Cactus, peyote

Mescaline a hallucinogenic amine obtained from the peyote cactus has been synthesized in two steps from 3 4 5 trimethoxybenzyl bromide The first step is nucleophilic substitution by sodium cyanide The second step is a lithium aluminum hydnde reduction What is the structure of mescaline" ... 

A number of mushrooms, liberty cap (psilocybe), psilocybin, fly agaric, Amantia muscaria and the peyote cactus contain hallucinogenic agents. They are usually eaten raw but can be dried out and stored or cooked into food or made into a tea and drunk. The effects are highly variable and whereas 20-30 liberty caps would be required to give a full dose, just one fly agaric mushroom would produce similar actions. Some recent local surveys in the UK have found between 12% and 15% of 16-year-olds claiming to have used these at least once. 

Present in the Peyote cactus legal use by some Native American groups in religious mystical ceremonies. 

Mescaline A catecholamine hallucinogen, obtained from the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii). 

The natural prototype for the phenylalkylamines is mescaline (Structure 1), isolated from the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) by Heffter in 1896 (100) and subsequently obtained synthetically by Spath in 1919 (218). Used for many centuries in the form of peyote by Indians in Mexico and the American Southwest (3), it is often referred to as one of the classic hallucinogens, along with psilocybin, psilocin, and LSD. Little structure-activity work was directed toward mescaline or its congeners until 1955, when Peretz et al. (174) reported that a-methyl mescaline (TMA) (8), which represented a hybrid of the structure... 

The peyote cactus is prepared for use by cutting the crown and drying it into buttons, which retain potency for a long time. They are then eaten or made into a tea for drinking. Purified mescaline crystals are dissolved and taken orally or injected. Doses vary considerably, ranging from 4 to more than 30 buttons. 

Due to similarities in their names, the mescal bean is often confused with mescaline (Schultes and Hofman 1980, 1992). These derive from entirely different plants whereas mescaline derives from peyote cactus, the mescal bean grows on the shrub Sophora secundiflora. The mescal bean itself has psychoactive effects, and was used since prehistoric times by Indians in the Rio Grande basin. Samples have been found dating back... 

More than 55 alkaloids have been isolated from peyote. Mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxy-j8-phenethylamine) is the primary psychoactive alkaloid of the peyote cactus, and by far the one that has been most studied (figure 9.6). These may be categorized into phenethylamines (including mescaline), isoquinolones, and Krebs acid conjugates. See table 9.2 for a partial list of peyote alkaloids. 

Any discussion of the chemistry of drugs must include some consideration of the nonmedical applications of such compounds. Just as early humans were searching their environment for natural products that would assuage pain and cure disease, so were they also looking for plants and other natural materials with psychoactive effects, materials that would provide an escape from the problems and worries of everyday life, or that would just make a person feel better for a period of time. They also incorporated psychoactive drugs into many of their religious ceremonies. The use of the peyote cactus, magic mushrooms, and similar products dates back centuries, if not millennia, in a variety of cultures. One hardly need point out that the use of psychoactive chemicals for recreational purposes continues in essentially every part of the world today. 

The better-known and widely used hallucinogenic plants are San Isidro mushroom Psilocyhe cubensis), ergot Claviceps), soma Amanita muscaria), peyote Cactus lophophora), yage (or ayahuasca), the vision vine of the Amazon Banisteriopsis caapi), cannabis Cannabis sativa and indica) and perhaps coca Erythroxylum novo-gratense). 

Mescaline (Peyote) Street Names Cactus, half moon, Hikori, nubs, seni, tops Use Derived from peyote cactus may be used in certain religious (native American) ceremonies Actions Hallucinogen Effects Similar to those of LSD, including increased body temperature and HR, uncoordinated movements (ataxia), profound sweating, and flushing... 

