Hallucinogens

What are hallucinogens? • DMT (N,N-dimethyltryptamine) Hallucinogens refer to drugs that significantly • Salvia divinorum (salvinorum A) alter a person’s senses and perceptions. • Ayahuasca (harmaline, N, Despite the name, they do not necessarily N-dimethyltryptamine) produce true hallucinations. Hallucinations • Cannabis (tetrahydrocannabinol or are perceptions that have no basis in reality, THC)—can cause hallucinogenic but appear realistic to the person having effects at higher doses them. Instead, many hallucinogenic drugs cause users to have experiences that are Some natural hallucinogenic compounds different from their ordinary reality, but may can be produced synthetically. Other not involve full scale hallucinations. hallucinogens have no known basis in nature and are completely man-made. Examples of Sometimes these drugs are called man-made hallucinogens (with their active psychedelics because the conscious mind ingredients) are: becomes aware of things that it normally • Acid (lysergic acid diethylamide or is not aware of. Sometimes they’re called LSD) entheogens because hallucinogens may • Angel dust (phencyclidine or PCP) provoke intense emotional responses • Ketamine (cyclohexanone that may be akin to spiritual or religious hydrochloride) experiences. • Laughing gas (nitris oxide) • Ecstasy Some hallucinogens are plants or fungi that (methylenedioxymethamphetamine or grow naturally in different parts of the world. MDMA)—also sometimes considered a The most common ones (with their active hallucinogen in high doses ingredients) include: • Peyote cactus (mescaline, How do hallucinogens work? phenethylamine) The active ingredients in hallucinogens • Magic mushrooms (psilocybin or are chemically similar to substances psilocin) that naturally occur in the brain

Some hallucinogens are plants or fungi that grow naturally in different parts of the world.

Primer Fact Sheets | 2008 | Hallucinogens | www.heretohelp.bc.ca (neurotransmitters). For example, psilocybin purposes. For example, ibogaine and and LSD are similar to serotonin, and ayahuasca are being studied for the treatment mescaline is similar to dopamine. When of substance abuse, mushrooms are being hallucinogens enter the blood stream, their studied for cancer-related anxiety, and ecstasy active ingredients bind to receptors in the for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and brain. As a result, functions of the brain are palliative care. suppressed, stimulated or otherwise changed, which results in unusual sensory perceptions. What are potential health effects In low doses, hallucinogens alter a person’s of using hallucinogens? mood and change the way they experience How a hallucinogen affects a person is the world. In high doses, hallucinogens can often unpredictable. It depends on many significantly affect a person’s perception of factors, including the type and amount of reality including alternating perceptions of drug used, the user’s attitude, expectations time and space. and past experiences with the drug, and the environment it is used in. The effects of hallucinogens usually begin within an hour of taking a drug, and they can Some of the basic physical effects include: last for 12 hours or more. For example, in • numbness very high doses, the effects of PCP can last • muscle weakness for days or even weeks. • impaired motor skills and coordination • dilated pupils • increased or lowered heart rate, blood Why do people use pressure and temperature hallucinogens? • nausea For thousands of years, people all around the world have been using hallucinogens The physical effects of hallucinogens are medicinally and in religious or spiritual often minor compared to the psychological ceremonies. Today people still use them for effects. However with some hallucinogens, these purposes. the physical effects may be more severe, including Many ceremonial users say they have spiritual • extreme loss of coordination, or mystical experiences that give them • inability to move, new insights into themselves and into life. • immunity to pain, or Some say hallucinogens allow them to step • loss of consciousness. “outside” themselves or even “off the earth.” Others say they help them connect more Psychologically and emotionally, deeply with nature. hallucinogens can produce very positive (joyful) or very negative (scary and stressful) Hallucinogens are also used recreationally. experiences. Sometimes the good and bad Depending on the particular substance and can be experienced within the same ‘trip’. dosage, some people find hallucinogens Acute negative experiences or ‘bad trips’ can make them feel euphoric. Some are more likely to occur among novice users hallucinogenic substances can encourage or those using large dosages in unfamiliar feelings of empathy and openness so taking environments. In low doses, hallucinogens them with other people can create intense rarely make people feel confused or bonding experiences. disorientated. For a brief time in the mid-20th century, Most users of hallucinogens can integrate some hallucinogens such as LSD and MDMA, positive and negative experiences into their were used experimentally in Western regular lives. Bad experiences are often medicine as part of psychotherapy. They are resolved after the drug has worn off. However, currently being studied again for medical some people may feel depressed or anxious long after taking the drug.

