Substance abuse hallucinogens

Each year, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse (NHSDA), conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, collects statistical data on five drug groups, including marijuana/hashish, psychotherapeutic drugs, cocaine/crack, hallucinogens, and inhalants. The med-... 

The medicinal use of ayahuasca, a plant beverage with psychotropic effects, has been proposed as a possible treatment for cocaine addiction. Proponents of this approach argue that DMT and other hallucinogens allow the substance abuser to modify his state of consciousness. In this altered state, the substance abuser looks for a meaning in his life. 

Many substance abusers turn to drugs as a form of self-medication for conditions such as depression. Thus, long-term treatment with antidepressants may prove useful to recovering substance abusers. It is important to note that phenothiazines, a type of antipsychotic medication, can be fatal when used with hallucinogens including DMT. This is especially true if the phenothiazines are mixed with strychnine or belladonna alkaloids. 

United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Hallucinogen Use. National Household Survey... 

Pechnick, R. N., and J. T. Unger. Hallucinogens. In Substance Abuse A Comprehensive Textbook. 3rd ed. Baltimore Williams Wilkins, 1997. 

Drug treatment programs across the United States that specialize in treating substance abusers under 18 years old were surveyed about their current population of patients. The survey found their clients use a variety of drugs, although alcohol, marijuana, and hallucinogens... 

Visual distortion with generalized anxiety and panic attacks has been attributed to risperidone (SEDA-22, 69). Visual disturbance resembling hallucinogen persistent perception disorder occurred after each of three consecutive risperidone dosage increases in a 55-year-old woman there was absence of substance abuse (129). 

SAFETY PROFILE Poison by ingestion, subcutaneous, intraperitoneal, and intravenous routes. Mutation data reported. Human systemic effects by ingestion and intramuscular routes euphoria, hallucinations, distorted perceptions, excitement, anorexia, nausea and vomiting. An experimental teratogen. Other experimental reproductive effects. Mutation data reported. A much-abused hallucinogen. A federally regulated substance. When heated to decomposition it emits toxic fumes of NOx. 

Trade names Marihuana Marijuana Indications Nausea and vomiting, substance abuse drug Category Cannabinoid Hallucinogen Half-life N/A... 

Glassification of Substance-Related Disorders. The DSM-IV classification system (1) divides substance-related disorders into two categories (/) substance use disorders, ie, abuse and dependence and (2) substance-induced disorders, intoxication, withdrawal, delirium, persisting dementia, persisting amnestic disorder, psychotic disorder, mood disorder, anxiety disorder, sexual dysfunction, and sleep disorder. The different classes of substances addressed herein are alcohol, amphetamines, caffeine, caimabis, cocaine, hallucinogens, inhalants, nicotine, opioids, phencyclidine, sedatives, hypnotics or anxiolytics, polysubstance, and others. On the basis of their significant socioeconomic impact, alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, and opioids have been selected for discussion herein. 

Pontieri FE, Tanda G, Orzi F, et al Effects of nicotine on the nucleus accumbens and similarity to those of addictive drugs. Nature 382 235-237, 1996 Pontieri FE, Zocchi A, Orzi F Mapping of functional changes associated with administration of substances of abuse in the rat. Funct Neurol 13 311-326, 1998 Preble E, Laury GV Plastic cement the ten cent hallucinogen. Int J Addict 2 271— 272, 1967... 

Schedule I—The drug or other substance has (1) a high potential for abuse, (2) no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States, and (3) a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision. Examples Ecstasy, heroin, marijuana, and the hallucinogens peyote, mescaline, psilocybin, and LSD. 

Similar to special material handling is the issue of controlled substance security. If it is decided to allow for this type of material handling, special considerations need to be made for legal issues involved. Security areas must be built into the design if these special classes of materials are to be handled. In 1970, the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), Title II of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act, was enacted into law. This law deals with the regulation of narcotics, stimulants, depressants, hallucinogens, and anabolic steroids. All of these corn-... 

In a study of imprisoned youth in Canada, published in the October 1999 issue of the American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, many participants cited inhalants as their first substance of abuse, preceding cigarettes, marijuana, illegal hallucinogens, and opiates. 

Inhalants are not usually used with another illicit substance, though early users of inhalants have, on later surveys, reported early use (before age 18) of other drugs as well marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, and hallucinogens. Because some inhalants are flammable, this adds the additional health danger of fire and burns if someone near the abuser lights up to smoke tobacco or marijuana. 

In 1968, psilocybin was made illegal. In 1970, in response to the epidemic proportions of drug use, the Comprehensive Dmg Abuse Prevention and Control Act was passed. The Controlled Substances Act (CSA) created a schedule for drugs based on their medical uses and the probability of abuse. At that time, psilocybin was placed in the most restrictive category as a Schedule I hallucinogen. 

For several reasons, Salvia divinorum is not considered a substance with a high potential for abuse. The taste of the leaves is extremely bitter, and it is necessary to chew many leaves for many minutes to achieve the desired effect. These properties would probably discourage many potential users. One supplier of the herb in the United States explained that Salvia divinorum does not act like a party drug that causes users to become expansive and sociable. In contrast, the Salvia experience is directed inward, and users tend to withdraw into themselves. The effects of a Salvia experience are often profound or bizarre, but not much fun. He reports that only 10% of first-time purchasers place a second order for the plant. The peculiar, introspective nature of the hallucinogenic experience induced by Salvia divinorum sug-... 

Although many young people who joined the hallucinogen subculture went on to hold jobs, marry, create families, and be responsible adults, there is little doubt that many young people were harmed and their lives permanently set back. In consequence, LSD was classified as a Schedule I substance, and its possession and distribution were made crimes. The National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) was created to promote scientific research into drug abuse and addiction. 

It is too soon to know whether Salvia divinorum will play a role in a new wave of hallucinogen abuse. That this will not be the case is suggested by reports by Siebert and others that the effects of the substance are often unpleasant and users do not seek to repeat the experience. Still it is useful to recall the upheavals that once took place, in order that knowledge of the past may help to prevent the repetition of it. 

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