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Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, entheogens, or historically as psychotomimetics, are a large and diverse class of psychoactive drugs that can produce altered states of consciousness characterized by major alterations in thought, mood, and perception as well as other changes. Hallucinogens are often categorized as either being psychedelic drug, , or , but not all hallucinogens fall into these three classes.
Examples of hallucinogens include psychedelics or serotonin 5-HT2A receptor like LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, and DMT; dissociatives or NMDA receptor antagonists like ketamine, phencyclidine, dextromethorphan, and nitrous oxide; or like scopolamine and diphenhydramine; or cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonists like THC, nabilone, and JWH-018; κ-opioid receptor agonists like salvinorin A and pentazocine; GABAA receptor agonists like muscimol and gaboxadol; and like ibogaine and harmaline, among others.
Glennon's additional criteria for classical hallucinogens are that the drugs in question must also:
Classical hallucinogens or psychedelics have been described by many names. David E. Nichols wrote in 2004:
Robin Carhart-Harris and Guy Goodwin write that the term psychedelic is preferable to hallucinogen for describing classical psychedelics because of the term hallucinogens "arguably misleading emphasis on these compounds' hallucinogenic properties."
Certain hallucinogens are , such as those in the 2C and 25-NB (NBOMe) families. A designer drug is a structural or functional analog of a controlled substance (hallucinogenic or otherwise) that has been designed to mimic the pharmacological effects of the original drug while at the same time avoid being classified as illegal (by specification as a research chemical) and/or avoid detection in standard drug tests.
A prominent element of psychedelic experiences is visual alteration. Psychedelic visual alteration often includes spontaneous formation of complex flowing geometric visual patterning in the visual field. When the eyes are open, the visual alteration is overlaid onto the objects and spaces in the physical environment; when the eyes are closed the visual alteration is seen in the "inner world" behind the eyelids. These visual effects increase in complexity with higher dosages, and also when the eyes are closed. The visual alteration does not normally constitute , because the person undergoing the experience can still distinguish between real and internally generated visual phenomena, though in some cases, true hallucinations are present. More rarely, psychedelic experiences can include complex hallucinations of objects, animals, people, or even whole landscapes.
A number of studies by Roland R. Griffiths and other researchers have concluded that high doses of psilocybin and other classic psychedelics trigger mystical experiences in most research participants. Mystical experiences have been measured by a number of psychometric scales, including the Hood Mysticism Scale, the Spiritual Transcendence Scale, and the Mystical Experience Questionnaire. The revised version of the Mystical Experience Questionnaire, for example, asks participants about four dimensions of their experience, namely the "mystical" quality, positive mood such as the experience of amazement, the loss of the usual sense of time and space, and the sense that the experience cannot be adequately conveyed through words. The questions on the "mystical" quality in turn probe multiple aspects: the sense of "pure" being, the sense of unity with one's surroundings, the sense that what one experienced was real, and the sense of sacredness. Some researchers have questioned the interpretation of the results from these studies and whether the framework and terminology of mysticism are appropriate in a scientific context, while other researchers have responded to those criticisms and argued descriptions of mystical experiences are compatible with a scientific worldview.
Link R. Swanson divides overarching scientific frameworks for understanding psychedelic experiences into two waves. In the first wave, encompassing nineteenth- and twentieth-century frameworks, he includes model psychosis theory (the psychotomimetic paradigm), filtration theory, and psychoanalytic theory. In the second wave of theories, encompassing twenty-first-century frameworks, Swanson includes entropic brain theory, integrated information theory, and predictive processing. It is from the paradigm of filtration theory that the term psychedelic derives. Aldous Huxley and Humphrey Osmond applied the pre-existing ideas of filtration theory, which held that the brain filters what enters into consciousness, to explain psychedelic experiences; Huxley believed that the brain was filtering reality itself and that psychedelics granted conscious access to "Mind at Large", whereas Osmond believed that the brain was filtering aspects of the mind out of consciousness. Swanson writes that Osmond's view seems "less radical, more compatible with materialist science, and less Epistemology and Ontology committed" than Huxley's.
