, thin squares of gelatin or blotter paper dipped in LSD. Blotter paper or sugar cubes are used so that it can be ingested orally. Effects
begin within 30 minutes after ingestion, peak in 2 hours and fade after 9 to 12 hours. It is the most powerful hallucinogenic known to man. As a matter of fact, no other psychedelic drug even comes close to LSD in terms of altering the perception of time, space and matter. Its physical effects include numbness, fatigue, rapid reflexes, tremors, pupil dilation, increased heart rate and blood pressure, reduced appetite, chills and nausea. Common psychological effects include visual distortions, disrupted perception of time and short term memory loss. Hallucinations, trips, flashbacks, paranoia, panic and delusions occur with higher dosages and long term use. CRITICAL POINT: No other psychedelic drug even comes close to LSD in terms of altering the perception of time, space and matter. The hallucinations brought about by LSD can be either positive or negative. A positive hallucination is when you perceive something that is not really there. For instance, under the influence of LSD, someone might hear sounds such as charms, talking or music that are not present or might see things like people, animals or colors that are not real. These hallucinations can be extremely vivid. A negative hallucination is when you cannot perceive something that really is there. For example, the person may not be able to hear someone who is talking to him or feel things that he is touching. Both positive and negative hallucinations can be auditory, tactual and visual. It is also common for people under the influence of LSD to experience synaptic scrambling during which they may hear colors and see noises. Another interesting psychological phenomenon associated with LSD is the disappearance of ego boundaries. For example, a person on LSD may actually feel as if he is a part of the floor and if someone steps on the floor, it may cause him bodily pain. Conversely, if someone strokes the floor, it may cause him bodily pleasure. Ego may be inflated to heights of preeminence, pure omnipotence or extreme lows, where the person feels mental and physical impotence. CRITICAL POINT: LSD's psychological effects (colloquially called a "trip") vary greatly from person to person, depending on factors such as previous experiences, state of mind and environment, as well as dose strength. They also vary from one trip to another, and even as time passes during a single trip. An LSD trip can have long-term psychoemotional effects; some users cite the LSD experience as causing significant changes in their personality and life perspective. Even though research indicates that LSD is not physically or mentally addictive, it is not a highly used or abused drug. Actually, it is kind of funny. Drug users will brag about the different types of drugs they have taken and how much they’ve taken, but you don’t hear too many of them bragging
about taking acid. In fact, if you took a survey of really heavy drug users, you would probably find that very few of them take acid. The reason is acid can take you on a trip that can be an experience just short of hell. If you don’t have a really strong mental constitution, you can find yourself going through Alice in Wonderland’s looking glass and you might not come back any time too soon. What I am referring to here is a “bad trip.” Generally, a bad trip occurs when the individual loses consciousness of what is reality and what is fantasy. For example, let’s say someone takes a hit of LSD and he has a visual hallucination that there are a number of animals in the room. Usually, this would be a fun experience because he knows the LSD is causing him to hallucinate. The problem occurs when the individual starts questioning whether the animals are real or just imagined. If he starts thinking they are real, you can see how frightening that can be. CRITICAL POINT: Widely different effects emerge based on what Timothy Leary called set and setting; the "set" being the general mindset of the user, and the "setting" being the physical and social environment in which the drug's effects are experienced. When I was in college, one of the guys in our dorm had dropped some acid and he started hallucinating that there were snakes all over his room. When we went into his room to help him, he was curled up in a corner. In a situation like this, there are two things you need to know. One, most people on heavy drugs are extremely paranoid. At this time, they basically have delusions of persecution…they think everyone is out to hurt them. So, unless the person is hurting himself, like banging his head into a wall or cutting himself, keep a distance between him and you. There are two people you don’t want to get in an altercation with…a person who is dirt ugly and a person who is heavy on drugs. Neither of them gives a shit. They will fight you to the death. Another thing, if a person is hallucinating, don’t try to convince him that there is nothing there. He is not going to believe you and any rapport you have with him could be destroyed. For instance, we told our friend that he had taken something and that he would be okay in a little while. We also told him that we would stay with him until everything was all right. We kept reinforcing that fact over and over. Oh yeah! We also picked up his imaginary snakes and took them outside the room every time they got close to him. Bad trips can also be triggered by various stimuli. The panic that might result from loss of time space perception, the acute physiological reactions of heart rate, chills, nausea or confusion from the experience could initiate a bad trip. Bad trips can also occur from an unexpected upsurge of memory that is normally repressed or simply from fantasies that are lodged in the mind.
