Substance Misuse: Result of Stress (Physical Or Emotional) Or Fatigue, Are Fungi Containing the Chemical Psilocybin
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Clinical sweating, numbness, confusion and difficulty Magic mushrooms concentrating. Longer term, flashbacks may In addition to their most common title, magic occur, during which the user re-experiences the mushrooms go by a wide range of names Module 1982 trip days, months or even years later, perhaps including Shrooms, Mushies, Magics, Liberties, following subsequent drug use but also as a Philosopher’s Stones, Amani and Agarics. They Substance misuse: result of stress (physical or emotional) or fatigue, are fungi containing the chemical psilocybin. which can trigger severe anxiety or paranoia. This pro-drug is converted in the body to hallucinogenics Tolerance can develop rapidly, and psychological psilocin, which has psychoactive properties. – though not physical – dependence can occur.1 Although there are over 180 psilocybin- From this CPD module you will learn: containing mushrooms found across the world, Substances the most commonly used in the UK is Psilocybe • What a hallucinogenic drug is, how they exert their effects and the This learning module will focus on magic semilanceata, a small, light brown mushroom risks associated with their use mushrooms and lysergic acid diethylamide, more known as the liberty cap. There is also the more • Detailed information about the two most used hallucinogens, magic commonly known as LSD, as these are the two potent Amanita muscaria, also known as the mushrooms and LSD hallucinogenic drugs widely used recreationally. fly agaric, which resemble the red and white It is worth noting that psychedelic drug use toadstools of fairy tales, though this contains • Some of the less commonly used psychedelic drugs appeared to increase during the COVID-19 additional psychoactive chemicals such as • Some relevant harm reduction measures for hallucinogenics pandemic, while use of substances such as ibotenic acid and muscimol which can cause ecstasy and nitrous oxide fell, in all likelihood delirium, drooling, dizziness and vomiting as well because these are more associated with highly as convulsions. They are therefore less popular ASHA FOWELLS, PHARMACIST a significant role in emotional functioning and socialised environments such as clubs and among users.4-6 memory. There is also a school of thought that festivals, which were largely curtailed.3 Magic mushrooms may be eaten raw or This CPD module on misused substances hallucinogens stimulate disorganised activity focuses on drugs that are used for their in the brain, reducing self-consciousness and hallucinogenic effects. See C+D’s other CPD self-awareness, which can lead to a sense of modules for information on substance misuse disassociation - this experience is sometimes of depressants at tinyurl.com/depressants1, referred to a “trip”.2 image– and performance-enhancing drugs at This group of drugs is different to many tinyurl.com/imageperfdrugs, dissociative drugs others in that the substances tend to be taken at tinyurl.com/dissociatives and stimulants at sporadically rather than regularly. That is not tinyurl.com/stimulants1. to say that this reduces the risk associated with taking the drugs. Not only are the effects Defining hallucinogenics unpredictable, it is not uncommon to have a Hallucinogens, also known as psychedelics, are “bad trip” (particularly if the user is in a negative psychoactive substances that interfere with mental or emotional state beforehand). This can sensory perception. For example, someone’s include extreme anxiety, fear or panic, a sense grasp of auditory or visual stimuli may be of loss of control or paranoia, and frightening altered, their sense of time and emotions can hallucinations, which can lead to behaviours that also be affected in addition to their mood put the user and/or others in danger.1 and cognition. Users may also experience While some people enjoy a sense of hallucinations – seeing or hearing things that are euphoria and relaxation after using a either not there or are distorted in some way.1 psychedelic drug, there can also be other less Psychedelics exert this effect by mimicking pleasant effects in the short-term, including serotonin and stimulating those pathways in the dizziness, blurred vision, lack of coordination, brain, notably in the temporal lobe, which has tachycardia, dyspnoea, nausea, vomiting, Magic mushrooms contain psilocybin, which is converted in the body to the psychoactive psilocin chemistanddruggist.co.uk/update-plus July 2021 | Module 1982 | Substance misuse: hallucinogenic drugs | 1 of 3 cooked. Additionally, they can be dried and experience enjoyable and meaningful, others either included as an ingredient in a food or find it terrifying, and there is a risk that long made into a tea. It is also possible to obtain forgotten and perhaps traumatic experiences liquid psilocybin extract. The strength is may resurface. Whether positive or negative, the unpredictable, influenced by a range of factors trip is frequently draining, mentally, physically, including mushroom