Plants hallucinogens

Grob CS, McKenna DJ, Callaway JC, Brito GS, Neves ES, Oberlaender G, Saide OL, Labigalini E, Tacia C, Miranda CT, Strassman RJ, Boone KB. (1996). Human psychopharmacology of hoasca, a plant hallucinogen used in ritual context in Brazil. J Nerv Ment Dis. 184(2) 86-94. 

In those early mushroom experiences at La Chorrera there was an aura of the animate and the strange, the idea that the mushroom was somehow more than a plant hallucinogen or even a shamanic ally of the classic sort. It had begun to dawn on me that the mushroom was in fact a kind of intelligent entity—not of earth—alien and able during the trance to communicate its personality as a presence in the inward-turned perceptions of its beholder. 

Of the different sensory modalities, olfaction does not appear to feature in reports of the effects of plant hallucinogens. Since olfaction is the one sense not relayed through the thalamus, this brain area is likely to be central to the changes in consciousness described. Many target receptors implicated, e.g. muscarinic, 5-HT2, D2, D3 and opiate, are present in this thalamic nuclei the human brain. 

I then put the same question to Dennis McKenna, an ethnopharmacologist who has studied plant hallucinogens for more than 20 years. In 1975, he co-authored the book Invisible Landscape with his brother Terence McKenna. The book detailed his investigations of Amazonian hallucinogens. He wrote to me ... 

Schultes, R.E. E.W. Smith (1980). Plant Hallucinogens Sacred Elements of Native Societies. Woodmere, NY (color poster). 

McKenna, D. J. (1996). Plant Hallucinogens Springboards for Psychotherapeutic Drug Discovery. 

SCHULTES R.E. (translation by J. Lepage), 1978, Atlas des Plantes Hallucinogenes du Monde, Ed. de I Aurore, Montreal. 

Ethnobotanists have classified hundreds of plant hallucinogens, the majority of these originating in the rainforests of South America. In this article, however, the focus is on the five categories of hallucinogens classified by Goodman and Gilman/ ... 

In most aboriginal cultures, the extraction process for psychedelic plants is quite simple as often as not, the shaman just boils down the raw materials in a pot and then drinks the concentrated brew. We come from a different tradition with different beliefs and expectations. For one thing, our civilized" tastes have been refined to the point where we have difficulty in ingesting anything we perceive as bitter or repulsive- this,unfortunately, applies to most psychoactive botanicals. I know of no plant hallucinogen that actually tastes good, which I would want to eat even if it weren t a psychedelic. Westerners generally prefer pure compounds in the form of pills or capsules that can be easily swallowed, an efficiency which makes up in acceleration what it loses in verisimilitude. 

Dobldn de Rios, M. 1977. Plant hallucinogens and the religion of the Mochica— An anciqit Iferuvian people Economic Botany 31(2) 189-203. 

Dobkin de Rios, M. and M. Cardenas 1980. Plant hallucinogens, shamanism and Nazca ceramics Jottrnal ofEthmph-armacology 2(3) 233—246. 

Tryptamine-related hallucinogens are naturally occurring plant alkaloids or their chemically synthesized derivatives. Some of them are related to sub-... 

In the United States, more than 700 species of plants are known to be poisonous. On occasion death occurs from eating poisonous plants, berries, seeds, or tubers. It has been estimated that 75,000 cases of plant poisoning occur annually with children being the prime victims. Adult poisoning often results from the consumption of therapeutic teas or use of toxic weed, such as hemp, as hallucinogens and mind-altering drugs. 

When looking for plants affecting serotoninergic neurotransmission, one might look into species that produce indole alkaloids, such alkaloids beingknown to impart to the plant s hallucinogenic properties. 

DMT is perhaps the most powerful hallucinogen known to man. It is related to LSD and psilocybin. There are no drug tests that would show DMT usage. None of the basic NIDA-5 drug tests or any extended drug test will show a result for DMT. DMT is naturally formed in the body and has been found in abnormal levels in the body fluids of persons suffering from schizophrenia. DMT is almost never sold through dealers, rarely synthesized, and seldom used. It is, however, easily extracted from common plant materials and has been used in various forms for hundreds of years (timeline.) DMT is not a... 

Ingestion of hallucinogenic plant alkaloids and allied compounds does not always result in death. Many grazing animals display paresis, ataxia, dullness, and a tendency to isolate themselves from the herd. Some animals appear to act bizarre. Observations of such animal-plant interactions could have provided man with much information about hallucinogens. 

Hamer, M. J. (1973) The role of hallucinogenic plants in European witchcraft. In Hallucinogens and Shamanism, edited by M. Hamer, pp. 125-150. Oxford University Press, New York. 

One of the best studied tryptamine derivatives is DMT (37). DMT and 5-OMeDMT (59) are probably the active constituents of a variety of South American hallucinogenic snuffs. These and related indolealkylamines have been detected in members of at least five different plant families Agaricaceae, Leg-uminosae, Malpighiaceae, Myristicaceae and Rubiaceae (107,109,110,187). In... 

---