CRITICAL POINT: Some psychological effects may include an experience of radiant colors, objects and surfaces appearing to ripple or "breathe," colored patterns behind the eyes, a sense of time distorting (time seems to be stretching, repeating itself, changing speed or stopping), crawling geometric patterns overlaying walls and other objects, morphing objects, a sense that one's thoughts are spiraling into themselves, loss of a sense of identity or the ego (known as "ego death"), and other powerful psycho-physical reactions
∞ DRUGS in Perspective ∞ __________________________________________________________________
From the book Treading with Demons Walking with Angels An Acid Trip...The Experience. I’ve heard weird stories too about guys who have used acid, and some of them were downright terrifying…guys seeing themselves lying in a coffin, being buried alive, talking to Satan…really scary shit! Consequently, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about giving it a whirl, but I thought what the hell; I’ll try anything once, and with that thought I choked down a hit of the Yellow Sunshine. At first not much happened. Yea! I got a little buzz but nothing to write home about. Then afte r about twenty minutes it hit me. I started out by laughing uncontrollably. It’s what acidheads call “perma grin.” Everything seemed funny to me…the floor, the walls, my shoes…I looked at my watch and I fell out laughing hysterically. It was crazy. I look ed over at Danny, and I just broke out laughing again. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, which made me laugh even more. Once I calmed down a little, I noticed that the colors in the room were very vibrant. I never really noticed the beauty of colors until that moment. The yellows were…well so yellow and the blues were so serene and peaceful looking. The scarlet and reds just screamed out at me. The greens made me smile with enthusiasm….it was so magnificent. And sounds became so lucid and intense. I could actually hear Danny breathing and the still air resting. Every sense in my body seemed to be heightened. I could smell better, taste better, hear better, see better, even my sense of touch was better. Everything seemed so brilliant and crystal-clear. Then all of a sudden this magnificent splendor started to get all scrambled up. I began hearing the colors and seeing sounds, and I actually started getting these wonderful vibrations from Danny and my surroundings. When you are on acid, you get the impression you can feel the soul or spirit of other people or of inanimate objects for that matter. It’s absolutely awesome. You almost feel like you’re omnipotent. At least that is the way it made me feel. I know I said, most guys fear acid, but I didn’t fear it; I loved it, which just seemed to reinforce in my mind that I never met a drug I didn’t love.
When I was in college, I had a good friend who was crazy about this girl. He was totally nuts about her, but he was too afraid to ask her out. He would follow her all over campus. He knew her school schedule, her work schedule and what she did on her free time. He knew where she would be just about every minute of the day. Hell, he basically stalked her. He would hide behind bushes or climb up into a tree just to watch her walk by. He was that crazy about her. Well, to make a long story short, he finally got up enough nerve and asked her out. She agreed to go out with him and they hit it off right away. Within no time, they started dating steadily. The more he was with her the more he fell for her. He was absolutely in love with the girl. Then, one night, she came over to his house. He had dropped some acid right before she got there, but it hadn’t hit him yet. He told me they started making love and she was sitting on top of him. He said that when he looked up at her, her eyes rolled back into her head, fangs came out of her mouth, a serpent slithered out between the fangs and horns jutted out of her head. In other words, she turned into the devil right before his eyes. Of course, it was the acid, but it was so real to him that it scared him half to death. He picked her up and slammed her into the wall and ran out of the house completely naked. He hid outside in the woods naked for a good six hours before he got the courage to go back to his house. After that, he didn’t want anything to do with the girl. Think about that for a second…here was the girl he wanted to marry and after that little adventure he couldn’t even look at her anymore.
