Drugs Across the Spectrum Raymond Goldberg Chapter 13 Hallucinogens

1. Albia Dugger • Miami Dade College
Chapter 13
Hallucinogens

2. Altered Consciousness
• About 6,000 different types of plants are capable of altering
consciousness
• About 150 plants are used for hallucinogenic purposes
• Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD) are synthetic hallucinogens

3. Terminology
• Hallucinogens
• Drugs that induce perceived distortions in time and space
• Phantasticants
• Term used to describe hallucinogenic drugs
• Psychedelic (“mind-manifesting”)
• Term used to describe hallucinogenic drugs
• Psychotomimetic
• Refers to drugs that produce psychotic-like symptoms
• Psychotogenic
• Refers to drugs that generate psychosis

4. The Search for Hallucinogens
• Humans have long used agents that cause visual, auditory,
tactile, taste, and other hallucinations or that induce artificial
psychoses
• Mind-altering drugs were central in many Eastern religions,
where they were used to achieve religious revelations
• Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann developed LSD as a possible
headache remedy in 1938

5. Amanita muscaria
• Amanita muscaria is one of the oldest and most common
hallucinogens; derived from the fly agaric mushroom
• In India 3,500 years ago, the Rig Veda, an ancient Hindu
book, called it soma
• Viking warriors ingested Amanita muscaria to make them feel
more fierce
• This mushroom grows throughout the US, and can be lethal

6. Saint Anthony’s Fire
• Ergotism
• A condition resulting from ingesting a fungus that grows on
grains; marked by muscle tremors, burning, mania,
delirium, hallucinations, and eventual gangrene
• St. Anthony’s fire
• Burning sensations caused by ergot poisoning
• People during the Middle Ages would visit the shrine of St.
Anthony in an attempt to cure it

7. The U.S. Experience
• LSD reached the US in 1949, when it was used to study
mental illness
• It was later used by musicians and artists to enhance their
creativity, and by government officials to determine its
effectiveness as a mind-control agent

8. LSD and Mental Health
• One of the first uses of LSD was to study mental illness,
especially schizophrenia
• Psychiatrists gave patients LSD to help them develop
personal insight and to recall repressed experiences
• LSD was given to terminally ill cancer patients to help them
cope with impending death
• Presently, LSD and other hallucinogens have no accepted
medical uses

9. LSD and Creativity
• Objectively, LSD does not seem to improve creativity,
although artists who take it seem to enjoy its effects
• Some artists believe that the perceptual changes from LSD
have a profound, positive effect
• In another study, artists believed that their drawing skills
vastly diminished under the influence of LSD

10. LSD and Government Experiments
• Research with LSD was conducted at the Edgewood Arsenal
in Maryland in the early 1950s
• In 1953, the CIA gave LSD to government scientist Frank
Olson without his knowledge – he experienced a psychotic
response and jumped to his death from a 10th-story window
• Prostitutes in San Francisco were given LSD unknowingly to
evaluate the drug’s effect on their sexual activities and
experiences and on their patrons

11. LSD and the U.S. Culture
• In the early 1960s, people took LSD as a means of dealing
with society and its inherent problems
• At Harvard University Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert
studied the psychological effects of psilocybin, a
hallucinogenic mushroom, on humans
• Leary and Alpert believed that LSD and other hallucinogens
were psychologically and spiritually beneficial

12. Timothy Leary helped popularize LSD

13. LSD
• LSD
• The most powerful known hallucinogen
• Tolerance develops rapidly
• Has no taste, color, or odor
• Used as microdots placed on blotter paper and licked
• Behavioral effects last 6 to 8 hours
• Operates on the neurotransmitter serotonin in the brain
• Causes chromosome damage

14. Three Phases of an LSD Trip
• Phase 1: lasting 1 to 2 hours, is marked by euphoria and
either crying or laughing
• Phase 2: 2 to 3 hours after ingestion, visual illusions and
hallucinations appear
• Phase 3: 3 to 4 hours after ingestion, is characterized by
distortion of time, ego disintegration, mood swings, and
occasionally panic and depression

15. Psychological Effects of LSD
• Synesthesia: the blending of senses in which the person
hears or tastes colors and sees sounds
• Depersonalization and disorientation
• Fear or panic can lead to a “bad trip”
• Flashbacks: A person re-experiences the effects of LSD
days, weeks, or months after it was last used

16. Peyote
• Peyote
• A cactus containing the hallucinogen mescaline
• Used by Aztec Indians for religious rituals
• Mescaline
• Psychoactive agent derived from the peyote cactus
• Produces effects similar to norepinephrine
• In small doses, produces euphoria
• In larger doses, generates intense hallucinations

17. Two Stages of Peyote Intoxication
• Stage 1: Contentment and sensitivity
• Stage 2: Great calm, muscular sluggishness, and a shift of
attention from external stimuli to introspection and meditation
• Medical uses:
• To treat patients with angina pectoris
• Respiratory stimulant for patients with pneumonia

