Psychedelic Drugs and Consciousness

Tryptamines

Tryptamines are naturally occurring alkaloids found in many plants, animals and even humans. Many neurotransmitters are tryptamines (for instance, serotonin and melatonin). There are several psychedelic drugs that fall into this category based on their chemical composition.

Psilocybin and Psilocin.

These are the primary psychoactive alkaloids in many species of mushrooms found in many parts of the world

Street Names : “shrooms” “magic mushrooms” “boomers”

Psychological Effects:

Heightened sensory experiences and perceptual distortions (i.e. brighter colors, sharper visual definition, increased hearing acuity, more distinguished taste)
Auditory, tactile, and visual hallucinations
Synesthesia (melding of the senses: seeing music or hearing colors)
Difficulty focusing, maintaining attention, concentrating, and thinking
Impaired judgment and preoccupation with trivial thoughts, experiences, or objects
Sense of detachment from body and surroundings and loss of boundaries between the two
Altered perception of space and time
Inability to distinguish fantasy from reality
Melding of past experiences with present
Feelings of unity with the environment
Feelings of involvement with intense spiritual experiences
Tension, anxiety, and restlessness
Highly adverse reactions ("bad trip"), including frightening hallucinations, confusion, disorientation, paranoia, agitation, depression, panic, and/or terror

Physiological Effects

Nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea
Muscle relaxation, weakness, and twitches
Yawning, drowsiness, dizziness, lightheadedness, and lack of coordination
Pupil dilation, tearing, dry mouth, and facial flushing
Increased heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature
Sweating followed by chills and shivering
Numbness of tongue, lips, or mouth
Feelings of physical heaviness or lightness and feelings of floating

^From Center For Substance Abuse Research, Psilocybin/Psilocin. http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/psilocybin.asp

N,N Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)

DMT is a simple tryptamine alkaloid that is produced naturally by the human brain. It has also been used by the indigenous peoples of South America. Most commonly, it is extracted from plants and smoked or snorted

Street Names: “DMT” “business man’s special” “elf spice” “dimitri”

Psychological Effects:

· extremely short, immersive, experience

· brightly colored intense visual hallucinations (geometric patterns, Mayan or Aztec motifs and imagery)

· “rushing” or “buzzing” audio hallucinations

· Feeling as though one has “left their body” (perceptions similar to those of Near Death Experiences are common)

Extreme distortion of time (experiencing “eternity”)

Physical Effects:

· large increase in blood pressure

· increase in body temperature

· mydriasis (dialated pupils)

· large increase in heart rate

· nausea

^ from DMT: The Spirit Molecule. A Doctor’s Revolutionary Research into the Biology of Near-Death and Mystical Experiences. Park Street Press, Rochester, Vermont. 2001. Pages 143-150

Lysergic acid Diethylamide (LSD)

LSD is easily the most commonly known psychedelic drug, and it too is a tryptamine. It is semisyntheticly derived from lysergic acid, which naturally occurs in ergot fungus as well as certain plants and flowers. It is extremely potent because threshold doses are around 25 to 30 micrograms or .025 mg. It is a very long lasting drug (up to 12 hours) and produces effects similar to psilocybin. It is commonly sold as a liquid or sugar cubes, paper and gelatin saturated in it.

Street Names: “acid” “syd” “doses” blotter” “lucy” “cubes” “tabs” “trips” “Alice D”

Psychological Effects:

· stimulation

· synesthesia (mixing of senses, tasting sounds or hearing colors)

· visual hallucinations (geometric patters, imagery)

· auditory hallucinations (echoing)

· drastic distortion of time and space perception

· experiencing “melting” or “merging” with surroundings

· reliving past experiences

· rapidly changing emotions

· spiritual experiences

· anxiety, panic attacks and paranoia

Physical Effects:

· Increase in heart rate

· Increase in body temperature

· Increase in blood pressure

· Increased perspiration

· Increased saliva and mucus production

· Nausea

· Jaw clenching

· Insomnia

^from http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_effects.shtml

Phenethylamines

Phenethylamines are natuarally occurring and synthetic chemicals, many of which are psychedelic. Mescaline, MDMA, Amphetamines, 2CB and many other common drugs are phenethylamines.

Mescaline

Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine) is the most well known psychedelic phenethylamines, as is more commonly known as the primary psychoactive component of the cactus Peyote and the cactus San Pedro. Peyote and San Pedro have been and still are used by Native Americans in the southwestern United States and South America. It is sold rarely as crstyals and more commonly as peyote “buttons” or small dried pieces of cactus. Mescaline is rare and other drugs are often sold labeled as it.