CRITICAL POINT f the user is in a hostile or otherwise unsettling environment, or is not mentally prepared for the powerful distortions in perception and thought that the drug causes, effects are more likely to be unpleasant than if he or she is in a comfortable environment and has a relaxed, balanced and open mindset. If that wasn’t bad enough, he told me that he saw her a couple days later walking up campus. When he looked over at her, she turned back into the devil again. Her eyes rolled back into her head, fangs came out of her mouth and horns jutted out of her head. What he experienced was a flashback. A flashback is a reoccurrence of a previous trip. Flashbacks can occur a day later, a week later or as far away as 18 months. They can also occur once a month or several times a day and in many different environmental settings. Interestingly, it has been shown that the body rids itself of LSD almost completely within 48 hours. How an individual can experience an LSD flashback after 48 hours is still not clearly understood. It has been hypothesized that a flashback is similar to a discriminate stimulus, in that a cue and/or stimulus in the environment triggers it. In a word, a flashback is an association reflex between a stimulus and the response. Still, that is just a guess. CRITICAL POINT: LSD users can also experience flashbacks, or recurrences of certain aspects of the drug experience. Flashbacks occur suddenly, often without warning, and may do so within a few days or more than a year after LSD use. In some individuals, the flashbacks can persist and cause significant distress or impairment in social or occupational functioning, a condition known as hallucinogen-induced persisting perceptual disorder (HPPD). It might also be noted that experienced LSD users sometimes experience what is called a “free trip.” A free trip is basically the same thing as a flashback, but it is usually the reoccurrence of a good trip, not a bad one. Generally, experienced LSD users will arrange their environment the same way when they use the drug because they are aware that the environment can set off a bad trip. Therefore, they will try to ensure that their environment is fixed so that it does not have anything in it that might lead to a panic or fear attack. Once the environment is set, they will start “tripping” before they take the drug…that is why it is called a “free trip.” This again seems to be triggered by an association reflex between the previous setting of the environment and a previous trip. There are three types of flashbacks: perceptual flashbacks, in which the tripper sees colors and hears sounds of the original experience; somatic flashbacks, in which the tripper experiences tingling sensations, heart palpitations, etc.; and emotional
flashbacks, in which the tripper relives feelings of depression, anxiety, panic, fear and even hysteria. CRITICAL POINT: Most users of LSD voluntarily decrease or stop its use over time. LSD is not considered an addictive drug since it does not produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior. However, LSD does produce tolerance, so some users who take the drug repeatedly must take progressively higher doses to achieve the state of intoxication that they had previously achieved. This is an extremely dangerous practice, given the unpredictability of the drug. In addition, cross-tolerance between LSD and other hallucinogens has been reported. In spite of the aforementioned psychological trauma that LSD can bring about, it is rather a safe drug. LSD does not cause physical or mental dependence and there is no real evidence to suggest that it can cause any other physiological side effects. There is that little thing called teratogenic phenomena. Terato means monster like, and genic means to produce. Thus, the term teratogenic means to produce a monster. Actually, the term comes from the thalidomide babies. Thalidomide was a drug that was developed in Canada to help pregnant women who were experiencing severe morning sickness. They would take the drug as soon as the symptoms of morning sickness came on and presto…no morning sickness. The drug worked like a charm, but the FDA had not approved it in the States. As a result, a lot of American women had the drug smuggled in so that they could use it. Eventually, they discovered that the drug was causing horrifying birth defects in just about every woman who was taking it. The babies that were being born to the women taking thalidomide literally looked like monsters. What was occurring was that the drug was interfering with the babies’ growth cycles. For instance, if the mother took thalidomide in her first trimester when the child’s feet and hands were supposed to be growing, these body parts wouldn’t develop. Consequently, the child would be born with a normal head and trunk, but the arms and legs would be like little flippers. If, on the other hand, the mother took the drug when the child’s head was suppose to be growing, the child would be born with a normal body but a tiny head. Some of the babies who were born were so deformed that they barely looked human. Of course, as soon as they realized what was going on, they immediately took the drug off the
market. The problem was that a lot of the women who were using the drug were still carrying their children. As a result, they knew that there was a good chance that their children were going to be born deformed. In fact, there was a psychological term coined at that time called teratophobia. Terato means monster, and phobia means fear…fear of giving birth to a monster like child. This actually started the big push for abortion in America. Anyhow, initially, LSD was thought to cause chromosomal break down, which would lead to forms of teratogenic phenomena in the offspring of mothers who were taking the drug. Research revealed that LSD had been linked to teratogenic phenomena in white mice. Still, as Russ Perow once said, “A mouse is not a human being. They look different, they act differently, and they are different.” The point being, it is a major stretch, a literal quantum leap, to make an inference from a mouse to a human being. Just because a mouse develops cytogenic effects from LSD does not mean a human being will develop those same effects. It should also be noted that the studies that found that LSD caused teratogenic effects in mice used dosages that could have killed a horse. In general, the dosages were over a hundred times that of what a human being would use. When studies were conducted using appropriate dosages, there were no signs of chromosomal or cytogenic damage in mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, cats or any other species, meaning that there is no evidence to indicate that LSD can cause chromosomal impairment. CRITICAL POINT: LSD may temporarily impair the ability to make sensible judgments and understand common dangers, thus making the user more susceptible to accidents and personal injury and cause signs of organic brain damage-impaired memory and attention span, mental confusion or difficulty with abstract thinking. However LSD is physiologically well tolerated and there is no evidence for long-lasting effects on brain and other parts of the human organism. As mentioned, LSD is not a highly desired drug on the streets. Thus, it is fairly cheap…prices range from $1 to $12 per dosage unit and generally sells for $5 per dosage unit. It is mainly distributed through mail orders, which makes it extremely difficult for the authorities to investigate trafficking.