The classical dissociatives achieve their effect through blocking binding of the neurotransmitter glutamate to (NMDA receptor antagonism) and include ketamine, methoxetamine (MXE), phencyclidine (PCP), dextromethorphan (DXM), and nitrous oxide. However, dissociation is also remarkably administered by salvinorin A's (the active constituent in Salvia divinorum shown to the left) potent κ-opioid receptor agonism, though usually described as a very atypical dissociative.
Some dissociatives can have CNS depressant effects, thereby carrying similar risks as opioids, which can slow breathing or heart rate to levels resulting in death (when using very high doses). DXM in higher doses can increase heart rate and blood pressure and still depress respiration. Inversely, PCP can have more unpredictable effects and has often been classified as a stimulant and a depressant in some texts along with being as a dissociative. While many have reported that they "feel no pain" while under the effects of PCP, DXM and Ketamine, this does not fall under the usual classification of anesthetics in recreational doses (anesthetic doses of DXM may be dangerous). Rather, true to their name, they process pain as a kind of "far away" sensation; pain, although present, becomes a disembodied experience and there is much less emotion associated with it. As for probably the most common dissociative, nitrous oxide, the principal risk seems to be due to oxygen deprivation. Injury from falling is also a danger, as nitrous oxide may cause sudden loss of consciousness, an effect of oxygen deprivation. Because of the high level of physical activity and relative imperviousness to pain induced by PCP, some deaths have been reported due to the release of myoglobin from ruptured muscle cells. High amounts of myoglobin can induce Kidney shutdown.
Many users of dissociatives have been concerned about the possibility of NMDA antagonist neurotoxicity (NAN). This concern is partly due to William E. White, the author of the DXM FAQ, who claimed that dissociatives definitely cause brain damage.White W. (1998) This is your brain on dissociatives (accessed 23 October 2010) The argument was criticized on the basis of lack of evidenceAnderson C. (2003) The bad news isn't in (Accessed 23 October 2010) and White retracted his claim.White W. (2004) Response to "The Bad News Isn't In": Please Pass the Crow (accessed 23 October 2010) White's claims and the ensuing criticism surrounded original research by John Olney.
In 1989, John Olney discovered that neuronal vacuolation and other cytotoxic changes ("lesions") occurred in brains of rats administered NMDA antagonists, including Phencyclidine and ketamine. Repeated doses of NMDA antagonists led to cellular tolerance and hence continuous exposure to NMDA antagonists did not lead to cumulative neurotoxic effects. Antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, barbiturates and even diazepam have been found to prevent NAN. LSD and DOB have also been found to prevent NAN.
Despite the fully legal status of several common deliriant plants, deliriants are largely unpopular as recreational drugs due to the severe, generally unpleasant and often dangerous nature of the hallucinogenic effects produced.
Typical or classical deliriants are those which are anticholinergic, meaning they block the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors. Many of these compounds are produced naturally by plant genera belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae, such as Datura, Brugmansia and Latua in the New World and Atropa, Hyoscyamus and Mandragora in the Old World.Schultes, Richard Evans; Hofmann, Albert (1979). The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens (2nd ed.). Springfield Illinois: Charles C. Thomas.Emboden, William, Narcotic Plants – Hallucinogens, stimulants, inebriants, and hypnotics, their origins and uses 2nd edition, revised and enlarged, pub. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., New York 1979, . These are poisonous and can cause death due to tachycardia-induced heart failure and hyperthermia even in small doses. Additionally, over-the-counter such as diphenhydramine (brand name Benadryl) and dimenhydrinate (brand name Dramamine) also have an anticholinergic effect.
Uncured tobacco is also a deliriant due to its intoxicatingly high levels of nicotine.
like adrenochrome and adrenolutin have been claimed to be hallucinogenic by Abram Hoffer and Humphry Osmond and colleagues.
