Transcript document

Hallucinogens
(Psychedelics)
Chapter 12
Hallucinogens
• Hallucinogens are substances that alter sensory processing
in the brain, causing perceptual disturbances, changes in
thought processing, and depersonalization.
• Depersonalization is an anomaly of the mechanism by
which an individual has self-awareness. It is a feeling of
watching oneself act, while having no control over a
situation. Sufferers feel they have changed, and the world
has become less real, vague, dreamlike, or lacking in
significance. It can be a disturbing experience, since many
feel that, indeed, they are living in a "dream". 1
• Sometimes described as causing a spiritual-like
experience.
1Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depersonalization
History of Hallucinogens
• Have been used for centuries for religious
purposes.
• There are many indications that medicine
men, priests, and other mystics have use
herbs and drugs that caused experiences that
are know today as hallucinations.
• Abuse of hallucinogens became a problem in
the United States in the 1960s
History of Hallucinogens
• The Native American Church
1. Because the hallucinogen mescaline plays a central
role in ceremonies of Native Americans, Congress
passed legislation allowing its use for religious
ceremonies.
2. The American Indian Religious Act (1978)was an
attempt by Congress to allow the Native American
Church access to Peyote due to constitutional
guarantees of religious freedom. The 1994
amendment clarified that the peyote was only to be
used for religious ceremonies
History of Hallucinogens
• Timothy Leary and the League of Spiritual Discovery:
• Tim Leary, after being fired from Harvard in 1963
undertook a constitutional strategy intended to retain
legitimate access to LSD (Lysergic acid
diethylamide). He began a religion called the
League of Spiritual Discovery. LSD was the
Sacrament. The orientation manual was called The
Psychedelic Experience (textbook online). In 1969,
Federal authorities sentenced Leary to 20 years
imprisonment (he was released in 1976)
The Nature of Hallucinogens
(see Signs and Symptoms of Hallucinogens, p.354)
• Many drugs can exert hallucinogenic
effects:
• Traditional hallucinogens (LSD-types)
• Phenylethylamines (Ecstasy, amphetamines)
• Anticholinergic agents (Jimsonweed and other
natural products)
• Cocaine
• Steroids
Nature of Hallucinogens
Because of the nature of hallucinogens they can
produce varied responses. Hallucinogens have been
described as:
• Psychedelic
• Psychotogenic = Inducing psychosis
• Psychotomimetic = pertaining to, characterized
by, or producing symptoms similar to those of a
psychosis
Nature of Hallucinogens
The features of Hallucinogens that distinguish
them from other drug groups are their ability to
alter perception, thought, and feeling in such a
manner that does not normally occur except in
dreams or during experiences of extreme
religious exaltation.
Sensory and Psychological Effects of
Hallucinogens
• Typical users will experience several stages of
sensory experiences (some or all of below):
Heightened, exaggerated senses
2. Loss of control
3. Self-reflection
4. Loss of identity and a sense of cosmic merging
1.
Sensory and Psychological Effects
of Hallucinogens
Altered senses
• Heightened Colors, Object distortions, Change
in the sense of time and distance
• Synesthesia – a cross-over phenomenon
between the senses. Sound develops visual
dimensions, and visual objects develop sound
dimensions (ex. “See sounds” and “Hear
Colors”).
Sensory and Psychological Effects of
Hallucinogens
Loss of control
• The LSD user cannot determine if the “trip” will
be pleasant or a “bad trip” with recollections of
hidden fears and suppressed anxieties can
precipitate neurotic or psychotic responses.
• “Bad Trips” can include feelings of panic,
confusion, fear, helplessness, and total lack of
control.
Sensory and Psychological Effects of
Hallucinogens
Loss of control
• Flashbacks – Recurrences of the frightening
experiences (Bad trips) can occur at a later
time, even though LSD has not been taken
again. These occurrences are called
“flashbacks”.
Sensory and Psychological Effects of
Hallucinogens
• Self Reflection
• One becomes aware of thoughts and feelings that
are hidden beneath the surface of consciousness
(ie. forgotten or repressed feelings).
• It is possible that the effects of LSD may be used
treat emotional problems such as depression in
cancer patients, obsessive-compulsive disorders,
and end-of-life anxiety. However, the
unpredictability of human response to these drugs
creates a challenge for therapeutic use.
