Etymology and alternative terms
A variety of different, imprecise terms have also been used to refer to drugs of this type. One of the first terms used in English to describe these substances was "Phantastica", coined in 1928 by Louis Lewin in his ground-breaking monograph of the same name. The term was applied to plants that "bring about evident cerebral excitation in the form of hallucinations, illusions and visions ... followed by unconsciousness or other symptoms of altered cerebral functioning." Lewin complained that the word "does not cover all that I should wish it to convey", and indeed with the advent of the discovery of LSD and the widespread scientific experimentation with it and similar drugs, numerous supposedly improved terms were constructed, including hallucinogen, psychedelic, psychotomimetic, psycholytic, schizophrenogenic, cataleptogenic, mysticomimetic and psychodysleptic.
History of use
Hallucinogenic drugs are among the oldest drugs used by humankind, as hallucinogens naturally occur in mushrooms, cacti, and various other plants. Whether the use of hallucinogens is encouraged, unregulated, regulated, or prohibited, and whether hallucinogens are used for recreational, medicinal, or spiritual purposes, varies from culture to culture and nation to nation. In most nations of the world, the possession of many hallucinogens, even those that are common in nature, is a crime punished by fines, imprisonment or in many countries, death. For some religious purposes, however, there are exceptions. For instance, though possession of peyote cactus is illegal for most purposes in the United States, American Courts have upheld the Constitutional right of Native Americans to grow and consume peyote.
Traditional religious and shamanic use (entheogens)
In human culture hallucinogens have historically most commonly been used in the setting of religious or shamanic rituals. In this context they are more precisely referred to as entheogens, and are used to facilitate healing, divination, communication with the spirits, and coming of age ceremonies. Evidence exists for the use of entheogens in prehistoric times, as well as in numerous ancient cultures, including the Ancient Egyptian, Mycenaean, Ancient Greek, Vedic, Maya, Inca the and Aztec cultures, not to mention the Upper Amazon, arguabaly the region of globe where entheogens have assumed--literally over millennia--the greatest symbolic and sacred import, as noted among the Urarina of Peruvian Amazonia, who continue to practice an elaborate system of ayahuasca shamanism, coupled with animistic religious beliefs.
Early scientific investigations
Although natural hallucinogenic drugs have been known to mankind for millennia, it was not until the early 20th century that they received extensive attention from Western science. Earlier beginnings include scientific studies of nitrous oxide in the late 18th century, and initial studies of the constituents of the peyote cactus in the late 19th century. Starting in 1927 with Kurt Beringer's Der Meskalinrausch (The Mescaline Intoxication), more intensive effort began to be focused on studies of psychoactive plants. Around the same time, Louis Lewin published his extensive survey of psychoactive plants, Phantastica (1928). Important developments in the years that followed included the re-discovery of Mexican magic mushrooms (in 1936 by Robert J. Weitlaner) and ololiuhqui (in 1939 by Richard Evans Schultes). Arguably the most important pre-World War II development was by Albert Hofmann's 1938 invention of the semi-synthetic drug LSD, which was later discovered to produce hallucinogenic effects, in 1943.
Hallucinogens after World War II
After World War II there was an explosion of interest in hallucinogenic drugs in psychiatry, owing mainly to the discovery of LSD. Interest in the drugs tended to focus on either the potential for psychotherapeutic applications of the drugs (see psychedelic psychotherapy), or on the use of hallucinogens to produce a "controlled psychosis", in order to understand psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia. Between the mid 1950s and the mid 1960s over 1000 scholarly articles were published on hallucinogen research. Hallucinogens were also researched in several countries for their potential as agents of chemical warfare. Most famously, several tragic incidents associated with the CIA's MK-ULTRA mind control research project have been the topic of media attention and lawsuits.
Social status of hallucinogens
After the fading from public sight as one of the many elements of the 1960s counterculture, hallucinogen use took a less visible but nevertheless persistent role in Western society in the 1970s and 1980s. In the 1990s and 2000s something of a revival of interest in the drugs has occurred. There are probably several important contributing factors to the resurgence. One is the rise of dance-based rave and trance culture, in which participants frequently employ drugs such as the entactogen MDMA, and to a lesser extent, other hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, magic mushrooms and ketamine, as an aid to inducing ecstatic or trance states of consciousness. A second major contributing factor to the revival of interest in hallucinogenic drugs has been the advent of the Internet and World Wide Web. This has made information pertaining to drugs much more accessible to the general public, provided a platform for advocacy that was not previously available, and has enabled otherwise isolated interested parties to communicate and exchange information and experiences. Some well-known contemporary authors of topics relating to hallucinogens include Terence McKenna, Stanislav Grof, Alan Watts, Aldous Huxley, Timothy Leary, Alexander Shulgin, Jonathan Ott and Rick Strassman.
