Hallucinogens

(See: Drugs in American Society, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th editions, Erich Goode, McGraw-Hill, 1999/2005/2008/2012/2014. Chapters 1/9/10 and Drugs, Society, and Human Behavior, Ray and Ksir, Mosby, 1999. Chapter 15 (8th ed.) Statistics are gathered from the various surveys discussed, especially: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-48, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4863. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014.

(Hey, don't stare at this too long!)

Try Wow, too. (or this)

• Humans have always sought to expand experience: Aphrodisiacs, Spirituality, Knowledge of "Other Worlds."
• Plants have been there to help
• Knowledge of appropriate ways to use plants to achieve particular effects has been part of human culture(s) for 1000's of years

Ancient Religions

• Earliest form of religious expression: Animism
• Spirits are thought to inhabit: animals, plants, rocks, etc.
• Consume the object and "inherit" the spirit: Communicate, Special Powers, Knowledge
• Medicine Man, Shaman: Specialist in plant properties
• Plants and their psychoactive properties were instrumental in the development of human religions and folklore.
• Psychedelics and Religious Experience
• MDMA and psychotherapy
• Religion as a Product of Psychotropic Drug Use (from The Atlantic, December 2013. Based on: Miller, Richard and Newton, A. 2014. Drugged: The Science and Culture Behind Psychotropic Drugs. Oxford Press: New York, NY. (Preview on Google Books)

What's in a Name?

• 1931: Category of drugs associated with the world of fantasy referred to as Phantastica
• 1960's: Psychedelic. Mind made manifest, "See" more clearly, Transcend cultural limitations. Aldous Huxley "The Doors of Perception" (1954). Direct confrontation with reality. Humphrey Osmund: LSD as a drug with "more than medical significance." Pro-drug ideology.
• Impact of these drugs: Hallucinations, Psychotic-like experience=> Psychotomimetic. Induced state is illusion and undesirable. Anti-drug Ideology. Hallucinogen
• Psycholytic: A substance that is useful in a therapeutic setting.
  • Using psychedelic drugs in the treatment of cancer patients, local copy.
  • Ecstasy Shows Promise in Relieving PTSD , Time, July 2010. (local copy)(see also and this on MDMA)
  • The Neurobiology of Psychedelic Drugs: implications for the treatment of mood disorders. Franz X. Vollenweider & Michael Kometer. "Nature Reviews Neuroscience," advance online publication, Published online 18 August 2010 | doi:10.1038/nrn2884. (local copy). And this article from MSNBC.
  • Timothy Leary's Concord Prison Experiment (Psilocybin and recidivism)(local copy)(follow-up)
  • Ketamine and schizophrenia (Morgan, et al. Biological Psychiatry. Volume 69, Issue 1, 1 January 2011, Pages 35-41. N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor Function and Cortical Connectivity in Schizophrenia) (local copy)(New Scientist blog)
  • Psychedelics as Medicine

WWW Links

• Hyperreal Drug Archives are now a part of Erowid's resources: The Vaults of Erowid
• DrugsText: Substance Information
• The Psychedelic Library
• Albert Hofmann Foundation
• Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
• The Heffter Research Institute  (Arthur Heffter identified mescaline as the primary psychoactive agent in peyote in 1892).
• Trip Magazine http://www.tripzine.com/ almost-quarterly journal celebrating the ongoing evolution of psychedelic subculture.
• Videos on LSD (no pun intended)
• A Trip into Psychedelic History (at erowid.org)
• "A Housewife drops acid"

• Substances which contains the "indole nucleus" which is the basic structure of the neurotransmitter Serotonin (impact on deep sleep regulation).
• The individual is typically able to maintain some contact with the "real" world and remember the experience.
• Little "acute physiological toxicity," overdose deaths unlikely.

LSD

LSD-25 (this .zip file is a program to download (it will need to be unzipped!) that will give you a taste of the experience!  Contact viehland@umr.edu for more information.

• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (the "S" comes from the German word for acid: Saure)
• Odorless, colorless and tasteless
• LD50 (rats) is about 400x the ED
• Dose for recreational purposes: 1965-79: 150-250 micrograms, Today: 25-100 micrograms (see, LSD Samples Analysis)
• Stable use patterns (rather than "comeback")
• Early years: Key to mind expansion; Today: "Just another drug in the soup"
• Not found in nature, Semi-synthetic: synthesized from the ergot alkaloids from the ergot fungus Claviceps purprea. Mold which grows on grain, typically rye. Causes illness: ergotism (ergot timeline). The following is from a 2/15/2000 post the MAPS Discussion list:

In addition to ergotamine and dihydroergotamine which are used in the treatment of migraines, the ergot alkaloid methylergonovine is an obstetric agent used to induce labor and to control excessive uterine bleeding. (I believe these are it’s main uses; I’m a psychiatrist so that’s not the usual end of the body that I treat.) Also, if I’m not mistaken, Hydergine (ergoloid mesylate) is also a related compound believed by some to improve cognitive ability.

The ergot preparations used in migraine therapy are potent vasoconstrictors and are metabolized in the liver by a specific subset (3A) of metabolic enzymes (known as the cytochrome P450 system). Among the antiretroviral protease inhibitors, ritonavir and indinavir are particularly potent inhibitors of the cytochrome P450 3A subset (among others). I have run across 3 case reports in which migraine treatment with ergotamine resulted in severe systemic vasoconstriction when co-administered with indinavir or ritonavir. According to the PDR, "ergotamine overdose [may] include the following: numbness, tingling, pain, and cyanosis of the extremities associated with diminished or absent peripheral pulses; respiratory depression; an increase and/or decrease in blood pressure, usually in that order; confusion, delirium, convulsions, and coma; and/or some degree of nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain." For dyhydroergotamine the maximum recommended dose is no more than 4mg administered intranasally over the course of 7 days (in 0.5mg doses) and for ergotamine no more than 10mg (in 1mg doses) over the course of a week. Overt ergotism is rare but apparently may be precipitated by the inhibition of hepatic metabolism of these 2 drugs.

I have found no references to adverse reactions to Hydergine or methylergonovine in combination protease inhibitors or other cytochome P450 inhibitors (two common examples being nefazodone and erythromycin). Additionally there are no reports of adverse reactions to LSD in individuals taking cyp3A inhibitors. Appologies for the confusion regarding which drugs I was referring to in the phrase "these agents" near the end of my previous post.

David Gillenwater, M.D. dgillen@emory.edu

Emory University School of Medicine

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health

HIV/AIDS Clinical Research Training Program

• St. Anthony's Fire
• Salem Witch Trials: Possessed girls=> ergotism?
• LSD Time line

1. 1938: Albert Hofmann (Albert Hofmann Foundation) synthesizes LSD at Sandoz Laboratories
2. April 16, 1943: Hofmann accidentally absorbs a tiny bit through his skin. The first "trip," about 3 hours in duration.
3. "An uninterrupted stream of fantastic images of extraordinary plasticity...accompanied by an intense, kaleidoscope-like play of colors."
4. April 19, 1943: Hofmann deliberately ingests 250 micrograms. Experiences anxiety, but is fine the next day (bicycle day)(2013).
5. 1947: Werner Stoll reports on the mental effects of LSD
6. 1952: Charles Savage reports on the first use of LSD to treat depression
7. 1953: LSD clinic opens in England- Roland Sadison. In USA, CIA's Project MK-Ultra. An account of other CIA testing,
8. 1955: Conference on LSD and Mescaline in USA
9. 1960: Harvard's Timothy Leary establishes the Psychedelic Research Project.
10. 1960's Army experimentation. (account)(local copy)
11. 1963: First year LSD is recorded on the streets. Sugar cubes. Media coverage. Leary fired.
12. 1966: Government bans LSD.
13. 1967: First "human be-in" held in San Francisco. "Summer of Love"
14. 1970: Dock Ellis no-hitter for the Pirates
15. 1975: End of formal research
16. 1976: "Blotter Acid" emerges as primary type.
17. 1979: Hofmann publishes, "LSD: My Problem Child."
18. 1988: Re surfacing of the "psychedelic movement." Rave scene.
19. 2005: Re-evaluation of the therapeutic potential of LSD

LSD's Long, Strange Trip (NY Times Retro Report 5/17/16: http://nyti.ms/23TmwIW)
(transcript)

http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004406557/lsds-long-strange-trip.html

More Images from Erowid

• Scientific Problems

1. Methodology: subjective vs objective
2. Distinction between therapist and patient? Therapist use of the drug.
3. Unpredictability of effects

• Boundary Problems
  • Psychiatry as a young discipline
  • Science and spiritualism
  • Science and religion

• Political Problems
  • Government funding
  • Drug Wars
  • Symbolic aspect of LSD use
• Re-study? Problem with Schedule I substances
• How to study? For what purpose? Development rational use policies?