Sensory and Psychological Effects of
Hallucinogens
Loss of identity and a sense of cosmic merging
• A “mystical-spiritual” aspect of the drug experience.
The Hallucination gives one the experience of
“blending with the surroundings and being in totality
with the universe”.
• The loss of identity and personal boundaries
caused by the hallucinations is not necessarily a
pleasant experience for these individuals with rigid
highly organized personalities. The experience can
cause panic and anxiety, even suicide.
Traditional Hallucinogens: LSD and Other
Types of Agents (possible mechanisms of LSD activity)
• LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide)
• Similar to ergot alkaloids (see also ergotism),
synthesized by experimentation with ergot compounds.
Albert Hoffman created slight chemical modifications to
lysergic acid creating LSD.
• LSD induced psychosis and was initially studied to
investigate the symptoms of schizophrenia. Interest in
the use of LSD declined as it became generally accepted
that LSD effects differed from natural psychosis.
• LSD has been tried in psychotherapy in treatment of
alcoholism, paranoia, schizophrenia.
Traditional Hallucinogens:
LSD Types of Agents (continued)
• Physical properties of LSD
• Synthesis of LSD requires about one week, and requires the skills
of a trained chemist
• In pure form: colorless, odorless, tasteless
• Comes in several forms: Tiny tablets = microdots,
capsules, thin squares of gelatin “window panes”, and
applied to paper as “blotter acid” and cut up into 0.25
inch squares
….One gram of LSD can provide
10,000 individual doses
Traditional Hallucinogens:
LSD Types of Agents (continued)
• Physiological Effects – LSD is very potent (20-30 mcg)
• LSD is particularly concentrated in the brain at the
hypothalamus and limbic system, and the auditory and
visual reflex centers.
• The Limbic system undergoes an “electric storm” of
activity which may correlate with the synesthesia
reported by the user.
• Physical signs (sympathetic) include increase in body
temperature, heart rate, blood pressure and
hyperhidrosis, with concomitant dilation of the pupils.
(30-90 min. activation)
Traditional Hallucinogens:
LSD Types of Agents (continued)
• Physiological effects continued:
• Parasympathetic nervous system (increase in
salivation and nausea).
• Individuals do not become physically dependent,
but psychological dependency can occur.
• Tolerance develops very quickly and to repeated
doses because of a change in sensitivity of the
target cells in the brain rather than a change in
the metabolism of LSD
Traditional Hallucinogens:
LSD Types of Agents (continued)
• LSD Behavioral effects:
• Creativity and insight – Perhaps it is just the belief
that one is more creative or less restricted by “normal”
boundaries.
• Adverse psychedelic effects – there is no typical
response to LSD. The experience varies as a function
of the users set and setting. User may “freakout” on a
bad trip.
• Perceptual effects -
Traditional Hallucinogens:
LSD Types of Agents (continued)
• LSD Behavioral effects (continued):
• Perceptual effects –
LSD alters both visual and auditory
perception. In some cases, LSD alters perceptions to the extent
that people feel (believe) that they can walk on water or fly through
the air.
• The user may experience flashbacks that are pleasant or
unpleasant. There are three categories of unpleasant flashbacks:
1) Body trip – recurrence of an unpleasant physical sensation; 2)
Mind trip – distressing thought or emotion, and; 3) Altered Visual
Perception – the most frequent type of recurrence consisting of
seeing dots, flashes, trails of light, halos, motion in the peripheral
field, and other sensations.
Traditional Hallucinogens:
LSD Types of Agents (continued)
• LSD Behavioral effects (continued):
• Flashbacks are disturbing because they come unexpectedly –
most subside within weeks or months after taking LSD, and the
duration is usually a few minutes to several hours.
• The precise mechanism of flashbacks is unknown – possible
because of the altercation on the brain via neurotransmitters
effected by LSD use.
• Treatment of flashbacks includes reassurance that the condition
will go away and the use of sedatives to treat anxiety and panic
associated with the recurrent flashbacks
Other LSD Types of Agents
• Mescaline (Peyote)
• Mescaline is the most active drug in peyote; it induces
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intensified perception of colors and euphoria.
Effects include dilation of the pupils, increase in body
temperature, anxiety, visual hallucinations, alteration of
body image, vomiting, muscular relaxation.