Shamans consume hallucinogenic substances in order to induce a trance. Once in this trance, shamans believe that they are able to communicate with the spirit world, and can see what is causing their patients' illness. The Aguaruna of Peru believe that many illnesses are caused by the darts of sorcerers. Under the influence of Ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic drink, Aguaruna shamans try to discover and remove the darts from their patients.
In the 1970s, Frida G. Surawicz and Richard Banta published a review of two case studies where hallucinogenic drug use appeared to play a role in "delusions of being changed into a wolf" (sometimes referred to as "lycanthropy," or being a "werewolf"). They described a patient whose delusion was thought to be caused by an altered state of consciousness "brought on by LSD and strychnine and continued casual marijuana use." The review was published in the Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal. While both central cases described white male patients from contemporary Appalachia, Surawicz and Banta generalized their conclusions about a link between hallucinogens and "lycanthropy," based on historical accounts that reference myriad types of pharmacologically-similar drug-use alongside descriptions of "lycanthropes."
At the beginning of the 1950s, the existence of hallucinogenic drugs was virtually unknown to the general public in the Western World. However this soon changed as several influential figures were introduced to the hallucinogenic experience. Aldous Huxley's 1953 essay The Doors of Perception, describing his experiences with mescaline, and R. Gordon Wasson's 1957 Life magazine article ("Seeking the Magic Mushroom") brought the topic into the public limelight. In the early 1960s, counterculture icons such as Jerry Garcia, Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsberg and Ken Kesey advocated the drugs for their psychedelic drug effects, and a large subculture of psychedelic drug users was spawned. Psychedelic drugs played a major role in catalyzing the major social changes initiated in the 1960s. As a result of the growing popularity of LSD and disdain for the with whom it was heavily associated, LSD was banned in the United States in 1967. This greatly reduced the clinical research about LSD, although limited experiments continued to take place, such as those conducted by Reese Jones in San Francisco.
As early as the 1960s, research into the medicinal properties of LSD was being conducted. According to pharmacologist David E. Nichols, "Savage et al. (1962) provided the earliest report of efficacy for a hallucinogen in OCD, where after two doses of LSD, a patient who suffered from depression and violent obsessive sexual thoughts experienced dramatic and permanent improvement".
Starting in the mid-20th century, psychedelic drugs have received extensive attention in the Western world. They have been and are being explored as potential therapeutic agents in treating alcoholism, and other forms of drug addiction.
The Netherlands previously allowed psilocybin mushrooms to be sold, but in October 2007 the Dutch government moved to ban their sale following several widely publicized incidents involving tourists. In November 2020, Oregon became the first U.S. state to both decriminalize psilocybin and legalize it for therapeutic use, after Ballot Measure 109 passed.
A large epidemiological study in the U.S. found that other than personality disorders and other substance use disorders, lifetime hallucinogen use was not associated with other mental disorders, and that risk of developing a hallucinogen use disorder was very low.
A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis by Murrie et al. found that the transition rate from a diagnosis of hallucinogen-induced psychosis to that of schizophrenia was 26% (CI 14%-43%), which was lower than cannabis-induced psychosis (34%) but higher than amphetamine (22%), opioid (12%), alcohol (10%) and sedative (9%) induced psychoses. Transition rates were not affected by sex, country of the study, hospital or community location, urban or rural setting, diagnostic methods, or duration of follow-up. In comparison, the transition rate for brief, atypical and not otherwise specified psychosis was found to be 36%.
LSD, mescaline, psilocybin, and PCP are drugs that cause hallucinations, which can alter a person's perception of reality. LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin cause their effects by initially disrupting the interaction of nerve cells and the neurotransmitter serotonin."DrugFacts: Hallucinogens – LSD, mescaline, Psilocybin, and PCP." Drugabuse.gov. National Institute on Drug Abuse, n.d. Web. 13 April 2014.
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