species, freshness, location and emotionally, and there can be a strong sense grown and the season. For the same reason, of fatigue and dissociation in the days following the duration of action also varies, but most the experience. It has been recommended that commonly the effects are felt after around users – particularly first timers – allow at least half an hour and can last somewhere between three months to elapse before taking it again. five to nine hours depending on how much is Tolerance builds quickly, and redosing tends to ingested. One of the biggest associated risks have little impact on the experience.7-9 is ingesting a poisonous mushroom in error. Even more so than magic mushrooms, Another significant downside is a persistent LSD can be very difficult to handle for those headache in the days immediately after the trip with pre-existing mental illness, particularly in combination with a comedown, during which psychosis, and can trigger a psychotic episode. the individual feels low in mood and energy; Bad trips can be difficult to handle for the most these effects are not uncommon.4-6 level-headed individual, bringing with it feelings Legally, magic mushrooms are Class A drugs of anxiety, fear, panic, dysphoria, paranoia, under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and the confusion, disorientation, unwanted thoughts, 2005 Drugs Act strengthened existing legislation frightening perceptions, hyperawareness of LSD is usually sold as small impregnanted squares of paper, which are then placed onto the tongue by putting both fresh and prepared psilocybin – physiological processes such as circulation, or psilocin-containing mushrooms into Class A. and even an existential crisis. Having a coping out of control can be very frightening.5 epilepsy, while also being metabolised by the This means that all forms are illegal to possess, strategy – listening to a particular song or Less commonly used psychedelic drugs include: monoamine oxidase pathway, meaning there distribute or sell.4 looking at a pleasant picture, for instance – is key • N-bomb/NBOM is a powerful hallucinogenic are several potential significant interactions in such situations.9 and has been detected in some products sold with prescribed medication.11 LSD as LSD. Often sold as small squares of paper, it • DMT, or dimethyltryptamine, is a highly potent LSD is a synthetic hallucinogen usually sold as Set and setting only works when absorbed through the lining but short acting psychedelic drug. It comes impregnated small squares of paper (known as The dimensions of risk that apply to all substance of the mouth, and users have reported a very in a range of forms, from white crystals in its tabs or blotters) that are placed onto the tongue, misuse – drug, person and place – are certainly intense trip, often with physical effects such purest form to a pink/yellow/orange powder tiny pellets that are swallowed, or liquid that is applicable when it comes to psychedelics, but as nausea, vomiting, tremors, increased heart or solid (both of which are most commonly dropped onto the tongue or into food or drink. It whether a trip is good or bad can really come rate and blood pressure, seizures, insomnia, snorted), a brownish or green mixture added goes by a wide range of names, some relating to down to two factors: set and setting. The former agitation and aggression.10 to herbs such as ayahuasca to make changa the drug name itself (L, Acid) while others refer relates to the individual’s mindset, including their • 2CB, or 2,5-dimethoxy-4- (which is smoked), or a red-brown liquid that to the formulation (Tabs, Blotters, Dots, Micro mood, expectations, thoughts and disposition. In bromophenethylamine, is another synthetic may be drunk in a shamanic tea. The effect is Dots), images shown on the impregnated pieces terms of the latter, the specific place and social psychedelic, which also has stimulant intense, with users often reporting a vivid out of paper (Stars, Smilies, Rainbows, Flash), or the situation can have a significant impact, with properties. It comes as a white powder, of body experience, during which the world effect (Trips). LSD is a Class A drug.7 better outcomes in familiar places surrounded which may be snorted, or swallowed as a appears totally distorted. Some users have The effects of LSD are experienced around by friendly faces (and perhaps a “sober sitter” pill or capsule. The combined hallucinogenic felt unable to move and likened it to a near- 30-90 minutes after ingestion, peaking at the who is level-headed and able to provide and stimulant effect is dose dependent but death experience.12,13 two-to-three-hour mark, and lasting for up reassurance or distraction if needed), compared can be dangerous in terms of the impact on • Salvia is a Mexican plant in the sage family to nine to 14 hours. There are a huge number to the difficulties that may ensue in a chaotic heart rate and blood pressure. Furthermore, and is therefore sometimes called Holy Sage of variables affecting all these parameters, environment (such as a festival or party) with anxiety and paranoia are not uncommon or Herbal Ecstasy.