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Transcript
Katherine Douglas 1 Hallucinogens Reaction Paper Hallucinogens are a class of drugs that change a person’s thought processes, mood and perceptions. A person’s “trip” while on a hallucinogen can vary greatly based on their previous experiences and expectations as well as the dose of the drug. There are a few common effects of hallucinogens which include nausea, jitteriness, and an increase in blood pressure, heart rate and breathing. The user may feel a distortion of sensory perception as well. There are 3 main classes of hallucinogens. The first class is LSD and other drugs like it such as psilocybin mushrooms and peyote cactus. Today, LSD doses are between 20-80 micrograms, whereas, during the 1960’s the doses ranged between 100 and 200 micrograms. Many LSD users today will take multiple doses to compensate. The effects of LSD can last between 4 and 6 hours. The next drug is psilocybin mushrooms and a typical dose is between 4-6 milligrams or 2-4 mushrooms. This drug is usually thought to be more mild and a little shorter than LSD with symptoms of anything from relaxation and perceptual distortions to nausea, sweating and anxiety. DMT is another hallucinogen that is similar to LSD but the high is shorter lived and the side effects range from increased heart rate and blood pressure to temporary paralysis. Peyote cactus (mescaline) is also in the same family as LSD, but it acts more like an amphetamine with effects such as increased heart rate and blood pressure and dilated pupils. Mescaline has an interesting background because it was used a lot with Native tribes in religious practices and still continues today in some tribes. The second class is belladonna alkaloids. These drugs affect the central nervous system and are produced by the Jimsonweed plant. This plant can be brewed in tea and causes the user to feel like he is in a dream state. However, the down side is that is also causes amnesia so that the user doesn’t remember as well as dilated pupils, increased heart rate and body temperature. On an aside, if you’re Katherine Douglas 2 visiting Colombia, be careful because criminals have been drugging tourist with “burundunga” (a drug in the belladonna alkaloid family) because it causes amnesia. The third group is dissociative anesthetics such as PCP and ketamine. Both drugs used to be given as general anesthetics that also caused hallucinations. Ketamine is still used as an veterinary anesthetic. PCP can be taken many ways including snorted, smoke, injected or in a pill and the effects last 4-6 hours. PCP can cause a person to feel like they are on an amphetamine, intoxicated by alcohol and taking a hallucinogen all at the same time. PCP can also make an individual less sensitive to pain and at very high doses dissociate. These effects generally cause the person to end up in trouble with the law or in an emergency room. How do all of these hallucinogens work in the brain? All of the drugs in the LSD category appear to work by stimulating serotonin-2 receptors which may cause hallucinations. The belladonna alkaloids work by preventing acetylcholine from acting at one of its receptors. PCP and Ketamine seem to block the action of glutamate. The differences in how all these drugs work in the brain explains why each class of drugs can affect an individual so differently. Finally, using hallucinogens can cause effects ranging from near harmless to death. It’s also nearly impossible to know exactly what drug you are taking when you buy it and when you have to take the word of a drug dealer, that’s probably not going to be a good day. There is also the issue of flashbacks when you take some of these drugs. Flashbacks are when some aspects of the hallucinations come back long after the drug has left your body. In my opinion, these hallucinogens are just not worth the risks, but then again, I feel that way about most illegal drugs. They don’t seem to cause the bottom-out situations that are associated with cocaine, heroin, alcohol, meth, or cigarettes. I’m guessing they don’t cause the excessive dopamine release? 5.0 points.