The last effect is a type of hallucination in which parts of
the body may disappear or be distorted. They may have a
“two people experience” within themselves
Users report that they lose all sense of time
Like LSD, users may experience synesthesia
Other LSD Types of Agents
• Mescaline (Peyote)
• Within 30-120 minutes, mescaline reaches a maximum
concentration in the brain.
• Effects may last 9-10 hours, hallucinations up to two hours,
depending on the dosage.
• Like LSD, mescaline probably exerts much of its
hallucinogenic effects by altering serotonin systems.
• (Scene from “Young Guns”)
Other LSD Types of Agents
(continued)
• Psilocybin
• Principle source is the Psilocybe mexicana mushroom.
• It was first used by natives of Central America more than
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200 years ago
The active ingredient of the Psilocybe mexicana
mushroom was extracted by Albert Hoffman in 1958.
Hallucinogenic effects similar to LSD.
Cross-tolerance among psilocybin, LSD, and mescaline,
suggesting they have similar mechanisms of action
Stimulates autonomic nervous system, dilates the pupils,
increases body temperature.
Other LSD Types of Agents
(continued)
Psilocybin (cont)
• The effects of caused by psilocybin vary by dosage. Up to
four mg cause a pleasant experience, relaxation, and some
body sensation. Higher doses may cause perceptual and
body image changes, accompanied by hallucinations.
• It may be possible that psilocybin can be used to treat
depression, but the possible adverse affects include mental
problems and induce the first stages of schizophrenia-like
psychosis.
• Like other hallucinogens, psilocybin apparently causes no
apparent dependence
Tryptamines (class of drugs)
• Tryptamines
• a. These compounds resemble the serotonin molecule
and exist naturally in herbs, fungi, animals, and even in
minute amounts in the human brain
• b. Most of these compounds are abused for their
hallucinogenic/psychedelic actions and are classified as
Schedule I drugs
• Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
• Foxy
• Nutmeg
Other LSD Types of Agents
(continued)
• Dimethyltryptamine (DMT)
• A short-acting hallucinogen found in seeds of trees
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native to the West Indies and parts of South America,
and prepared synthetically.
Trace amounts are found naturally in the human body.
It is inhaled and is similar in action to psilocybin.
Its effects occur rapidly and last less than one hour
Like other hallucinogens, DMT does not cause physical
dependence
Other LSD Types of Agents
(continued)
• Foxy
• Relatively new hallucinogen (scheduled cat 1 by DEA, 2004).
• Lower doses: euphoria.
• Higher doses: similar to LSD causing hallucinations and
psychedelic experiences
• Nutmeg
• Myristica oil responsible for physical effects. Myristica blocks the
release of serotonin from neurons in the brain.
• The exterior covering of the nutmeg seed also contains the
hallucinogenic compound of myristicin
• High doses can be quite intoxicating.
• Often causes unpleasant trips (rapid heartbeat, dry mouth, thirst,
agitation, apprehension, and feelings of impending doom – effects
may last up to 12 hours, with a sense of unreality for days)
Phenylethylamine Hallucinogens
• The phenylethylamine drugs are chemically related to
amphetamines.
• They have varying degrees of hallucinogenic and CNS
stimulant effects.
• LSD-like: predominantly release serotonin; dominated
by their hallucinogenic action.
• Cocaine-like: predominantly release dopamine;
dominated by their stimulant effects.
Phenylethylamine Hallucinogens (continued)
• Dimethoxymethylamphetamine (DOM or STP)
• A powerful hallucinogen that works like mescaline and
LSD and like other hallucinogens not considered to be
particularly addicting
• “Effects of this drug include substantial perceptual
changes such as blurred vision, multiple images,
vibration of objects, visual hallucinations, distorted
shapes, enhancement of details, slowed passage of time,
increased sexual drive and pleasure, and increased
contrasts. It may also cause (pupil) dilation and a rise in
systolic blood pressure.”1
•
1Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dimethoxymethylamphetamine
Phenylethylamine Hallucinogens
(continued)
• “Designer” amphetamines
(review information from
Chapter 10)
• 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA)
• Methylenedioxymethamphetamine(MDMA, Ecstasy)
• Include drugs such as MDA and MDMA (Ecstasy), which
enhance the sense of touch; these drugs are sometimes
referred to as entactogens.
• These drugs are popular and typically used by young
adults because of their combination of entactogenic and
stimulant effects. The use of these drugs is often
associated with raves and dance clubs.