LSD and Therapy

We'll Be Back. LSD has a way of "doing that!"

Psilocybin

• Magic Mushrooms
• Used by natives of South, Southwest and Central America(s) for centuries
• Teocanacatl: "God's flesh" or "sacred mushroom"
• "Rediscovered" in 1930: many species identified
• NY banker/ethnobotanist, Gordon Wasson, first outsider to participate

"It permits you to travel backwards and forward in time, to enter other planes of existence. Even (as the Indians say), to know God..."

• Psilocybe mexicana is species with greatest psychoactive effect. Psilocybin is primary active ingredient; isolated and synthesized by Albert Hofmann (LSD) in 1958.
• Dried mushrooms: .2-.5%, psilocybin-- similar to LSD
• Effects: up to 4 mg.: pleasant, relaxing, "body trip"
• Higher doses: perceptual changes, distortion of body image and hallucinations
• CNS effect after changed to psilocin: little in mushroom, half as potent. Psilocybin's higher lipid solubility is linked to its greater psychoactive properties.
• "Good Friday Study": Tim Leary's follower- investigate as tool to induce religious experience. 20 seminarians, double blind study, half placebo, 90 minutes prior to religious ceremony. Immediate, one week, and 6 month follow-up.
  • Leary's analysis: " ...supports hypothesis that, with adequate preparation and in an environment which is supportive and religiously meaningful, subjects report mystical experiences significantly more than placebo controls."
  • Replication study in 2001-2005 at Johns Hopkins
  • 2008 Johns Hopkins Study follow-up. (local copy)
  • Documentary by "Lazy G Films."
• Criminalization of Psilocybin
• Can grow in a closet. Spores available through mail order.
• Use seems to be stable, popular in the 1990's. Availability is rather sporadic.
• November 2020: Oregon decrinimalizes possession of small quantities of all illegal drugs and legalizes psilocybin (Washington DC decriminalizes psilocybin, too)

• Dimethyltryptamine. Also a variant- DET and DPT
• Not widely used in USA
• But, most important, naturally occurring hallucinogen (neurotransmitter). Occurs in a wide variety of plants.
• Cohoba snuff: S. America and Caribbean.
• Must be snuffed, smoked, or injected.
• Short duration, ~30-60 minutes: "Businessman's Trip"

• Peyote cactus: Lophophora williamsii. Small, spineless cactus. Subterranean. Rio Grande Valley and southward. Grayish-pink pincushion like top protrudes above the ground. (Flowering Peyote)
• Crown is sliced into disks: peyote buttons or mescal buttons
• Not the same as mescal beans or mescal liquor: these come from the agave cactus- contain another alkaloid, cytisine- highly toxic, effects resemble nicotine.
• Peyote: The Divine Cactus

Pharmacology

• Taken orally=> readily absorbed
• High doses required: passes blood-brain barrier poorly
• Reaches highest concentration in 30-120 minutes, half removed from body in 6 hours, although some persists in brain for up to 10 hours.
• Low doses: euphoria; High doses: Hallucinations.
• Excreted unchanged in the urine, metabolites not psychoactive.
• Objective effects: dilated pupils, increase pulse and BP, body temperature elevated. Also elevated EEG activity. LD50 is about 30x effective dose. Death: convulsions and respiratory depression. Tolerance develops, and cross-tolerance with LSD.
• Although different chemical structure, appears to operate similar to LSD. Effects blocked by serotonin antagonist.

Religious Use

• Evidence as early as 1760 of use in USA, yet wasn't until late 19th Century that peyote cult was widely established.
• Today, perhaps 250,000 members. Cross between Christianity and traditional tribal beliefs. Native American Church chartered in Oklahoma in 1918.
• Peyote used as aid to prayers, as medicine, and worn as an amulet.
• Use was protected for many years. (Leary attempted to have LSD recognized as "sacramental" for the 1960's "The League for Spiritual Discovery").
• 1990 Supreme Court ruled state of Oregon could prosecute its use. Religious freedom not allowed as counter argument.
• Federal law and many states specifically exclude sacramental use of peyote from prosecution, but the court allows individual states to outlaw.
• Further decisions: "Wait and see."
• June 2004: "Utah Supreme Court ruled that peyote use in "bona fide" religious ceremonies, regardless of the race of the participants, is protected under Utah and Federal Law in Utah. " (Erowid) (Peyote Leagl Status)

Non-Religious Use

• Mescaline isolated as primary psychoactive agent in peyote in late 19th Century: See: The Heffter Research Institute.   It was synthesized in 1919. It is now known to be one of 30 psychoactive alkaloids in peyote.
• Early investigator: Dr Weir Mitchell,

"...what I saw. Stars, delicate floating films of color, then an abrupt rush of countless points of white light swept across my field of view, as if the unseen millions of the Milky Way were to flow in a sparkling river before my eyes..."

• Large group of drugs, due to substitution on the ring of the catechol nucleus, effects closer to mescaline than amphetamine.

• 2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine
• AKA: STP (Serenity, Tranquility and Peace)
• Similar in effect to mescaline and LSD. 100x more potent than the former, 1/30 as potent as the latter.
• Trips reputed to be extremely long, but due to the large doses consumed.
• Experience from the Haight-Ashbury Clinic suggest high incidence of toxic effects

• Wide variety of concoctions here, also DOET, TMA-2.
• Similar to above in effects, although MDA seems to be subjectively different
• Designer Drugs

(Photo from Erowid: http://www.erowid.org/)

• Ecstasy, XTC, Adam
• Synthesized in 1912
• Extensively used and tested in therapeutic setting
• Hits streets in USA in mid 1980's; Today- Rave Scene.
• Effects reported as been very different from other hallucinogens
• Empathogen, "Closeness," "Openness," objects appear luminescent, Serenity, Noetic (see world in a new, fresh way)
• Objective: heart rate increase, dryness, jaw clenching, teeth grinding, profuse sweating. Impact on memory?
• Not illegal until 1986 Controlled Substance Act which included analogues of other illegal drugs.
• First used as appetite suppressant
• 1953: Army tests- massive doses killed rats
• 1970's Psychiatric use (though not approved by FDA): 30,000 doses per month
• 1985: Temporary Schedule I, 1988: Permanent, 1995: Appeals- ?
• Attracts older age group, professionals, YUPPIES.
• Rosenbaum, Morgan, and Beck: Controlled Hedonism and young, urban professionals. Extensive planning goes in to use, Use is occasional==> Mini-Vacation.
• Purpose of use: Euphoria, Spiritual Growth
• Therapeutic use: Opens patient up. Grinspoon: allows individual to "get in touch with feelings." Rick Ingrasci: (200 patients)- Serves as a catalyst, speeds up the therapeutic process.
• Norman Zinberg: "No bad reactions."
• BUT, others skeptical: Ron Siegal (UCLA): "Used to think cocaine was non-problematic."
• Low dose therapeutic use vs. Street/Rave scene (pills, another)
• Increasing use in the 1990s--media focus (in 2000, over 1000 stories broadcast on Ecstasy--wild claims):
  • Taking over middle-class youth
  • Depicted as comparable to crack and heroin
• Best studies (on animals): at levels 2-3x ED50- seems to deplete level of serotonin, with indication of long-term impact. (see Erowid on neurotoxicity)
• Grinspoon downplays, but problems of cardiac arrhythmia indicates use may not be appropriate for some.
• Use Trends 1996-2016 (Press release, 12/2001 MTF)
• MAPS Review of the Literature on MDMA (Continuing concerns over MDMA's effect on serotonin, May 2010, 2009 study).
• Time: The Lure of Ecstasy ("THE ELIXIR BEST KNOWN FOR POWERING RAVES IS AN 80-YEAR-OLD ILLEGAL DRUG. BUT IT'S SHOWING UP OUTSIDE CLUBS TOO, AND ADVOCATES CLAIM IT EVEN HAS THERAPEUTIC BENEFITS. JUST HOW DANGEROUS IS IT?")
• Ecstasy Rising (2004 ABC Primetime Thursday special hosted by Peter Jennings).
  • MAPS has a downloadable version of the special: http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v14n1/ecstasy_rising.pdf
  • Erowid has a text summary of the special: http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/mdma/mdma_media1.shtml
• E is for Ecstasy
• DanceSafe
• Related Chemicals- Hyperreal Information
• Ecstasy, the New Prescription Drug? (Washington Post, January 23, 2007)
• Ecstasy and PTSD, 2008 (Alter.net)
• MDMA and psychotherapy (2010): Michael C. Mithoefer, Mark T. Wagner, Ann T. Mithoefer, Ilsa Jerome and Rick Doblin. "The safety and efficacy of ±3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine-assisted psychotherapy in subjects with chronic, treatment-resistant posttraumatic stress disorder: the first randomized controlled pilot study." Journal of Psychopharmacology. Published online 19 July 2010. DOI: 10.1177/0269881110378371. (local copy)
• A ‘Party Drug’ May Help the Brain Cope With Trauma, NY Times (The Well) November 2012.