Primer Fact 2007 Sheets | Post | 2008Partum | Hallucinogens Depression | Factsheetwww.heretohelp.bc.ca | www.heretohelp.bc.ca A very small number of hallucinogen users breastfeeding. At high dosages some experience flashbacks, or Hallucinogen hallucinogens may cause miscarriage. Persisting Perception Disorder. This is when • younger than 16 years old. Because moments of a previous drug experience are adolescence is a key time for brain experienced over again in a different setting. development, it is possible that some Flashbacks are often unpleasant and can hallucinogen use may affect a youth’s happen days, weeks or months after taking physical, mental and emotional the drug. Flashbacks are more common development. among users whose “trips” have been • using alcohol and other drugs. It is interrupted by circumstances that occur while extremely dangerous to mix some they are under the influence of the drug. For hallucinogens with alcohol or other example, if they were arrested and were not drugs that depress consciousness and able to “finish” their experience. breathing. • using alone or with strangers. Using Long-term psychological benefits have without a ‘sober sitter’ or experienced been documented for the use of some user can lead to injuries resulting from hallucinogens in certain contexts. However, physical impairment. Such injuries can using hallucinogens may trigger or be fatal. exascerbate underlying mental problems in • living with a heart condition. Many some people. Frequent, long-term use at high hallucinogens effect blood pressure and dosages may disrupt consciousness and lead heart rate. to mental disorders or the development of concentration and memory problems. It is very difficult to overdose with some hallucinogens such as acid, magic mushrooms and peyote. However others, particularly Fast facts about hallucinogen those considered deliriants (e.g. Datura) or use in British Columbia dissociative (e.g. PCP and Ketamine), can slow breathing or heart rate to levels resulting in death. • Vancouver youth aged 16 to 24 say ecstasy is the easiest to obtain of all When is using hallucinogens a hallucinogens. problem? • 13 per cent of students in Grades 7–12 Whenever a person’s hallucinogen use have tried magic mushrooms. negatively affects their life or the lives of others, it can be considered problematic. As • 7 per cent of students in Grades 7–12 with other drugs, the potential for harm from have tried LSD or other man-made hallucinogen use depends on factors related hallucinogens. to the substance, the person using it and the context of use. • Most BC youth who have used hallucinogens say they experimented a Using hallucinogens has the potential to be few times but did not continue use over particularly problematic when a person is time. Tobacco, alcohol (and cannabis) • suffering from mental health are used far more regularly than problems. Hallucinogens can make hallucinogens. mental health problems worse or lead to acute and chronic problems in vulnerable individuals. • pregnant or breastfeeding. Some hallucinogens may cause problems if used during pregnancy or

Most people who use hallucinogens do so much shorter-lived than those of most other experimentally and do not use them very hallucinogens, usually lasting less than 30 often. For many of these substances, there minutes. are no withdrawal symptoms and people do not find it hard to stop using them. In What to do if you or someone general, hallucinogens do not create a physical dependence, but they can create psychological you know is experiencing a dependence. problem with hallucinogens For information on treatment options and Most hallucinogens are not associated with resources throughout BC, call the the development of tolerance. This means that people do not need to take larger and larger Alcohol and Drug Information Referral amounts to achieve the same high. However, Service for some hallucinogens, users will experience 1–800–663–1441 (throughout BC) no psychoactive effects for a few days after 604–660–9382. (in Greater Vancouver) extensive use. For information on ways to help yourself Depending on where and how a drug is with a substance use problem, see the “Tips” acquired, it can be hard to tell what it section of the Here to Help website: actually is, and how much you are using. www.heretohelp.bc.ca. The website also What is supposed to be a tablet of ecstasy features detailed information on substances may actually be methamphetamine. What and mental health disorders. looks like magic mushrooms may actually be another type of toxic mushroom. You can also find information on a wide variety of substance use issues on the Centre Are hallucinogens legal? for Addictions Research of BC website: www.carbc.ca. Possessing, making and selling most hallucinogens are illegal in Canada and can lead to fines and jail, as well as a criminal record. In the case of some plant hallucinogens, such as peyote, the active ingredient is a controlled substance rather than the plant itself. In some other countries there are legal exceptions for religious or medical use of some hallucinogens. Salvia, a psychoactive drug that produces a high similar to LSD, is currently still legal in Canada and in most US states. It has, however, been banned in Australia since 2002. It is controlled in various ways in Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Italy, Spain, and Sweden. Salvia is a naturally occurring substance that is also known as Diviner’s Sage or Magic Mint. Users report that the feelings it evokes are more dream-like and natural than other hallucinogenics. Its effects are

The BC Partners are a group of nonprofit agencies working together to help individuals and families manage mental health and substance use problems, with the help of good quality information. We represent Anxiety Disorders Association of BC, BC Schizophrenia Society, Canadian Mental Health Association’s BC Division, Centre for Addiction Research of BC, FORCE Society for Kid’s Mental Health, Jessie’s Hope Society, and Mood Disorders Association of BC. The BC Partners are funded by BC Mental Health and Addiction Services, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority. Produced by Centre for Addictions Research of BC.