Lecture #15, 3/13/96

Psychedelics or Hallucinogens

• psychedelic = mind/soul manifesting
• psyche = soul/mind
• deloun = to show/make manifest
• also called hallucinogens (sensory perceptions without any actual events/ stimulants) -> producing hallucinations
• also called psychotomimetics
• mimicking psychosis
• this term is less widely used
• empheogin - mystical experiences (new word)

Aspects of psychedelic - induced state

• effects of psychedelic drugs may vary powerfully with differences in set and setting
• set: the mental and physical state of user, including expectations, prior experience, personality and current state of mind
• setting: the environment in which use occurs
• effects are dose dependent, ranging from mild distortions in sense of self to prodound emotionally charged mystical experiences
• heightened awareness of sensory input visual, auditaory, tactile
• heightened awareness on internal thoughts and feelings
• increased emotional tone to stimuli
• dreamlike imagery and feeling
• distortions of sensory perception:
• movement where there is none
• multiple visual images
• distortions of perspective
• hallucinations: perceptions in the absence of external stimuli - especially with eyes closed
• synesthesia: a "joining" of the senses in which information from one sensory channel interacts with information in another.
• sympathomimetic effects
• sympathetic nervous system stimulation
• anxiety and panic reactions
• tolerance develops with repeated use



Note on Cross Tolerance:  Become tolerant to one drug and then at the same
                          time, become tolerant to another drug (ie, between
                          different psychedelics)




Psychedelic drugs fall into 2 broad chemical categories:

• Tryptamines:
• LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) - first human synthesized psychedelic drug
• DMT (dimethyltrptamine) - active ingredient in plants (many plants)
• psilocybin - psychedelic mushroom
• 5-methoxy DMT, etc...
• Phenethylamines:
• mescaline (in peyote cactus) (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine)
• STP (4-methyl-2,5-dimethoxyamphetamine)
• MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine)
• MDA (3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine) and others



Albert Hofmann

• discoverer of LSD
• making LSD and maybe inavertantly had it
• next Monday, took some LSD -> difficult to speak clearly, field of vision swayed; occasionally felt being outside of body
• no hangover the following day



LSD - lysergic acid diethylamide

• synthesized by Albert Hofmann, of Sandoz Pharmaceutical Company in Switzerland, in 1938 & 1943
• a derivative of an alkaloid found in an ergot fungus which grows on rye grain
• potent psychedelic psychoactivity
• most potent psychedelic and one of most potent known psychoactive drugs
• typical dose: 30 to 200 micrograms; current unit dose is approximately 60 micrograms
• approximate duration of action: 10-12 hours
• efficient oral and digestive system absorption
• packaging: blotter paper, pill or tablet, liquid, sugar cube, gelatin, etc.
• usually quite pure, although there is common folklore among both users and professionals that LSD is frequently contaminated with strychnine, PCP, methamphetamine, etc.

Created by Raymond Yakura.