Other Commonly Used Hallucinogenic Drugs ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
- Psilocybin This might surprise you…Albert Hofmann, the guy who discovered the hallucinogenic effects of LSD, also isolated psilocybin, the hallucinogenic agent in Psilocybe Mexicana. Psilocybe Mexicana is a small mushroom that grows wild in marshy places like cow pastures. That’s right, go out and kick over some cow dung and there is a good chance you will see these little mushrooms under there. Make sure you get the right ones because there are some mushrooms out there that are extremely toxic…killer mushrooms. If you turn the mushroom over and pop it and a purple haze comes through the pours, there is a good chance you have a psilocybin mushroom. Like I said though, don’t get the wrong one. CRITICAL POINT: The active compounds in psilocybincontaining “magic” mushrooms have LSD-like properties and produce alterations of autonomic function, motor reflexes, behavior, and perception.
When I was in college, guys would go out and get psilocybin all the time because it was a cheap high. They would go into a cow pasture, gather up a few psilocybin mushrooms and take them back to the dorm and boil them. Then, they would have a little psilocybin tea party. I remember one time these guys came back to the dorm and made some psilocybin tea and drank it, but nothing happened… immediately. They didn’t realize that psilocybin has a fairly long latency period…about 40 minutes. So, they ate the mushrooms. Oh my God! They were stoned for about three days. The rest of the guys in the dorm would go to class and they would have to step over them. They were lying in the halls trying to sober up. CRITICAL POINT: The psychological consequences of psilocybin use include hallucinations, an altered perception of time, and an inability to discern fantasy from reality. Panic reactions and psychosis also may occur, particularly if a user ingests a large dose. Long-term effects such as flashbacks, risk of psychiatric illness, impaired memory, and tolerance have been described in case reports. Interestingly, this was the drug that Alice in Wonderland took before going through the looking glass. Yeah! Alice in Wonderland used psilocybin. That is why she could never be President. Remember when Alice met the Cheshire cat? What did they do? They had a tea party…a freaken psilocybin tea party. After that, she went through the looking glass and everything was contorted and disfigured. Remember, that is when she met the Mad Hatter and the rest of the Twilight Zone characters. The reason everything was distorted was because she was hallucinating from the psilocybin tea. That’s right! Alice in Wonderland, one of the greatest children storybooks of all time, was a drug trip. Heck! The guy that wrote the book, Lewis Carroll, was on LSD when he composed it.
- PCP (Phencyclidine) PCP was first used as an anesthetic in humans in the 1950s, but it was later discontinued in 1979 because it caused patients to become disoriented and agitated. It also had toxic side effects. As a result, it could only be used legally as a tranquilizer in veterinary medicine. It is a rather enigmatic drug in that it has stimulant, depressant, hallucinogenic and analgesic properties. It too is a recreational drug that was abused by an estimated seven million Americans in the 1970s and it was the source of numerous accounts of overdoses, violence and death. This led to its complete ban in 1978. By 1985, it had reappeared on the streets and today although it still remains illegal, it is being manufactured and is readily available. It is known on the streets as Angel Dust, Peace Pill, Hog, Horse Tranquilizer, Crystal,
Sherm, Tic, Pep, Ozone, Supergrass and Killer Weed (when added to marijuana). Its nicknames reflect the effect that is felt after it is used. Prices for PCP range from $5 to $15 for tablets, $20 to $30 for a gram of powder and $200 to $600 for an ounce of liquid. CRITICAL POINT: PCP, or phencyclidine, is a dissociative anesthetic that was developed in the 1950s as a surgical anesthetic. Its sedative and anesthetic effects are trance-like, and patients experience a feeling of being "out of body" and detached from their environment. PCP can be ingested, snorted, eaten and smoked. It is a bitter tasting, white crystalline powder that can dissolve in water. Depending on the amount taken, effects can last from 1-2 hours up to 48 hours as more is ingested. PCP is one of the most potent and dangerous hallucinogens. It disrupts the central nervous system, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Side effects that are experienced are dependent on the amount that is ingested. Generally, a user can experience confusion, agitation, paranoia and delirium, depression and alienation, increased blood rate and blood pressure, nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, dizziness, seizures, coma and the most serious, death. Because of its bitter taste, it is usually added to drinks or when smoked, it is laced with mint leaves, parsley, oregano, or marijuana. CRITICAL POINT: PCP turns up on the illicit drug market in a variety of tablets, capsules, and colored powders. It is normally used in one of three ways -- snorted, smoked, or eaten. When it is smoked, PCP is often applied to a leafy material such as mint, parsley, oregano, tobacco or marijuana. Many people who use PCP may do it unknowingly because PCP is often used as an additive and can be found in marijuana, LSD, or methamphetamine. As with all hallucinogens, PCP does not bring physical dependence, but one can develop a high tolerance level, which is quite dangerous because it can lead to overdosing. High tolerance levels also act as a catalyst to mental dependence. CRITICAL POINT: At low to moderate doses, PCP can cause distinct changes in body awareness, similar to those associated with LSD intoxication. Use of PCP among adolescents may interfere with hormones related to normal growth and development as well as with the learning process. At
high doses, PCP can cause hallucinations as well as seizures, coma, and death (though death more often results from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication). High doses can also cause effects similar to symptoms of schizophrenia, such as delusions, paranoia, disordered thinking, a sensation of distance from one's environment, and catatonia.