Legal status
As of 2004, most hallucinogens (aside from DXM) are illegal in most Western countries. One notable exception to the current criminalization trend is in parts of Western Europe, especially in the Netherlands, where hallucinogenic mushrooms are considered to be so-called "soft drugs", along with cannabis. While the possession of soft drugs is technically illegal, the Dutch government has decided that using law enforcement to combat their use is largely a waste of resources. As a result, public "coffeeshops" in the Netherlands openly sell cannabis, and "smart shops" sell drugs like psilocybin mushrooms and ayahuasca for personal use (See Drug policy of the Netherlands).
Pharmacology
Hallucinogens can be classified by quality of action, mechanisms of action, or by chemical structure. These classifications often correlate to some extent. The classification system below attempts to blend these three approaches in order to create a balanced and simple overview that is as clear and easy to grasp as possible.
Psychedelics and mental illnesses in long-term users
Most psychedelics are not known to have long-term physical toxicity. However, amphetamine-like psychedelics, such as MDMA, that release neurotransmitters may stimulate increased formation of free radicals possibly formed from neurotransmitters released from the synaptic vesicle. Free radicals are associated with cell damage in other contexts, and have been suggested to be involved in many types of mental conditions including Parkinson's disease, senility, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer's. Full research on this connection, and other long term neurological effects, have not reached a firm conclusion. The same concerns are not true of either psychedelics that do not release neurotransmitters, such as LSD, or dissociatives and deleriants.
Pharmacological classes of hallucinogens
Psychedelics (serotonin 5-HT2A receptor agonists)
- Tryptamines
- Phenethylamines
- Substituted phenethylamines
- Substituted amphetamines
- Empathogens and/or Entactogens (serotonin releasers)
- Cannabinoids (CB-1 cannabinoid receptor agonists)
Dissociatives
- NMDA receptor antagonists and sigma1 ligands
- Kappa opioid receptor agonists
- Inhalants
- Cholinergics
Deliriants (anticholinergics)
Hallucinogenic plants, fungi, and animals
Among the best-known hallucinogenic plants and fungi are:
Plants
Psychedelics
- Ayahuasca (contains DMT and an MAOI, commonly Banisteriopsis caapi with Psychotria viridis)
- EpenГЎ (Virola sp.) (contains 5-MeO-DMT and DMT)
- Hawaiian baby woodrose (Argyreia nervosa) (contains Ergine)
- Ololiuhqui/Coaxihuitl (Turbina/Rivea corymbosa) (contains Ergine)
- Tlitliltzin/Badoh Negro (Ipomoea violacea) (contains Ergine)
- Iboga (Tabernanthe iboga) (contains ibogaine)
Cacti psychedelics
- Peruvian Torch cactus (Trichocereus peruvianus) (contains mescaline)
- Peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) (contains mescaline)
- San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi) (contains mescaline)
Quasi-psychedelics
- Cannabis (contains THC)
- Sinicuichi (Heimia salicifolia) (questioned hallucinogenic activity)
- Nutmeg (Myristica fragrans) (hallucinogenic activity results from ingestion of MASSIVE doses of this spice)
Dissociatives
- Diviner's sage (Salvia divinorum) (contains salvinorin A)
Deliriants
- Deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna) (contains tropane alkaloids)
- Floripondio (Brugmansia sp.) (contains tropane alkaloids)
- Henbane (Hyoscyamus niger) (contains tropane alkaloids)
- Mandrake (Mandragora sp.) (contains tropane alkaloids)
- Thorn Apple/Jimson Weed (Datura sp.) (contains tropane alkaloids)
Fungi
Psychedelics
- Psilocybe mushrooms (Psilocybe sp. and some Conocybe, Panaeolus and Stropharia) (contain psilocybin and psilocin)
- Ergot fungus (Claviceps purpurea) (not hallucinogenic in itself, but contains LSD precursors)
Dissociatives
- Fly Agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria) (contains muscimol)
Animals
Psychedelics
- Psychoactive toads (Bufo alvarius) (contain 5-MeO-DMT and Bufotenine)
Notes
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Hallucinogen DISCOGRAPHY