• Nutmeg and mace contain two hallucinogenic substances: Myristicin and Elemicin
• Nutmeg is the seed, Mace comes from the seed coat
• The molecules resemble mescaline
• A variety of unpleasant side effects are associated with these drugs.
• "Do You Know About the Narcotic Effects of Nutmeg?" (from http://www.alternet.org/story/140480/)

Anticholinergic Hallucinogens

• Potato Family: Solanaceae
• Three genera: Atropa, Hyoscyamus, Mandragora (Europe); and one worldwide: Datura
• Atropine, Scopolamine and l-hyoscyamine
• These drugs occupy, but don't activate, the acetylcholine receptor site. They have both peripheral and central effects: Mucous, saliva, and perspiration levels drop; heart rate increases (up to 50 beats per minute); body temperature increases; pupils dilate (difficulty focusing). High doses: confusion, toxic psychosis. No vivid sensory effect.

Belladonna

• Deadly nightshade (atropine)
• Used as a poison throughout the Middle Ages and before.
• Name refers to "beautiful woman": dilation of pupils. Used by Roman and Egyptian women. Today we know that people judge a woman with more dilated pupils to be "pretty."
• Witches and "flying": Prepare ointment, rub between legs and on stick (phallic symbol)- suggested as part of the ritual of the Sabbat, or Black Mass
• As a cure for alcoholism

Mandrake

• Significant mention throughout history, especially: Bible
• Close association with love and lovemaking
• Root resembles the human form

Henbane

• Very active
• Used primarily as poison
• Used to "poison" Hamlet's father
• Part of a cure for alcoholism?

Datura

• Ancient Chinese: medicinal use- for colds
• Associated with the "Buddha"
• Greeks: Delphi Oracle-- "Know Thyself"
• India: Shiva- love potions
• S.W. American Indians
• Algonquin Indians: Adolescent identity search
• Jamestown: Jimsonweed- Early Spring growth, salads- strange behavior

Synthetic Anticholinergics

• Used previously to treat Parkinson's disease (now L-DOPA)
• Still used for pseudoparkinsonism

Amanita Muscaria

• Fly agaric: When flies ingest the juice-- stuporous for 2-3 hours
• Common poisonous mushroom
• Severe effects: twitching, raving drunkenness, vivid hallucinations
• Aryan invaders into India-- 3500 years ago: Soma, sacramental substance. Discover within the past 25 years to be Amanita.
• Ambrosia- fruit of the god Dionysious
• Even suggested, based on the paintings representing the "tree of life" found in Roman catacombs, that this mushroom formed a basis for a cult 2000 years ago which now goes by the name Christianity. (local copy) See, Allegro, J. (1970). The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Roman Theology within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East. London: Hodder and Stoughton. More at wikipedia. Most scholars are a bit skeptical of Allegro's claims.
• Until Russians brought alcohol, tribes of Siberia had no other intoxicant, its use continues today: Cost- several reindeer for an effective dose.
• Psychoactive agent is excreted in the urine and is "reusable"
• Use also associated with several native American tribes
• Originally the psychoactive agent was thought to be muscarine: similar to the anticholergics. But, now Bufotenin. Also found as secretions on certain toads (genus Bufo). TOADLICKING: an urban legend. Not a very potent hallucinogen, and toads have a variety of other toxins. Oakley Ray cautions: "Don't lick strange toads, and be particularly cautious about believing weird stories about hallucinogenic drugs." Actually, it's the venom that is harvested, dried, and smoked. See: http://www.erowid.org/archive/sonoran_desert_toad/

• More recent studies: two other chemicals in the Amanita: ibotenic acid and muscimol.
• Effects strange and different. Confusion, disorientation in time and space, sensory disturbances, twitching, fatigue and sleep.

