Hallucinogens

What is a hallucinogen?• Psychoactive drugs• mostly made from mushrooms and plants

o changes in: perception thought emotion consciousness

• DOES NOT purely amplify other states of mind

o creates experiences outside of normal consciousness

Vocabulary• Synesthesia: mixing of the sensory systems

o ex. hearing colors or tasting sounds

• 'Trip': the experience of the high from the drug

• Flashback: user re-experiences a visual or emotional hallucination previously seen or felt during a 'trip' AFTER the drug has worn off

LSD: "Acid"• potent mood-changing chemical• made from a fungus that grows on rye

bread

• FORM: tablet, capsules and occasionally liquido often sold added to absorbent paper tabs

• 'trips' or experience of high lasts 12 hours

LSD : Effects• strong emotions or emotional swings• sense of time and self is altered

o synesthesia

• strong feelings of panico 'bad trip'

severe, terrifying thoughts & feelings of despair fear of losing control fear of insanity and death

• self-harm due to panic

• flashbacks within days or a year of useo may create a permanent social disorder

LSD: Health Effects• dilated pupils • increase in body temperature • increase heart rate & blood pressure• profuse sweating• loss of appetite• sleeplessness• dry mouth • tremors

Peyote: "buttons," "mesc," "peyote"• made from small, spineless cactus

o active chemical is 'mescaline'

• used by natives in Northern Mexico & South West US as part of religious ceremonies

• chewed or soaked in water to create liquid

• high lasts about 12 hours• may lead to flashbacks

• Effects: similar to LSDo increased body temperature and heart rate,

uncoordinated movements, heavy sweating, and flushing

Psilocybin: "magic mushrooms," "'shrooms"

• made from mushrooms native to South America, Mexico, & the US

• consumed orally• effects appear within 20 minutes and

last for about 6 hours

Psilocybin ('shrooms): Effects

• hallucinations• altered perception of time• inability to discern fantasy from reality• panic reactions and psychosis

• Long-term Effectso flashbackso risk of psychiatric illness o impaired memory

Psilocybin ('shrooms) Effects• muscle relaxation or weakness• loss of coordination• excessive pupil dilation• nausea• vomiting• drowsiness

PCP: "Angel Dust," "Supergrass," "Killer Weed," "Embalming Fluid," "Rocket Fuel"

• developed in 1950's as an anesthetico banned because of effects

• Form: crystal, white powdero easily dissolved in watero sold in tablet, capsule, and powder forms

• Effects last 4-6 hours

PCP: Effects• reputation of not being worth the risk

o common for users to experience 'bad trips'

• very dangerous to self & others when higho feelings of strength, power, and invulnerability as well as a

numbing effect on the mind that PCP can induce

PCP: Health Effects• Symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, paranoia,

disordered thinking, and a sensation of distance from one’s environment

• Mood Disturbances: Approximately 50 percent of individuals brought to emergency rooms because of PCP-induced problems report significant elevations in anxiety symptoms

• Long Term: memory loss, difficulties with speech & thinking, depression, & weight losso can occur for up to a year AFTER useo very addictive drug

PCP: more health effects• At low-to-moderate doses,

o physiological effects of PCP slight increase in breathing rate pronounced rise in blood pressure breathing becomes shallow flushing and profuse sweating generalized numbness of the extremities loss of muscular coordination

• At high doses, o blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration dropo nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes,

drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness o seizures, coma, & death

(though death more often results from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication)

• Abusers are often brought to ERs o overdose or drug’s severe untoward psychological effects.

violent or suicidal (dangerous to themselves and others)

• Because PCP can also have sedative effects, interactions with other central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol, can also lead to coma

Opiates and Opiods

What are opiate drugs?• extracted from 'opium' in poppy plants

grown in the Middle East and Southeast Asia

• typically used to kill paino codeine, morphine & other prescription

drugs are used for medicinal purposes

• HIGH potential for addiction

Opiates:Effects of use• depress the central nervous system

o overdose can lead to coma or death

• drowsiness• small pupils• scratching the face

Heroin: smack, H, skag, junk, brown sugar, horse, and black tar

• derived from morphineo 2-3x stronger

• Heroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany and marketed as a treatment for tuberculosis as well as a remedy for morphine addiction.

• very addictive• In pure form: white powder• Most illicit (illegal) heroin in brownish in color

o cut with other substances never know strength

• high risk for overdose

• typically injected, may also be smoked, snorted or swallowed

Heroin: Effects on Health• surge of euphoria (“rush”) • accompanied by dry mouth• warm flushing of the skin• heaviness of the extremities• clouded mental functioning

Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,”

an alternately wakeful and drowsy state

ActivitySort the effects of hallucinogenic drugs

into the graphic organizer in partner pairs

Exit TicketQuestion: What is synesthesia?

Journal: What do you think is the most alarming effect of hallucinogenic drugs?