User:Saxon ruler

                 An Introduction to Hallucinogens 

“In the fields, girls wore long dresses and miniskirts, mothers were with babies, fathers were with babies, people wore masks, fancy dress, leather capes, feathers, body paint and see through tops. There were people with tarot cards, astrologers, Sufi dancers, Hare Krishna chanters, jugglers, stovepipe hats, porkpie hats, soap bubbles, balloons, people carrying kittens, people high on marijuana, people high on LSD. A single engine plane flew overhead and someone parachuted out of it into the meadow; thousands of people though that they had seen God…..”- Hippie by Barry Miles. This was a run of the mill scene in the mid 1960’sand early 70’s when millions of Americans often spent their time using drugs for recreation. These drugs where known as Hallucinogens. Other names for Hallucinogens are Psychedelic, or psychotomimetic (mimicking psychosis). The most commonly used of all the Hallucinogens during this period was LSD, but there were many others in that same category such as Magic Mushrooms and a more modern form of Hallucinogenic drug called Ecstasy. Even though the use of these drugs spiked during the Vietnam War, more primitive forms of Hallucinogens had been being used by certain peoples for centuries. The Aztecs of Latin America and the Hindus of India used them to cure illness, enhance mystical powers and facilitate meditation. Though they are illegal today in North America, the government still allows certain peoples to use these drugs for religious reasons, people such as some Native American tribes living on state reservations. Regardless of their use all over the world, most people don’t know the harm that these drugs can bring to you. The three Hallucinogens boldfaced above have not yet been proven to addictive, but the danger in them lies within the fact that use of them can cause dangerous alterations in perception, and prolonged use of them can even do permanent damage to your mental, as well as physical health.

The Histories of LSD, Magic Mushrooms and Ecstasy

LSD, short for Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, was developed in 1938 by the Swiss Chemists Albert Hofmann and Arthur Stoll to be a cure for headaches. Its Hallucinogenic properties were discovered when Albert Hofmann accidentally ingested some of the drug. It’s a Hallucinogen taken in the form of little blobs called microdots made from the naturally occurring Lysergic Acid, found in the fungus called Ergot (Claviceps Purpurea) and has no Hallucinogenic properties on its own. After intensive use by millions of young Americans in the 1960’s and 70’s it was noticed that users of this drug were having bad experiences resulting in accidents and even some suicides. Because of this, the government made it illegal in 1967, classifying it as a Schedule 1drug meaning that is has a high abuse potential and little or no known medical value. It again became popular in the 1990’s probably because of its low cost. It is now produced in clandestine laboratories. Magic Mushrooms, mushrooms containing the Hallucinogenic chemical substances Psilocin and Psilocybin are among the oldest Hallucinogens around today. Though not commonly used by many people today, it’s the two mushrooms containing these chemicals known as Psilocybe Mexicana and Stropharia Cubenis that are used in Native American reservations for religious ceremonies. Because of the negative effects experienced by users of these mushrooms however, the Native American ceremonies are the only places in America where using them is legal. Ecstasy, its scientific name being MDMA stands for Methylenedioxymethamphetamine. It is a methamphetamine derivative meaning that it comes from another different form of drug and is a newer form of Hallucinogen. Most common in the 1980’s, it is still used at all night dance parties called raves. It is taken in the form of pills that are usually stamped with fun designs or pictures and has many street names including E, X, XTC, Adam, Hug and Love Drug. Weight for weight, LSD is the most powerful of these three drugs. It’s 200 times more potent then Magic Mushrooms and even more strong compared to Ecstasy.

The Effects of Hallucinogens All Hallucinogens act as mild stimulants to your Sympathetic Nervous System, the part of your Central Nervous System that regulates all the bodily functions that you are not consciously aware of such as dilation and contraction of the pupils, digestion of food, and urinary tract muscles. This makes it no surprise that the most common bodily effects of Hallucinogens are;

	Dilation of the pupils.
	Constriction of Brain arteries.
	Rise in blood pressure
	Increased excitability in some spinal reflexes.
	An alteration in perception of light and space
	Intense hallucinations seen when eyes are closed