Mescaline is an alkaloid isolated from the peyote cactus, species Lophophora williamsii or Anhalonium lewinii, that grows in the southwestern United States and in Mexico. Mescaline is found in buttons that grow on top of the plant. Aztec and Native American Indians used the buttons in religious rites and for treatment of snakebite, flu, and arthritis. Some street names include bad seed, blue caps, cactus buttons, devils root, mesc, moon, peyote, shaman, and tops. 

Mescaline-containing buttons on top of the peyote cactus can be chewed or used to make a tea, or ground into a powder. Mescaline is absorbed rapidly, and effects begin between one-half and two hours after ingestion. Its half-life is six hours. Much of mescaline is excreted unchanged in urine as soon as one hour after use and for up to four days. In animal studies, there is evidence that mescaline passes into the fetus and can induce malformations. Mescaline, LSD, psilocybin, and DMT all activate the same serotonin receptor subtype in the brain. 

Two good examples are the peyote cactus (which contains mescaline) and the magic mushroom (which contains psilocybin). Both were discovered and used by the Mexican Indians and both have been so thoroughly analyzed biochemically that their active ingredients have been synthesized. 

Mescaline, a powerful hallucinogen, is isolated from the peyote cactus. Methamphetamine, a powerful stimulant, is synthesized. 

If free base mescaline is brought into reaction with ethyl formate (to produce the amide, N-formylmescaline) and subsequently reduced (with lithium aluminum hydride) it is converted to the N-methyl homologue. This base has also bees, found as a trace component in the Peyote cactus. And the effects of N-methylation of other psychedelic drugs have been commented upon elsewhere in these recipes, all with consistently negative results (with the noteworthy exception of the conversion of MDA to MDMA). Here, too, there is no obvious activity in man, although the levels assayed were only up to 25 milligrams. 

In the process of spiritual growth, many techniques have been used, such as prayer, fasting, study of scriptures, meditation, mantras, surrender to a Higher Power, and service to others. As far back in history as we can probe, the ingestion of various plants, such as the peyote cactus in America, certain mushrooms in many areas, and soma in India, has also been a means of promoting growth in awareness, called by some "Self-realization."... 

Our explorations with peyote went on, and we were more and more impressed with the importance of the effects of this substance when taken by people with a motivation toward better understanding of themselves and of life, and when given by one with similar motivation and an awareness of the hazards of improper use. Later we experimented with the use of mescaline, the psychedelic alkaloid present in the peyote cactus, and found the effects to be identical with those we had obtained through the use of peyote itself. 

Mescaline (peyote) is one such drug that has a cultural history dating from before the time of Christ as well as a separate history as a street drug. It is derived mainly from two members of the Cactaceae family—the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii) and the San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi). 

ENTHEOGEN A term from the Greek meaning God-facilitating substance. Some scholars prefer this term to hallucinogenic when applied to plants such as the peyote cactus that are used in religious practices. 

PODAREA Raised segmented cushion-part of the peyote cactus. 

Today though, in academic literature as well as street usage, the drug is referred to as both mescaline and peyote (regardless from which cactus it is actually extracted), often with both words having the same meaning. However, in the strictest sense, mescaline refers to the hallucinogenic crystalline extract of the peyote cactus, a form that is rare. 

Dried peyote cactus buttons are chewed and swallowed or made into a powder and swallowed in tablet form. Peyote can also be brewed and drunk as a tea. 

Peyote cactus. These plants contain mescaline, a chemical with hallucinogenic properties, custom Medical stock... 

In Texas, where the peyote cactus grows, its distribution to members of the NAC throughout the United States is controlled by Texas laws and regulations. 

Use of peyote or mescaline carries the same fines and punishments as any other Schedule I substance, which can include imprisonment. NAC members who use peyote outside the religious ceremony are not exempt from the consequences for illegal use. The federal guidelines refer specifically to the peyote cactus, L. williamsii. However, any other psychoactive cactus bought and used with the express intent of extracting the mescaline content will carry the same consequences under the law as using the more common form of the peyote cactus. 

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