Phenylethylamine Hallucinogens
(continued)
• “Designer” amphetamines
(review information from
Chapter 10)
• 3,4-Methylenedioxyamphetamine (MDA)
• Methylenedioxymethamphetamine(MDMA, Ecstasy)
• There is some debate as to their ability to cause addiction
and dependence. It is likely that MDMA is significantly
less addicting than potent psycho-stimulants such as
methamphetamine and cocaine due to its preferential
ability to activate serotonin over dopamine systems.
Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
• The anticholinergic hallucinogens include naturally
occurring alkaloid substances that are present in plants
and herbs.
• The potato family of plants contains most of these mindaltering drugs.
• Three potent anticholingergic compounds in these
plants:
• Scopolamine
• Hyoscyamine
• Atropine
Naturally Occurring Anticholinergic
Hallucinogens
Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
They can cause drowsiness and conditions similar to
psychosis.
1. Atropa Belladonna: The Deadly Nightshade Plant
2. Mandragora Officinarum: The Mandrake
3. Hyoscyamus Niger: Henbane
4. Datura Stramonium: Jimsonweed
Naturally Occurring Anticholinergic
Hallucinogens
Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
(cont)
1. Atropa Belladonna: The Deadly Nightshade Plant
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The name of the genus, Atropa, is the origin of the
name atropine.
Atropos – One of the three fates in Greek mythology,
whose duty it was to cut off life when the time came
Bella Donna “beautiful woman” atropa placed in the
eyes cause pupil dilation
Naturally Occurring Anticholinergic
Hallucinogens
Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
(cont)
2. Mandragora Officinarum: The Mandrake
• Contains several active psychedelic alkaloids:
hyoscyamine, scopolamine, atropine, and
mandragorine.
• In ancient medicine was used to treat nervous
disorders, and relieve pain
Naturally Occurring Anticholinergic
Hallucinogens
Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
(cont)
3. Hyoscyamus Niger: Henbane
• A plant that contains both hyoscyamine and
scopolamine.
• It was frequently used to cause sleep, although
producing hallucinations and included in “witches
brew”
• “ It was historically used in combination with other plants, such as
mandrake, deadly nightshade, as an anaesthetic potion, as well
as for its psychoactive properties in "magic brews."These
psychoactive properties include visual hallucinations and a
sensation of flight.”
•
Source = http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyoscyamus_niger
Naturally Occurring Anticholinergic
Hallucinogens
Anticholinergic Hallucinogens
(cont)
4. Datura Stramonium: Jimsonweed
• The principal active drug in this group is scopolamine,
and also contains atropine.
• Historically used as a hallucinogen by many societies.
• Jimsonweed grows freely and is sometimes used in
“stews”. Jimsonweed produces many bad side effects
in addition to hallucinations including confusion,
dilated pupils, and tachycardia.
Other Hallucinogens
• Phencyclidine (PCP)
• Considered by many experts as the most
dangerous of the hallucinogens although it
has a host of other effects as well.
• It was developed as an intravenous
anesthetic but was found to have serious
adverse side effects.
Other Hallucinogens (continued)
• Phencyclidine (PCP) physiological effects
• Hallucinogenic effects, stimulation, depression,
anesthesia, analgesia
• Large doses can cause coma, convulsions, and death
• PCP psychological effects
• Feelings of strength, power, invulnerability, perceptual
distortions, paranoia, violence, and psychoses and users
appear like schizophrenics
Other Hallucinogens (continued)
• Ketamine (general anesthetic; PCP-like)
• It is used as a general anesthetic for veterinarian procedures
• Considered a club drug with effects similar to PCP but more rapid and
less potent
• Dextromethorphan (cough suppressant)
• High doses cause PCP-like effects
• An active ingredient in many OTC cough medications, but
when consumed in high doses it can cause hallucinogenic
effects including symptoms such as confusion, numbness,
and disorientation
• Abuse is generally by teenagers and may be referred to as
“roboing.” Commonly abuse by adolescents (5.6% high
school seniors used in 2012
Other Hallucinogens (continued)
• Salvia divinorum
• Comes from a Mexican herb
• Can cause intense hallucinations and short-term memory loss
• Outlawed in some, but not all states, used by 4.4% of high
school seniors in 2012
• Some studies suggest that the ingredient salvinorum may be
useful in the treatment of chronic pain and some mental
disorders.
End of Presentation