18. Effects of Peyote
• Peyote takes 30-90 minutes to take effect
• Stays in the body about 10 hours
• The hallucinogenic effect lasts about 2 hours
• Tolerance to mescaline forms quickly and there is a cross-
tolerance between mescaline and LSD

19. The Peyote Cactus

20. Psilocybin
• Psilocybin mushrooms
• Called teonanacatl by Aztecs
• In 1958, Albert Hofmann isolated the psychoactive
ingredient
• Effects are similar to LSD, but not as intense
• Converted into psilocin by a stomach enzyme
• Has no current medical use

21. Psilocybin Mushrooms

22. Salvinorin A
• Salvinorin A
• Relatively new hallucinogen derived from the sage family
• Not yet illegal in the US, but banned in some states
• When smoked, psychoactive effect lasts 15 minutes
• Research into the effects of long-term medical and
recreational use of the drug is limited

23. Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
• Anticholinergic hallucinogens
• Found in datura and in Amanita muscaria mushrooms
• Interfere with the action of acetylcholine to produce
hallucinations
• Have been used as medicines, poisons, and beauty aids
• Can be highly toxic in large doses
• Plants containing anticholinergic hallucinogens include
belladonna, datura, henbane, and mandrake

24. Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
• Belladonna (deadly nightshade)
• Found in Europe, North Africa, and Asia
• Member of the tomato and potato family
• Can be extremely toxic
• Datura (locoweed, Jamestown weed, or jimsonweed)
• Used in ancient China, Greece, India, and Africa
• Side effects are potentially harmful and noxious
• Recreational use is increasing

25. Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
• Mandrake
• Derived from the nightshade family
• Used during the Middle Ages in connection with witchcraft
and sorcery
• In large amounts, can cause coma and death
• Two psychoactive drugs: scopolamine and atropine
• Scopolamine has been used to treat motion sickness
• Atropine is used to dilate the pupils and lessen lung
congestion

26. Nutmeg and Mace
• Nutmeg and Mace
• From seeds and fruit of the Myristica tree
• Used without effect in food preparations
• Large quantities induce visual and auditory hallucinations
• Myristicin
• Substance found in nutmeg and mace
• Chemically similar to mescaline
• Unpleasant side effects

27. Fruit of the Myristica fragrans Tree

28. Dimethyltryptamine
• Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
• From leaves, bark, and seeds of various plants grown in
South and Central America
• First synthesized in 1931 (“businessman’s LSD”)
• Euphoric effects last 1 to 2 hours
• May result in a psychotic episode
• Tolerance does not develop
• Reduces heart rate and blood pressure

29. Phencyclidine Hydrochloride (PCP)
• Phencyclidine hydrochloride (PCP or “angel dust”)
• Developed in the 1950s as a surgical anesthetic
• Illegal in the US since 1978
• Generates anesthetic, hallucinogenic, stimulating, or
depressing effects depending on the dosage and method
of administration
• Dissociative anesthetic
• Alters perception of pain without loss of consciousness

30. Early Use of PCP
• Distributed under many names: angel dust, dust, rocket fuel,
trank, crystal, PeaCe Pill, and hog
• Popularity declined because it induced bizarre, violent
behavior
• Initially distributed in tablet or capsule form, but it also can be
injected, snorted, or smoked
• Acute effects last 4 to 6 hours, but the user may be in a state
of confusion for 8 to 24 hours

31. Illegal Use of PCP
• Illegal use of PCP escalated toward the end of the 1960s and
into the 1970s
• Frequently used in place of other drugs such as LSD, THC,
mescaline, or amphetamines
• Because users are disoriented, paranoid, and violent, police
and hospital personnel are wary of people who are using it

32. Effects of PCP (Small dosage)
• Feelings of warmth
• Relaxation
• Poor concentration
• Depersonalization
• Nystagmus
• Agitation
• Muscle rigidity
• Sudden mood swings
• Faster heart rate
• Elevated blood pressure
• Euphoria
• Numbness
• Distorted body image
• Confusion
• Poor coordination
• Slow reaction time
• Excessive salivation
• Repetitive behavior
• Higher body temperature

33. Effects of PCP (Large dosage)
• Anorexia
• Violent behavior
• Restlessness
• Suicide
• Seizures
• Paranoia
• Insomnia
• Amnesia
• Depression
• Coma
• Death

34. Ketamine
• Ketamine (K, Special K, or vitamin K)
• Used in veterinary medicine in place of PCP
• Effective for pain management in humans
• Considered a dissociative anesthetic
• Capable of producing confusion, hallucinations, delirium,
excitement, irrational behavior, muscle rigidity, tremors,
respiratory depression, irregular heartbeat, loss of
appetite, skin rashes, nausea, and cardiac arrest