Transcript Hallucinogens - josh-theo

Hallucinogens
Josh Scott
Mary-Evan Luther
Taylor Echols
Devin Argy
Leah Ballentine
Origin Of Drug
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Starting in the mid-20th century, psychedelic drugs have been the
object of extensive attention in the Western world. They have been
and are being explored as potential therapeutic agents in treating
depression, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Obsessive-compulsive
Disorder, alcoholism, opioid addiction, cluster headaches, and other
ailments. Early military research focused on their use as
incapacitating agents. Intelligence agencies tested these drugs in
the hope that they would provide an effective means of
interrogation, with little success.
Yet the most popular, and at the same time most stigmatized, use of
psychedelics in Western culture has been associated with the search
for direct religious experience, enhanced creativity, personal
development, and "mind expansion". The use of psychedelic drugs
was a major element of the 1960s counterculture, where it became
associated with various social movements and a general atmosphere
of rebellion and strife between generations.
Psychological Effect
Level Of Addictiveness/Treatment
Method Of Use For The
Drug/Attraction
Demographics Of The Drug
Hallucinogen use, excluding MDMA, peaked in the United States late 1960s as
part of the hippie movement. Hallucinogen use then gradually declined until
the early 1990s, when it again picked up. Usage appears to have peaked
around 1998, and may now be remaining steady or declining. Hallucinogens
are drugs normally used by adolescents and young adults in social settings
such as dance parties or raves. Even heavy users do not use these drugs more
than two or three times a week. Casual or occasional use is common and many
people outgrow their use.
► Unlike LSD use, MDMA use has increased enormously since the 1980s.
Between 1995 and 1999 its use by 18- to 25-year-olds increased 47%. In a
survey of 400 hospitals, MDMA-related emergency room visits increased 58%
between 1999 and 2000. One-third of these visits involved people under the
age of 25. In 2000, the last year for which statistics are available, the National
Institute of Drug Abuse found that about 11% of twelfth-grade students had
used LSD and about 7% reported using other hallucinogens. People who use
hallucinogens are also likely to abuse alcohol and marijuana.
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Relative Expense Of Drug
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LSD is produced in domestic labs concentrated in Northern California and
shipped by mail or couriers through what law enforcement officials describe
as a well-established network of distributors. Pulse Check and Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) sources report that LSD is sold primarily
in paper or blotter form, with each sheet divided into squares of single dose
units containing approximately 25-60 micrograms of the substance. It
may also be sold as "microdots" (small tablets) or in gelatin squares
("window panes"). A dose (approximately 55 micrograms) sells for $1-$10.
New synthetic drugs have generated renewed interest in hallucinogen use.
MDMA is one of the most popular of these newer drugs; other drugs that
have surfaced in recent years include Nexus and ketamine. Ketamine use
has been reported in New York for more than 2 years, and it is increasingly
being used as a "club drug" in New Jersey, Delaware, Washington, D.C.,
Florida, and Georgia. Ketamine is packaged in baggies or capsules and
sells for approximately $10-$20 per dose.
Lifespan Of The Drug And Its Most
Popular Period In History
Effect Of Drug On The Brain
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The drug user notices that they don’t
get the same high as they used to or
that it takes more of the drug to get the
same high. There is a decrease in the
brain’s natural ability to feel pleasure.
Thus even regular activities that used
to make the person happy, such as
going dancing or watching a funny
television show, don’t have the same
effect. Abusing drugs over a long period
of time not only affects the dopamine
mail in the brain, but it changes brain
circuits in more essential parts of the
brain. When this system is unnaturally
influenced because of drug use, a
person’s ability to think clearly becomes
impaired, even when the person is not
using the drug.