PCP

• Parke, Davis and Co. In the 1950's: New intravenous anesthetic-- Phencyclidine.
• Not a very good product, but animals did seem to become "disassociated"
• Use in humans: unpredictable psychological effects-- feelings of unreality, depersonalization, persecution, depression, and intense anxiety.
• By 1960: seen as useful as anesthetic for animals; medically safe, but problematic for humans; and a hallucinogen of a "different sort."
• Used in veterinary medicine to "stun" animals (not a tranquilizer)
• Similar drug marketed: Ketamine
• Appears on the streets- late 1960's-1970's: "Hog," "garbage," "Angel Dust."
• Use to "beef" up poor quality marijuana, sold as a substitute for just about everything
• Morgan and Kagan: Media myths and realities. Dangerous, yes- But: with each "new" drug explosion of negative publicity feed itself to create overblown vision of danger. Use and "morbidity of PCP declining. Culture has "adjusted."
• Most news coverage on PCP in aone year: 1978. Narrow focus on individual cases--issuesof violence and horror. Media "myth" becomes (and remains) popular image.
• Linked to violence, yes, but level of use is minimal
• 2000 DAWN: .33% of ER cases. Even in 1970, 20 million instances of use; 6,000 trips to ER.

See also: Ketamine ("Special K," "Vitamin K"): Effects

And There's More:

Plants:

• Ibogaine (Ibogaine and the Treatment of Drug Misuse)
• Salvia (salvia divinorum) (legal issues)
  • Salvia Divinorum and Salvinorin A (a 250-page book containing a quotes, excerpts, facts, experiences, and references about Salvia divinorum from "The Entheogen Review" made available via Erowid.org).
  • Gonzalez, Debra, et al. "Pattern of use and subjective effects of Salvia divinorum
    among recreational users." 2010. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 85 (2006) 157–162.
  • Evolution and origins of the Mazatec hallucinogenic sage, Salvia divinorum (Lamiaceae). Jenks, et al. Journal of Plant Research. DOI: 10.1007/s10265-010-0394-6 (local copy)
  • Gardening on Salvia (a bit of humor)
• Ayahuasca (VOA story)
  • Fabreas, Josep Maria, et al. 2010. "Assessment of addiction severity among ritual users of ayahuasca." Drug and Alcohol Dependence (http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/506052/description#description), forthcoming.
  • Guimaraes dos Santos, Rafael. editor. 2010. The Ethnopharmacology of Ayahuasca. Transworld Research Network. ISBN: 978-81-7895-526-1. Available at: http://www.trnres.com/ebookcontents.php?id=93.
• Kava

Synthetics:

• 2-CB

• GHB (GHB and the Treatment of Fibromyalgia)
• Alexander Shulgin's Pharmacology Lab Books (includes many self-reports of Dr. Shulgin's trials to determine general activity and dose levels of various substances on Erowid.org)

And:

• Miscellaneous Hallucinogens

LSD: Focus

Subjective effects

• Eidetic Imagery: "Eyeball Movies"(1)
• Synesthesia
• Multi-level Reality: multiple perspectives, molecular view, universal images.
• Fluidity
• Subjective Exaggeration: Number, Size, Details and Transformation of objects
• Emotional Lability: ups and downs
• Timelessness
• Irrationalism: intuition, organicism. Words, meanings become strange. Impact of subcultural attitudes and rejection of Western culture.
• Pseudo-hallucinations
• Ambivalence
• Sensory overload
• "Flashbacks" (chronic subjective?)

Objective Effects

• Metabolized rapidly- 4 hour half life
• Tolerance develops rapidly, cross tolerance.
• No physical addiction or dependence.
• Dilated pupils
• Elevated body temperature, BP, salivation.
• ASC effects: serotonin systems of the brain.
• Panic reactions
• Prolonged psychotic reaction

Latter two seem to reflect use patterns and subcultural controls. As use has remained consistent, perhaps even slight increase; problems associated with use have decreased.

Becker on Subculture

• Over time the subculture develops interpretations of drug experience, these take the experience out of the realm of insanity and place it in a "normal" context.
• Creates approved and rational status
• Ideology of acceptance, and positive nature
• Sets expectations
• Leads to fewer problems today, coupled with lower doses
• Zinberg on controlled use.
• Production and distribution

Goode

• All users have bad experiences
• Most handle
• Importance of "cultural context" for interpreting experience: Middle Ages and ergotism
• Definitions of reality; cultural "openness."
• Many cultures successfully integrate the drug experience into the realm of normalcy and acceptability.
• For pure LSD- Actual number of "bad" experience small (Joel Fort- 1:1000); seriously bad- 1:10,000. BUT: Street acid?????
• Why risk? Problems can occur, but are unlikely for stable individual. Still there is the potential for permanent damage. Significant: YES; Typical: NO.

Chronic Objective Effects

• Genetic Damage:

1. 1967: Chromosome breaks. Tetragenesis (leads to birth defects). Thalidomide scare.
2. Heavy Press coverage, distortions: "Acid Burned a Hole in My Genes"
3. Problem of controls in the studies: Street vs Pure drug; Frequency and dosage levels, Other drugs, Animal studies vs. Humans
4. And, chromosome breakage does not mean birth defects: "normal" rate is about 4%. Question is, is the rate significantly higher for mothers who take LSD. And, when did she? First trimester is most critical
5. Major studies suggest that impurities in street acid seem to explain problems.
6. Mutagenesis is related to massive doses, Pure LSD does not appear to be significantly related to birth defects
7. Politics and Ideology
8. In 2000, LSD accounted for .01% of DAWN ER cases
9. Subcultural change, as well as media hype.
10. Yet, early media attention was instrumental force in passing Drug Abuse Control Act of 1966 (which leveled controls on LSD). By 1970: Controlled Substances Act.

Use Patterns (Statistics are gathered from the various surveys discussed, especially: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Results from the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: Summary of National Findings, NSDUH Series H-48, HHS Publication No. (SMA) 14-4863. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2014.)

• Media and some researchers view peak in late 1960's: ?? "Leary Phenomenon" ??
• Media coverage certainly peaks in an eleven month span, March 1966- February 1967, BUT:
• Use College Students (really just speculation)--some estimates for LSD:

1967	1969	1972	1979
1%	4%	5%	maybe 20-25% (18-25 year olds)

• Peak year of use by High School Seniors: 1979, 17.7% (lifetime report)
• Now stabilized. Drops through 1980's. Levels of use, (Latest NSDUH):

2013	Hallucinogens	LSD
Lifetime	15.1%	9.4%
Past Year	1.7%	.4%
Past Month	.5%	.1%

NSDUH 2003-2013, 12 years of age and older (percentages)

	03 life	04 life	09 life	12 life	13 life	03 year	04 year	09 year	12 year	13 year	03 month	04 month	09 month	12 month	13 month
Hallucinogens	14.5	14.3	14.8	14.6	15.1	1.7	1.6	1.8	1.7	1.7	.4	.4	.5	.4	.5
LSD	10.3	9.7	9.4	9.1	9.4	.2	.2	.3	.4	.4	.1	.1	.1	.1	.1
PCP	3	2.8	2.5	2.5	2.5	.1	.1	.0	.0	0	.0	.0	.0	.0	0
Ecstasy	4.6	4.6	5.7	6.2	6.8	.9	.8	1.1	1.0	1.0	.2	.2	.3	.2	.3

• Long-term trends in hallucinogen/LSD use from the (2009 MTF report: Lifetime, Annual, Past Month, Daily, for 12th graders.
• Current NSDUH Data
• Current MTF data

• The slight increases in persons reporting lifetime use of LSD from the late 1990s has stabilized, figures on all hallucinogen use have remained fairly stable.
• REALITY: Little frequent, chronic use. User loyalty LOW
• LOW "sensuous appeal"-- animals will avoid.
• Why no dependence or chronic use?... Tolerance develops rapidly, use requires a lot of effort-- it's physically exhausting (Like study of professional's use of XTC: can't do other things); Effects are inconsistent.
• Massive revival: Unlikely

CNS Stimulants: Xanthines, Amphetamine, Nicotine, and Cocaine

URL: http://www.umsl.edu/~keelr/180/hallucin.html
Owner: Robert O. Keel rok@umsl.edu
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Last Updated: Tuesday, November 10, 2020 10:22 AM