The Hallucinations seen after taking the drug aren’t normal hallucinations (if there is such a thing). The sensations experienced in the hallucinations are so very intense that they are called “trips” and can either be very pleasant or very distasteful and disturbing. During a trip, your sense of time is altered and feelings of emptiness, oneness or holiness are induced. You may perceive sights, sounds and conversations that aren’t there. The range of time that a trip can last is unpredictable. The effects can last from a few minutes to a few days. “Good trips” are full of colors, sounds and nice or pleasant images. On the other hand, “bad trips”, are usually full of monsters and other negative images. These effects are the reason why the drugs are called Hallucinogens. Specifically, LSD, Magic Mushrooms and Ecstasy have their own side effects. LSD is specifically known to induce intense, visual perceptions and mood swings. It can also cause restlessness, severe paranoia and anxiety, as well as depression. When taken over long periods of time it can cause light Schizophrenia, a brain disorder in which the patient hears voices in their head that are not there. Magic Mushrooms are known to induce spiritually significant experiences (Hence their use in religious ceremonies), and feelings of happiness. Later on however, most users tend to feel extreme fear, and most say that they never want to do the drug again. Ecstasy is used at all night dance parties to induce feelings of relaxation, decreased anxiety and sharp senses. Later on in the night however, it can cause confusion, depression, sleep problems, paranoia, dehydration and hyperthermia. Dehydration and Hyperthermia can be fatal in most situations. In the case of Magic Mushrooms, there have been case studies to investigate the use of these drugs in our own Native American state reservations. One was done in John Hopkins University School of Medicine where psycho pharmacologist Roland Griffiths thought that the Hallucinogenic chemical in Magic Mushrooms deserved a second chance as a medical treatment though it has not been considered for 40 years. The study was called “Psilocybin can occasion Mystical-Type Experiences Having Substantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance”, and was published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. To start the study, 36 healthy, well educated, psychologically stable, middle aged adults volunteered for the program. The volunteers entered a living room like environment made especially for the experiment with a couch, Persian rug, abstract art on the walls, classical music and took a blue capsule containing either the lesser known Hallucinogen Ritalin, or the Hallucinogenic substance in Magic Mushrooms, Psilocybin. 7 hours after taking the drug, the volunteers were given a questionnaire in which they were asked to describe their experience. 61% of the participants said that they had some sort of “complete mystical experience” after taking the Psilocybin. Only 11% said this after taking Ritalin. Two months later, those same people were asked about their experience again. 71% said that taking Psilocybin was one of the 5 most spiritually significant experiences of their lives and 79% said that their sense of well being or life satisfaction was increased after taking Psilocybin. Only 8% made the first comment and 21% made the second after taking Ritalin. From the results that Dr. Griffiths had seen so far, he thought that the Psilocybin in Magic Mushrooms had a good chance being a treatment for depression, but soon, 30% of the volunteers started to experience extreme fear, 17% percent said that they felt paranoid, two volunteers compared it to being in a war and three said that they would never want to do anything like it ever again. None of these side effects were reported by Ritalin users. The conclusion of this study was that Magic Mushrooms were quite dangerous, and that its after effects could bring about psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia and cause people to engage in lethal behavior.

                             Hallucinogens Connection to the Brain

Though not much is known about how Hallucinogens work in the Brain to create its effects, it’s known that each Hallucinogen structurally resembles one or more neurotransmitters in the Brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals that fire out of the Axons of one neuron and into the Dendrites of another so that tiny electrical messages can get across. LSD and Psilocybin both resemble the neurotransmitter Serotonin. Serotonin is the neurotransmitting chemical in the Brain that regulates anger, aggression, body temperature, mood, sleep, vomiting, sexuality, and appetite impulses. From what precious little else is known about Hallucinogens, it’s thought that these Hallucinogens are able to produce their effects by combining with the Brains receptor for the chemical that it resembles. Therefore the drug is controlling the bodily functions that the neurotransmitter would normally take care of and pushing them to the extreme. MDMA is thought not to resemble Serotonin, but to cause permanent damage to the neurons that release Serotonin. The damage can have serious effects on mood, thoughts, sleep and your motivation. As well as your Serotonin receptors being destroyed, MDMA is part stimulant, and acts upon your Hypothalamus. The Hypothalamus is the part of your Brain that controls basic feelings such as hunger, thirst, anger, sexual drive, pain and pleasure. It also takes care of making sure that your body gets what it needs for survival. When MDMA acts on your Hypothalamus, it can either overdo or severely reduce some of the necessary bodily functions that it controls. This means that takers of Ecstasy can not only suffer form dehydration and hyperthermia, but hypothermia, bad pain and other body ailments.

Prolonged use of any Hallucinogen can lead to HPPD or Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder. This is when your perception of things that aren’t there and intense visions when you close your eyes don’t go away even after months of discontinuing a Hallucinogenic drug. The effects of this Brain disorder are those of using a Hallucinogen. The only difference is that you aren’t doing the drug. There are no current treatments for HPPD but in time, its effects may or may not wear off depending on your previous state of mind.

A Good-Bye to Hallucinogens So, hopefully you have learned about the dangers of using Hallucinogens from reading this report. Some good news is that the use of these perception altering drugs is slowly declining in America’s youth. Maybe one day, with medical research on the rise, there will be a cure for the sad effects of HPPD, and maybe one day we will be able to say goodbye to the use of LSD, Magic Mushrooms and Ecstasy forever, but for now, it will just be another problem that society will have to deal with.