One prominent characteristic of PCP is uncontrolled violence. Individuals under the influence of the drug become extremely violent for no apparent reason. It is believed that these uncontrollable outbreaks of savagery are due to stimulation of the amygdala in the limbic system. This was the drug that the police said Rodney King was taking when they pulled him over and beat the living shit out of him. Of course, he wasn’t taking the drug. It turned out it was just their excuse for beating the poor man half to death. However, people under the influence of PCP do become extremely violent and uncontrollable at times. CRITICAL POINT: Among the adverse psychological effects reported are— Symptoms that mimic schizophrenia, such as delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, disordered thinking, and a sensation of distance from one’s environment. Mood disturbances: Approximately 50 percent of individuals brought to emergency rooms because of PCP report significant elevations in anxiety symptoms. People who have abused PCP for long periods of time have reported memory loss, difficulties with speech and thinking, depression, and weight loss. These symptoms can persist up to one year after stopping PCP abuse. PCP is addictive…its repeated abuse can lead to craving and compulsive PCP seeking behavior, despite severe adverse consequences.
- DMT DMT is the main constituent of the bark of Virola calophylla. It is also found in the seeds and leaves of some South American plants. In religious rituals, Indians add it to drinks, but usually it is smoked or injected. It must be combined with monoamine oxydase inhibitors in order to become active orally. It takes about 50 mg in order to feel an effect, whether it is smoked or injected. Tolerance is only developed after extreme and frequent use. There is a cross-tolerance between DMT and LSD. Its physiological effects resemble those of LSD, but symptoms such as dilated pupils, increased blood pressure and increased pulse are more common and more intense. Psychological effects are also much like those of LSD, but are more intense. Thoughts and visions crowd in at great speed, loss of time and users feel as
if they have been “transported into another universe for a timeless journey.” CRITICAL POINT: Its physiological effects resemble those of LSD, but symptoms such as dilated pupils, increased blood pressure and increased pulse are more common and more intense. Psychological effects are also much like those of LSD, but are more intense. The duration of the trips of DMT varies. If it is smoked or injected, the effects begin within seconds, peak after about 5-20 minutes and end after about 30 minutes. Because of this, it is known as the “businessman’s lunch or trip.” It was common practice in New York City for businessmen to go to lunch and take DMT. Because of the short latency and duration period of the drug, they could eat lunch high and go back to work completely sober.
- MDMA (Ecstasy) Ecstasy is a designer drug that is a hallucinogenic amphetamine. It is derived from the chemical compound methylenedioxyamphetamine. It is found on the street in the form of tablets, capsules and powder. An average dose is 15-50 mg. The most popular way of taking it is by oral ingestion, but it has been reported that a quicker effect can be felt when it is injected. The duration of its trips ranges from 8-12 hours. CRITICAL POINT: Users report that Ecstasy produces intensely pleasurable effects. Effects include feelings of peacefulness, acceptance and empathy. Cardiovascular failure has been reported in some of the Ecstasy-related fatalities. Repeated use of Ecstasy ultimately may damage the cells that produce serotonin, which has an important role in the regulation of mood, appetite, pain, learning and memory. There already is research suggesting Ecstasy use can disrupt or interfere with memory. Unlike most stimulants, these drugs suppress motor activity, causing users to engage in yoga or mediation like activities for extended periods of time. They act in the same manner as appetite suppressants. Some appetite suppressants are categorized in this class of drugs. Ecstacy is highly abused, and as with all other hallucinogens, a high tolerance can be developed. Drugs such as these can increase heart rate, causing heart attacks and with extensive use lead to cardiac anxiety.