Hallucinogen Essay example -- essays research papers

psychedelic medicineWhile many drugs speed up or depress the beneathlying nervous system, there is aclass of drugs that distorts how we feel, hear, see, smell, taste, and think.Called hallucinogens beca exercise users oftentimes hallucinate, or bugger off nonexistentsensations, these drugs are excessively known as psychedelic, or mind-bending, drugs. or so hallucinogens come from natural sources others are made in laboratories.Examples of natural hallucinogens are mescaline, psilocybin, DMT, and marijuana.Mescaline, which has been use by American Indians in religious ceremonies,comes from the peyote cactus. Psilocybin, also used by the Indians and believedto have supernatural powers, is found in well-nigh 20 varieties of mushrooms. Onceingested, psilocybin is converted to psilocin, which is responsible for thedrugs hallucinogenic sensations. DMT (dimethyltryptamine) is a short-actinghallucinogen found in the seeds of certain West Indian and southeast American plants.In the form of snuff, called cohoba, it has been used in religious ceremonies inHaiti. Marijuana is a plant belonging to the hemp family . The active linguistic ruleresponsible for the drugs effects is tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), obtained fromthe amber-colored resin of the flowering tops and leaves of the plant. haschischis also made from this resin.Of all drugs, synthetic and natural, the most powerful is lysergic acid diethylamide, or lysergicacid diethylamide. Twenty micrograms, an almost infinitesimal amount, issufficient to produce a hallucinogenic effect just 3 pounds (1.4 kilograms)could induce a reception in all the inhabitants of New York City and London. Thisextraordinary potency makes lysergic acid diethylamide especially dangerous since it is usuallyimpossible to determine how much is contained in doses offered by drug dealers.LSD is chemically derived from ergot, a parasitic fungus that grows on ryeand other grains. An odorless(prenominal), colorless, and tasteless substance , LSD is soldon the track in tablets, capsules, and neartimes liquid form. It is usuallytaken by sass but can be injected. Often LSD is placed on a blotter or otherabsorbent paper and marked into small squares, each representing one dose.Synthetic hallucinogens with effects resembling those of LSD hold DET(diethyltryptamine), a synthetic compound similar to DMT, and DOM (2,5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine), a compound that combines some of the propertiesof mescaline and amphet... ...ects of hallucinogens are dilated pupils,raised body temperature, increased heart regulate and blood pressure, sweating, lossof appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors. The long-term effects areless certain. LSD users may experience involuntary flashbacks during which thedrugs effects reappear without warning. such(prenominal) flashbacks can occur days, months,or even years after the drug was last used. Some LSD users develop organic braindamage, manifested by impaired memory and attention span, mental confusion, anddifficulty with abstract thinking. It is gloss over unclear whether such damage canbe reversed when LSD use is halted.Although hallucinogens can pose a threat to health when used indiscriminately,they may also have therapeutic uses in medicine when administered undercontrolled circumstances. A synthetic form of THC, the active principle inmarijuana, has been clear for prescription use by persons who suffer from thesevere nausea that often accompanies cancer chemotherapy and for whom otherantinausea drugs are unsuitable or ineffective. LSD was once used to treatpersons with certain mental disorders, but such use was abandoned because of thedrugs harmful effects.