Street Names: “cactus” “buttons” “mescal”

Psychological Effects:

Vivid mental images and distorted vision
Synesthesia: perception of seeing music or hearing colors
Altered space and time perception
Joy, exhilaration, panic, extreme anxiety, or terror
Distorted sense of body (users can feel either weighed down or weightless)
Heightened sensory experiences (i.e. brighter colors, sharper visual definition, increased hearing acuity, more distinguished taste)
Difficult focusing, maintaining attention, concentrating, and thinking
Loss of sense of reality; melding past experiences with present
Preoccupation with trivial thoughts, experiences, or objects
Highly adverse reactions ("bad trip"), including frightening hallucinations, confusion, disorientation, paranoia, agitation, depression, panic, and/or terror

Physical Effects:

Numbness, tension, anxiety, rapid reflexes, muscle twitches and weakness, impaired motor coordination, dizziness, trembling, dilation of the pupils
Increased blood pressure and heart rate
Intense nausea and vomiting
Appetite suppression
Elevated body temperature and sweating
Chills and shivering

Quoted from http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/peyote.asp

2C-X

There are many newer, synthetic phenethylamines that are all structurally similar. “2C” comes from their chemical structure (specifically the location of carbon atoms), and the letter following it similarly describe chemical composition. 2C-B (4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenethylamine) and 2C-I (2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenethylamine) and 2C-T7 (2,5-dimethoxy-4-(n)-propylthiophenethylamine) are among the most popular and all have very similar effects, the major differences between them being dose and duration. 2C-B, 2C-I and 2C-T7 are all structurally similar to mescaline as well. 2C-B is by far the most known and popular, so it will be focused on.

Street Names: “2C-B” “Nexus” “Seeing Bees” “Bromo” “toonies” “venus”

Psychological Effects:

· Visual hallucinations (similar in character to those of mescaline or LSD)

· Stimulation and an increase in energy

· Euphoria

· Altered sense of time and space

· Synesthesia

· Change in ability to communicate (increased ability for some, the opposite for others)

Physical Effects:

· Increase in blood pressure

· Increase in heart rate

· Increase in body temperature

· Increase in perspiration

· Jaw clenching

· Insomnia

Dissociatives

Dissociatives are a class of psychedelic drugs that are neither tyrptamines nor phenethylamines. They all have been used medically, and some are still used medically for various reasons. They are called dissiciatives because their primary effect is to create a sense of extreme disconnection from the user’s environment, often these experiences are similar to “out of body” and “near-death” experiences.

Ketamine

Ketamine is relatively common drug used as an anesthetic for animals and in some cases older people and children. It was used as a general anesthetic but this was discontinued due to the increase of reports of unwanted psychedelic experiences. The experience it creates is often referred to as the “K-Hole” because of the feelings of falling or moving, as well as the hallucinations that it produces (of tunnels or similar objects). It also has notoriety as a “date rape” drug because users in the “K-Hole” are often immobilized.*

Street Names: “Special K” Vitamin K” “Cat tranquilizer” “K”

Psychological Effects

· Euphoria

· Feelings of calm

· Feeling connected to environment

· Extreme distortion or perceived loss of sensory input

· Visual and auditory hallucinations

· Out of body experiences

· Confusion

Physical Effects:

· Ataxia (lack of muscle coordination)

· Nausea

· Loss of consciousness

· Decrease in heart rate and respiration

*quoted from http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/ketamine.asp

Phencyclidine (PCP)

Phencyclidine or PCP was first used as an anesthetic, but was discontinued for the same reasons the Ketamine was. It is well known for its reputation to make users act violently and aggressively, and to give them “superhuman strength”. PCP creates dissociation similar to that of Ketamine, but also creates aggressive and paranoid behavior, and due to the dissociation, users’ ability to perceive pain is severely impaired. It is often sold as a powder or in liquid form, in cigarettes or marijuana.

Street Names: “angel dust” “embalming fluid” “formaldehyde” “wet” “fry”

Psychological Effects*:

Relaxation or drowsiness
Feelings of unreality and dissociation with the environment
Distorted sense of ones body, including a feeling of weightlessness
Distorted sense of time and space
Visual and auditory hallucinations and other sensory distortions
Difficulty concentrating and thinking
Anxiety
Agitation
Paranoid thoughts
Confusion and disorientation
Intense feelings of alienation
Depression
Bizarre or hostile behavior
Obsession with trivial matters
Grandiose delusions
Panic, terror, and the overwhelming fear of imminent death
Mild to intense euphoria

Physical Effects*:

Impaired motor skills
Blurred vision and constricted pupils
Dizziness
Painful reaction to sound
Blank staring
Speech disturbances, ranging from difficulty articulating to incoherent speech or inability to speak
Muscular rigidity
Decreased sensitivity and awareness of pain, touch, and position
Stupor or coma
Irregular heartbeat
Alternately abnormally low and abnormally high blood pressure
Slow, shallow, and irregular breathing
Nausea
Vomiting
Salivation
Increased body temperature and sweating alternating with chills and shivering
Very high doses may result in an overdose and lead to coma, convulsions, or death

*quoted from http://www.cesar.umd.edu/cesar/drugs/pcp.asp

Dextromethorphan (DXM)

Dextromethorphan or DXM is a legal, over the counter medication used as a cough supressent, found in cough syrups. However, at higher doses is a dissociative similar in effect to both Ketamine and PCP. DXM use is prevalent among young adults and teens due to its availability and the amount of information on how to abuse available on the internet. At different doses DXM has different effects, but primarily, DXM is abused for its psychedelic properties.

Street Names: “Robotripping” “Poor man’s PCP” “Dexing” “DXM” “CCC” “skittling”

Psychological Effects: