The Unsorted BBS Collection/thegreatunsorted.tar/thegreatunsorted/texts/txtfiles_misc/lsd.faq

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From: [e-mail] (David A. Honig)
Newsgroups: alt.drugs
Subject: LSD FAQ
Date: 8 Nov 1994 15:10:22 -0800
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        The Usenet alt.drugs LSD FAQ



Last Update: 17 Aug 94
    Subject: LSD
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    Caveat:

[NB: This FAQ provided to reduce the Net's bandwidth / confusion /
misinformation, as an informational resource ONLY.  There are some
very informed, and some very clueless people on the Net.  This
FAQ tries to shift the balance.  The truth shall set you free,
as they say.]


******************************

    Changes since Previous Version

- added synthesis notes, MAPS
- merged misc. files and references, organizations, the baseball
story, recipes I'm not competent to judge
- added scholarly section on creativity
- include more info on related active tryptamine derivatives
- traded off half-a-decibel of signal-to-noise for wider scope
- added mycological horticultural note
- added postscript stereoimage of structure

******************************

    Synopsis / Table of Contents:

LSD         (definition, introduction)
Delysid     (medical fact sheet for pharmaceutical LSD) (pharmacology)

    Cautions, Real And Imagined:

Addiction Potential (none)
Adulterants     (including the strychnine myth, manufacturing impurities, etc.)
Bad Trips     (what they are, how to avoid, what to do)
Myths         (stamps for children, staring at the sun..)
Dangers     (LSD isn't for morons...)
Flashbacks     (what they are ---post-traumatic stress syndrome)
Insomnia     (common, what to do)
Tolerance     (aquired and lost quickly (3 days) harmlessly, no withdrawal)

    Backround:

Anthropology         (and history)
Botany             (sources in nature: mushrooms, ergot, morning glories,
                hawaiian baby woodrose, tropical plants)
Chemistry         (structure)
Mechanism of Action     (uncertain)
Related Compounds     (indoles: psilocybin, DiMethylTryptamine (DMT) )
Manufacture         (forget it)

Drug Testing          (don't worry)
Legal Scheduling (sched. 1, no medical uses in US (despite past effective use))

    Pragmatics:

Set and Setting     (how to have a positive experience; lsd != beer)
Storage             (keep in a cool dark dry place)
Synergies, Bad Combinations     (cannabis is good, otherwise be careful)

    References & Further Reading:

(Recommended)
     _Psychedelic Encyclopedia_ by Peter Stafford
    _LSD: My Problem Child_  by Albert Hofmann
    _Licit & Illicit Drugs_ (Consumer Reports)
    _Storming heaven : LSD and the American dream_  by Jay Stevens

******************************



LSD
    Generic name for the hallucinogen lysergic acid
    diethylamide-25.  Discovered by Dr. Albert Hofmann in 1938, LSD is one
    of the most potent mind-altering chemicals known.  A white, odorless
    powder usually taken orally, its effects are highly variable and begin
    within one hour and generally last 8-12 hours, gradually tapering off.
    It has been used experimentally in the treatment of alcoholics and
    psychiatric patients.  [Where it showed some success.] It
    significantly alters perception, mood, and
    psychological processes, and can impair motor coordination and skills.
    During the 1950s and early 1960s, LSD experimentation was legally
    conducted by psychiatrists and others in the health and mental health
    professions.  Sometimes dramatic, unpleasant psychological reactions
    occur, including panic, great confusion, and anxiety.  Strongly
    affected by SET and SETTING.  Classification: hallucinogens.  Slang
    names: acid, sugar.  See also appendix B.  (RIS 27:211-52 entries)

    -- Research Issues 26, Guide to Drug Abuse Research Terminology,
           available from NIDA or the GPO, page 54.

...............................

Common Drug Slang Terms (NB: many of these refer to the carrier, ie, "Blotter"
    or "Sugar Cubes".  Often the local names will refer to patterns printed
    on the blotter, eg, "Blue unicorn".):

    Acid, 'Cid, Sid, Bart Simpsons, Barrels, Tabs, Blotter, Heavenly blue,
    "L", Liquid, Liquid A, Lucy in the sky with diamonds, Microdots,
    Mind detergent, Orange cubes, Orange micro,  Owsley, Hits,
    Paper acid,  Sacrament, Sandoz,  Sugar, Sugar lumps,
    Sunshine, Tabs, Ticket, Twenty-five, Wedding bells, Windowpane,
    etc.

...............................

from the data sheet accompanying product:
(see also Physician's Desk Reference from mid-60's)

                      Delysid (LSD 25)

           D-lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate

    Sugar-coated tablets containing 0.025 mg. (25 ug.)

    Ampoules of 1 ml. containing 0.1  mg.  (100  ug.)  for  oral
administration.

     The solution may also be injected  s.c.  or  i.v.   The
effect  is  identical  with  that of oral administration but
sets in more rapidly.

                         PROPERTIES

     The administration  of  very  small  doses  of  Delysid
(1/2-2  ug./kg.  body  weight) results in transitory distur-
bances of affect, hallucinations, depersonalization,  reliv-
ing  of  repressed memories, and mild neuro-vegetative symp-
toms.  The effect sets in after 30 to 90  minutes  and  gen-
erally  lasts  5 to 12 hours.  However, intermittent distur-
bances of affect may occasionally persist for several days.

                  METHOD OF ADMINISTRATION

     For oral administration the contents of  1  ampoule  of
Delysid  are  diluted with distilled water, a 1% solution of
tartaric acid or halogen-free tap water.

     The absorption of the solution is somewhat  more  rapid
and more constant that that of the tablets.

     Ampoules which have not been opened,  which  have  been
protected  against  light  and  stored  in  a cool place are
stable for an unlimited period.  Ampoules  which  have  been
opened or diluted solutions retain their effectiveness for 1
to 2 days, if stored in a refrigerator.

                   INDICATIONS AND DOSAGE

a)   Analytical  psychotherapy,   to   elicit   release   of
     repressed  material and provide mental relaxation, par-
     ticularly in anxiety states and obsessional neuroses.
     The initial dose is 25 ug. (1/4  of  an  ampoule  or  1
     tablet).   This  dose is increased at each treatment by
     25 ug. until the optimum dose (usually between 50  and
     200  ug.) is found.  The individual treatments are best
     given at intervals of one week.

b)   Experimental studies on the nature  of  psychoses:   By
     taking  Delysid  himself,  the  psychiatrist is able to
     gain an insight in the world of ideas and sensations of
     mental  patients.   Delysid can also be used to induced
     model psychoses of short duration in  normal  subjects,
     this facilitating studies on the pathogenesis of mental
     disease.

     In normal subjects, doses of 25 to 75 ug. are generally
     sufficient  to produce a hallucinatory psychosis (on an
     average 1 ug./kg. body weight).  In  certain  forms  of
     psychosis  and  in chronic alcoholism, higher doses are
     necessary (2 to 4 ug./kg. body weight).

                        PRECAUTIONS

     Pathological mental conditions may  be  intensified  by
Delysid.  Particular caution is necessary in subjects with a
suicidal tendency and  in  those  cases  where  a  psychotic
development appears imminent.  The psycho-affective lability
and the tendency to commit impulsive acts  may  occasionally
last for some days.

     Delysid should only be administered under strict  medi-
cal supervision.  The supervision should not be discontinued
until the effects of the drug have completely worn off.

                          ANTIDOTE

     The mental effects of Delysid can be  rapidly  reversed
by the i.m.  administration of 50 mg. chlorpromazine.

              Literature available on request.

              SANDOZ LTD., BASLE, SWITZERLAND

9792*-Z1540 e.-sp./d.-fr.
Printed in Switzerland.

...............................

From: An Introduction to Pharmacology  3rd edition, JJ Lewis, 1964   (p 385)

Peripheral Actions

These include an oxytocic action and constriction of the blood vessels
of isolated vascular beds.  In intact animals LSD causes a fall in
blood pressure, but its adrenergic blocking potency is low.

LSD causes mydriasis in man and other species.  It also causes
hyperglycaemia and mydriasis, has a hyperthermic action and causes
piloerection.  These effects are sympathetic in nature and are
abolished by ganglion blocking or adrenergic blocking agents.
Parasympathetic effects include salivation, lachyrmation, vomiting,
hypotension, and brachycardia.  Low doses stimulate respiration but
larger doses depress it.

(nb: mydriasis = pupillary dilation)
...............................

Hoffman thought the diethylamide version of the lysergic acid molecule
might be a respiratory stimulant... (see _Problem Child_ by Hoffman)

...............................

The "speedy" quality of unadulterated LSD is due to the pharmacological
actions of LSD itself, and not necessarily due to decomposition or impurities.
LSD typically causes early adrenergic effects such as sweating, nervousness,
jaw grinding and insomnia which are easily confused with the side effects
of amphetamine.

******************************

ADDICTION POTENTIAL:

Zero physical addiction potential.  Not something that makes you want to
do it again immediately.

Essentially zero psychological addiction potential.


Rarely people use it to escape in a negative way or as part of "polydrug
abuse" behavior or pattern of behavior.  Usually in this case other
drugs are causing more harm, and the fundamental problem is a personal
difficulty; the escapism/distraction is a symptom.

******************************

ADULTERANTS:

Several problems are associated with street drugs: their unknown
purity and their unknown strength.  Because of its extreme cheapness
and potency, the purity of LSD in blotter form is not an issue: either
it's lsd or untreated paper.  The purity of powders, pills, and liquids
cannot be assumed as safe.  With regards to uncertain strength, the
strength of hits these days is low, 100 micrograms or so.  One should
be careful and assume that the smallest square in a tiling of a sheet
is a dose, even if a printed pattern covers several.  An experienced
person could judge the strength of a dose, and if it is assumed all
doses on a sheet have been processed equivalently, those doses would
be calibrated for others, much like anything else.

...............................

From _Psychedelic Chemistry_ by M.V.Smith,  2nd edition p 5:

"There is a great deal of superstition regarding purification of
psychedelics.  Actually, any impurities which may be present as a
result of synthetic procedures will almost certainly be without any
effect on the trip.  If there are 200 micrograms of LSD in a tablet,
there could only be 200 mics of impurities present even if the LSD was
originally only 50% pure (assuming nothing else has been added), and
few compounds will produce a significant effect until a hundred to a
thousand times this amount has been ingested.  Even mescaline, which
has a rather specific psychedelic effect, requires about a thousand
thimes this amount."

...............................

Note that: 1) on a piece of paper, vs. a tablet, you can't even add
significant amounts of adulterants 2) adulterants would cost, whereas
blank paper will rip someone off just as well.

LSD itself has some "body-kinks" on some people some times.  Nausea is
one of them.  its usually mild and transient.  It also has speedlike
(ie, adrenergic stimulation) effects, etc.

(It is common for the uninformed to harbor fears (e.g., about adulterants)
instilled by ignorance and the current hysteria/propoganda.  That's why this
FAQ exists.)

...............................

[Referring to strychnine] 15 mg has been fatal, but a more typical fatal
dose is on the order of 50mg.  [Another post indicates 25 mg. as the LD50] 1
mg of strychnine orally probably has no observable pharmacological effects
in a typical adult.  [1 mg being ten times the effective dose of LSD, by the
way.]

From: Handbook of Poisoning, 10th ed, R.H. Dreisbach, M.D., PhD, Lange Med.
Pub. Co. Los Altos, Ca.: strychnine is lethal in 15-30 mg amounts to adult
humans.  (Pure nicotine is fatal at 40 mg./person; cyanide salts are fatal
at about 100 mg./person) Strychnine causes death by respitory failure, via
increased spinal reflex excitability.


Actually, I think the fact that PharmChem analyzed something on the order of
2,000 LSD samples between 1972 and 1979 and never found one with strychnine
in it would be better.  I'm going over all their data with a toothpick and
I'll get back to you on exactly what I find.  It looks like the percent of
LSD with strychnine in it is, however, at least under .05%.  More a little
later.


...............................

According to Alexander Shulgin the difinitive answer is that strychnine is
neither used in the synthesis, produced by the synthesis, or a possible
contaminant of the synthesis.  But just look at the structures of strychnine
vs Lysergic acid/LSD/etc and you should be able to understand that readily.



...............................

From "The PharmChem Newsletter" (vol 3, no 3), 1973:

Summary of Street Drug Results - 1973: "Of 189 samples of LSD quantitatively
analyzed, the average dose was 67.25ug LSD.  Of the 32 samples of alleged
mescaline actually containing mescaline, [...stuff about mescaline and
mushrooms deleted...]  It is interesting to note the low incidence of
deception among the less sought after psychotomimetics LSD and PCP."


Most likely "good" acid is N-acetyl-LSD (ALD-52) [according to
_Psychedelic Encyclopedia_ it produces a smoother trip and is somewhat
commonly found in analysis -- references to the latter were provided].  while
"speedy" acid is LSD-25.  You might want to inform her that those "speedy"
effects are also commonly reported side effects of legal drugs which
effect the 5-HT neurotransmitter system.  And ditto on the potency issue --
you'd need mg quantities of strychnine to feel anything.  And what you would
feel (according to descriptions I've read) does not match descriptions of
LSD "speed" effects.  Most significantly because strychnine muscular effects
tend to fade in & out, while LSD "speed" effects are typically reported as
being consistent -- and there are other qualitative differences.

"actual experience"? ... no one here is likely to post descriptions of that
over the net, even in e-mail...  I'm *quite* sure that some people could
though...

> Well, hypothetically speaking, I bought some from her friends, and I could
> probably surrender half a hit or a whole one, maybe, in the interest of
> science.  Does anyone have facilities to perform a REAL (hypothetical)
> analysis of blotter to find out exactly what's in it?

Its been done....

> > Schnoll SH  Vogel WH
> > Analysis of "street drugs".
> > N Engl J Med (1971 Apr 8) 284(14):791

This reference sucks.

> > Brown JK  Shapazian L  Griffin GD
> > A rapid screening procedure for some "street drugs" by thin-layer
> >      chromatography.
> > J Chromatogr (1972 Jan 19) 64(1):129-33

Nope.

There's a LA County analysis of street drugs I've got (Clin Tox ~1984 I think)
that reports LSD as being >96% pure or blank (If I remember correctly) --
the rest most likely is substitutes, but it wasn't reported in the analysis.




...............................

This is the PharmChem analysis of LSD from 1972 (vol 1, no 1) up to the time
that the DEA no longer allowed them to make quantitative measurements (1974-
vol 3, no 2 included).  NOTE:  NO STRYCHNINE! also note that PharmChem found
a sample of Shrooms contaminated with Strychnine in 1972 (vol 1, no 7), and
I would think it safe to assume that they also checked LSD for Strychnine.


******************************

BAD TRIPS:

 A person on LSD who becomes depressed, agitated, or confused may
experience these feelings in an overwhelming manner that grows on
itself.  The best solution is to remove disturbing influences, get to
a safe, comforting environment, and reassure the tripper that things
are alright.  It may comfort those who fear that they are losing their
minds to be reminded that it will end in several hours.

Authorities are fond of administering injections of anti-psychotic
drugs.  Recovery in the presence of authorities, in hospitals or
police stations, is not pleasant.  Sedatives or tranquilizers such as
Valium may help reduce panic and anxiety, but the best solution is
calm talking.  Some claim that niacin (an over the counter vitamin
supplement) can abort a trip, but this may be due to a placebo effect
(niacin produces a flushing effect).

Remember that odd bodily sensations are normal and not harmful.

******************************

From page 8 of Robert Anton Wilson's Sex and Drugs: A Journey Beyond Limits

"The distinction between psycholytic and psychedelic doses of LSD is used in
many scientific publications but seems to be ignored by popularizers who
either preach the "LSD utopia" or warn of the "decline of the West." A
psycholitic does, generally 75 or 100 - or at most 200 - micrograms, causes
a rush of thoughts, a lot of free association, some visualization
(hallucination) and abreaction (memories so vivid that one seems to relive
the experience). A psychedelic dose, around 500 micrograms, produces total
but temporary breakdown of usual ways of perceiving self and world and
(usually) some form of "peak experience" or mystic transcendence of ego.
"Bad trips" usually occur only on psychedelic doses."

******************************

The best review of this question is Rick Strassman's "Adverse Reactions
to Psychedelic Drugs: a Review of the Literature" in _J. Nerv and Mental
Disease_ 172(10):577-595.  He writes:

The most common adverse reaction is a temporary (less than 24 hours)
episode of panic --the "bad trip".  Symptoms include frightening illusions/
hallucinations (usually visual and/or auditory); overwhelming anxiety
to the point of panic; aggression with possible violent acting-out behavior;
depression with suicidcal ideations, gestures, or attempts; confusion; and
fearfulness to the point of paranoid delusions.

Reactions that are prolonged (days to months) and/or require hospitalization
are often referred to as "LSD psychosis," and include a heterogenous
population and group of symptoms.  Although there are no hard and
fast rules, some trends have been noted in these patients.  There is a
tendency for people with poorer premorbid adjusment, a history of
psychiatric illness and/or treatment, a greater number of exposure to
psychedelic drugs (and correlatively, a great average total
cumulative dosage taken over time), drug-taking in an unsupervised
setting, a history of polydrug abuse, and self-therapeutic and/or
peer-pressure-submission motive for drug use, to suffer these consequences.

In spite of the impressive degree of prior problems noted in many of these
patients, there are occasional reports of severe and prolonged reactions
occuring in basically well adjusted individuals.  In the same vein,
there are many instance of faily poorly adapted individuals who suffer
_no_ ill effects from repeated psychedelic drug use.  In fact, it has been
hypothesized that some schizophrenics do not suffer adverse reactions
because of their familiarity with such acute altered states.  Another
possibility is that there individuals may be "protected" by possible "down-
regulation" of the receptors for LSD, bu the (over-)production of some
endogenous compound.  _Individual_ prediction of adverse reactions,
therefore, is quite difficult...
....

Major "functional" psychosis vs. "LSD psychosis"
-----------------------------------------------

A diagnostic issue dealth with explicitly in only a few papers is that of
LSD-precipitated major functional illnesses, e.g. affective disorders
or schizophrenia.  In other words, many of these so called LSD psychoses
could be other illnesses that were triggered by the stress of a traumatic
psychedelic drug experience.  Some of the same methodological issues
described earlier affect these studies, but they are, on the averagem
better controlled, with more family and past psychiatric history available
for comparison.

Hensala et al. compared LSD-using and non-LSD-using psychiatric inpatients.
They found that this group of patients was generally of a younger age and
contained more characteristically disordered individuals than the non-
LSD-using group.  Patients with specific diagnoses with or without LSD
histories were not compared.  Based on their observations, they concluded
that LSD was basically just another drug of abuse in a population of
frequently hospitalized individuals in the San Francisco area, and that
it was unlikely that psychedelic use could be deemed etiological in the
development of their psychiatric disorders.

Roy, Breakey et al., and Vardy and Kay have attempted to relate LSD use to
the onset and revelopment of a schizophrenia-like syndrome.  A few comments
regarding this conceptual framework seem in order, before their findings
are discussed.  The major factor here is that of choosing schizophrenia,
or in the Vardy and Kay study, schizophreniform disorders, as the
comparison group.  There is an implication here that LSD psychoses are
comparable, phenomenologically, to schizophrenia-like disorders, and that
LSD can "cause" the development of such disorders.  The multiplicity of
symptoms and syndromes described in the "adverse reaction" literature
should make it clear that LSD can cause a number of reactions that can last
for any amount of time--from minutes to, possibly, years.  I believe what
is being studied here is the question of the potential role of LSD in
accelerating or precipitating the onset of an illness that was "programmed"
to develop ultimately in a particular individual--in a manner comparable
to the major physical or emotional stress that often precipitates a bona
fide myocardial infarction in an individual with advanced coronary
atheresclerosis.  The stress did not _cause_ the heart disease; it was
only the stimulus that accelerated the inexorable process to manifest
illness.

In looking at the relevant studies, Breakey et al. found that schizophrenics
who "used drugs" had an earlier onset of symptoms and hospitalization than
non-drug-using schizophrenics, and had possibly better premorbid personal-
ities than non-drug using patients (although Vardy and KAy have challenged
this analysis of Breakey's data).

Bowers compared 12 first-admission patients with psychosis related to LSD
use, requiring hospitalization and phenothiazines, to 26 patients hospital-
ized and treated with phenothiazines with no history of drug use.  Six
of these controls had been previously hospitalized.  Drug-induced psychotic
patients were found to have better premorbib histories and prognostic
indicators than the nondrug groups.  There was no difference in rates of
family history of psychiatric illness.  However, several issues flaw
this study.  One is the poly-drug abusing nature of the "LSD-induced"
psychotic patients, compared to the controls.  The role of LSD, therefore,
in causing or precipitating these symptomatic disorders, is open to dispute.
The other is the lack of an adequate comparison control group, i.e. the
controls were specified only as "psychotic," and did not necessarily
match the LSD group in either symptoms or diagnostic classification.
A follow-up study of the patients occured between 2 and 6 years later.
One half did well and one half did poorly, although the lack of a control
group for a follow-up in a similarly symptomatic control group makes
interpretation of the data difficult.

Roy, in a somewhat different design, compared chronic schizophrenic
patients (diagnosed according to DSM-III criteria) who had used LSD
within the week preceding hospitalization, and found no difference
in age of symptom onset or hospitalization compared to patients without
a history of illicit drug use.

Vardy and Kay, in an elegant study with a 3- and 5- year follow-up period,
demonstrated that patients hospitalized for a schizophrenic picture
that developed within two weeks of LSD use (patients with other diagnoses
were explicitly excluded form comparisons with non-drug-using
schizophrenics) were "fundamentally similar to schizophrenics in
geneology, phenomenology, and course of illness (165, p. 877).  Pre-
morbid adjustment, age of onset of symptoms and hospitalization, family
history of psychosis or suicide, and most cognitive features were also
equal between groups.  Family histories of alcohol abuse were markedly
great in the LSD group.

I believe these data, taken as a whole, limited as they are in terms of
comparing subgroups (i.e. LSD-using vs. non-LSD-using) of "schizophrenia-
like" disorders, point towar, at most, a possible precipitory role in
the development of these disorders, in a non specific and not
etiologically related manner.



MYTHS:

LSD does not form "crystals" that reside in the body to be "dislodged"
later, causing flashbacks.  LSD is a crystalline solid (though it is
unlikely that one would ever have enough to be visible to the naked
eye) but it is easily water soluble, thus cannot form bodily
deposits.  Furthermore, it is metabolized and excreted in hours.  The
bogus "loosened crystal" description in not necessary to explain
flashbacks, which are psychological phenomena (see FLASHBACKS).

LSD does not cause chromosome damage.

In Science 30 April 1972, Volume 172 Number 3982 p. 431-440 there was an
article by Norman I. Dishotsky, William D. Loughman, Robert E. Mogar and
Wendell R. Lipscomb titled "LSD and Genetic Damage - Is LSD chromosome
damaging, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic?". They reviewed 68
studies and case reports published 1967-1972, concluding "From our own
work and from a review of literature, we believe that pure LSD ingested
in moderate doses does not damage chromosomes in vivo, does not cause
detectable genetic damage, and is not a teratogen or carcinogen in man."

Well, there's the study by Sidney Cohen which was cited here
recently, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 130, 1960. The
following is from Jay Stevens' Storming Heaven: "Cohen surveyed a sample
of five thousand individuals who had taken LSD twenty-five thousand
times. He found and average of 1.8 psychotic episodes per thousand
ingestions, 1.2 attempted suicides, and 0.4 completed suicides.
'Considering the enormous scope of the psychic responses it induces,'
he concluded, 'LSD is an astonishingly safe drug.'"


Some urban legends: I've heard two "stories" about people blinding
themselves on "drugs". One was revealed as a hoax by the person who
perpetrated it (apparently it was intended to "illustrate" the dangers
of LSD), another is trotted out by anti-drug speakers at high schools:

1) Seven people on LSD stared at the sun and lost 90% of their reading
   vision.

2) A teenager arrested while on LSD plucked out his eyeballs in his
   jail cell, and felt no pain.

While these are bogus, the drug has powerful effects on the mind
and the consumer should be aware of the hazards, and act appropriately.

...............................

There is an occasionally circulated fake warning from some police department
about LSD-laced "tattoos" or stickers (the "blue star tattoo" story) being
given to children.  This probably originated with some hick cop or ignorant
and panicky parent not understanding some children-cartoon (eg, mickey mouse
in sorcerer's garb) printed on a sheet of blotter.

...............................

See also myths about testing in DRUG TESTING


******************************

DANGERS:

Purely psychological hazards, not harmful to body.  May release latent
psychosis or exacerbate depression, leading to irrational behavior.  There
is also a danger of foolish or incautious behavior, e.g, misjudging
distances or thinking one can fly.  Physical overdose is not a hazard,
though one may easily ingest more than one may be able to handle
psychologically.

...............................

Because the "LSD psychosis" is not distinguishable from non-drug-
induced psychosis, we have reasonable evidence to conclude that LSD
was not the sole cause of psychosis.  Instead, it would seem that the
drug brought on the problems in vulnerable individuals.
Interestingly, the rate of parental alcoholism was found to be much
higher in LSD patients than in other patients or in the general
population by one study (Vardy and Kay, Arch-Gen-Psych, 1983 40(8):
877-83).

...............................

Lethal (toxic) doses of LSD are conservatively several tens of
thousands of times as much as a normal dose, making it (in the toxic
sense) one of the safest drugs known.  See section on Pharmacology for
description of bodily  side-effects.

    The LD50 for psilocybin (active ingredient in mushrooms) is 275 mg/kg
i.v. in mice.  Of course, it would take lots more p.o. to kill someone.

    The reported LD50 values for LSD are 46, 16.5, 0.3 mg/kg I.V. for mice,
rats, and rabbits, respectively.  Again, it's hard to accurately translate
these numbers to oral values.

Note that an average human dose is 0.001 mg/kg, ie, 1 microgram/kg, ie,
1 part per billion by weight.

...............................

Never take any drugs while pregnant.  Best to be prudent.

******************************

FLASHBACKS:

   Quoted without permission from 'Licit and Illicit Drugs,' written by
Edward M. Brecher and the editors of Consumer Reports. ISBN: 0-316-15340-0

   A simple explanation of LSD flashbacks, and of their changed character
after 1967, is available.  According to this theory, almost everybody
suffers flashbacks with or without LSD.  Any intense emotional
experience--the death of a loved one, the moment of discovery that one is in
love, the moment of an automobile smashup or of a narrow escape from a
smashup--may subsequently and unexpectedly return vividly to consciousness
weeks or months later.  Since the LSD trip is often an intense emotional
experience, it is hardly surprising that it may similarly "flash back."

   <end quote>

"Post-traumatic stress disorder has been commonly associated with war
veterans, but it also affects victims of disasters and violence... Experts
estimate that 1% of the population suffers from the disorder."
---LA Times, Feb 18 1992, p A3, "Journey For Better Life Hell For Some Women."

...............................


   Can smoking marijuana induce a flashback?
   Also are you more likely to suffer flashbacks from having a bad trip?

Apparently yes and yes.  The following is reproduced without
permission from Lester Grinspoon and James B. Bakalar, "Psychedelic
Drugs Reconsidered," Basic Books, Inc.  New York, 1979. pp. 159-163.
I highly recommend this book, and if you find it please buy me one
too.

I typed this in a while ago and didn't type in the references at the
time (slap!).  If you want them i'll see what i can do.  Typos are
mine.

    -    -    -    -    -    -    -

    ... Studies of flashbacks are hard to evaluate because the
term has been used so loosely and variably.  On the broadest
definition, it means the transitory recurrence of emotions and
perceptions originally experienced while under the influence of a
psychedelic drug.  It can last seconds or hours; it can mimic any of
the myriad aspects of a trip; and it can be blissful, interesting,
annoying, or frightening.  Most flashbacks are episodes of visual
distortion, time distortion, physical symptoms, loss of ego
boundaries, or relived intense emotion lasting a few seconds to a few
minutes.  Ordinarily they are only slightly disturbing, especially
since the drug user usually recognizes them for what they are; they
may even be regarded lightheartedly as "free trips."  Occasionally
they last longer, and in a small minority of cases they turn into
repeated frightening images or thoughts.  They usually decrease
quickly in number and intensity with time, and rarely occur more than
a few months after the original trip.

    A typical minor and pleasant flashback is the following:

--

    ... Frequently afterward there is a momentary "opening"
("flash" would be too spastic a word) when for maybe a couple of
seconds an area one is looking at casually, and indeed unthinkingly,
suddenly takes on the intense vividness, composition, and significance
of things seen while in the psychedelic condition.  This "scene" is
nearly always a small field of vision -- sometimes a patch of grass, a
spray of twigs, even a piece of newspaper in the street or the remains
of a meal on a plate (Cohen 1970[1965], pp. 114-115)

--

    Here are two more troublesome examples:

--

    For about a week I couldn't walk through the lobby of A-entry
at the dorm without getting really scared, because of the goblin I saw
there when I was tripping. (Pope 1971, p. 93)

--

    A man in his late twenties came to the admitting office in a
state of panic.  Althought he had not taken any drug in approximately
2 moths he was beginning to re-experience some of the illusory
phenomena, perceptual distortions, and the feeling of union with the
things areound him that had previously occurred only under the
influence of LSD.  In addition, his wife had told him that he was
beginning to "talk crazy," and he had become frightened ... He was
concerned lest LSD have some permanent effect on him.  He wished
reassurance so that he could take it again.  His symptoms have
subsided but tend to reappear in anxiety-provoking situations.
(Frosch et al. 1965, p. 1237)

--

    Flashbacks are most likely to occur under emotional stress or
at a time of altered ego functioning; they are often induced by
conditions like fatigue, drunkenness, marihuana intoxication, and even
meditative states.  Falling asleep is one of those times of
consciousness change and diminished ego control; an increase in the
hypnagogic imagery common at the edge of sleep often follows
psychedelic drug use and can be regarded as a kind of flashback.
Dreams too may take on the vividness, intensity, and perceptual
peculiarities of drug trips; this spontaneous recurrence of
psychedelic experience in sleep (often very pleasant) has been called
the high dream (Tart 1972).  Marihuana smoking is probably the most
common single source of flashbacks.  Many people become more sensitive
to the psychedelic qualities of marihuana after using more powerful
drugs, and some have flashbacks only when smoking marihuana (Weil
1970).  In one study frequency of marihuana use was found to be the
only factor related to drugs that was correlated with number of
psychedelic flashbacks (Stanton et al. 1976).

    How common flashbacks are said to be depeds on how they are
defined.  By the broad definition we have been using, they occur very
often; probably a quarter or more of all psychedelic drug users have
experienced them.  A questionanaire survey of 2,256 soldiers (Stanton
and Bardoni 1972), leaving the definition to the respondents, revealed
that 23 percent of the men who used LSD had flashbacks.  In a 1972
survey of 235 LSD users, Murray P. Naditch and Sheridan Fenwick found
that 28 percent had flashbacks.  Eleven percent of this group (seven
men in all) called them very frightening, 32 percent called them
somewhat frightening, 36 percent called them pleasant, and 21 percent
called them very pleasant.  Sixty-four percent said that their
flashbacks did not disrupt their lives in any way; 16 percent (4
percent of the whole LSD-using group) had sought psychiatric help for
them (Naditch and Fenwick 1977).  In a study of 247 subjects who had
taken LSD in psychotherapy, William H. McGlothlin and David O. Arnold
found 36 cases of flashbacks, only one of which was seriously
disturbing (McGlothlin and Arnold 1971).  McGlothlin, defining
flashbacks narrowly for clinical purposes as "repeated intrusions of
frightening images in spite of volitional efforts to avoid them"
(McGlothlin 1974b, p. 291), estimates that 5 percent of habitual
psychedelic users have experienced them.

    There are few studies on the question of who is most
susceptible.  In 1974, R. E. Matefy and R. Krall compared psychedelic
drug users who had flashbacks with those who did not, and found no
significant differences in their biographies or on personality tests.
The main causes of flashbacks were stress and anxiety.  About 35
percent found them more or less pleasant, and the same proportion
thought they could control them.  Most accepted them as an inevitable
part of their lives as members of the psychedelic fraternity and did
not want help from psychiatry (Matefy and Krall 1974).  Naditch and
Fenwick found that the number of flashbacks, both pleasant and
unpleasant, was highly correlated with the number and intensity of bad
trips and the use of psychedelic drugs as self-prescribed
psychotherapy.  Those who enjoyed flashbacks and those who were
frightened by them did not differ significantly on tests of ego
functioning.

    A case seen in an outpatient setting in the late sixties
illustrates the kind of set and setting that may create flashback
problems.  PQ was a thirty-six-year-old single man who entered therapy
because of depression and anxiety.  He was a heavy drinker who was
passive, slovenly, and spent most of his time in bed.  Just before
taking to alcohol and his bed he had failed in an attempt to parlay a
gift from his wealthy father into a fortune on the stock market.
Despite a remarkable incapacity for insight, during a year in
psychotherapy he managed to give up alcohol and start a promising
business.  But his anxiety continued, and in order to allay it he had
to keep himself very busy wheeling and dealing.  Imitating his father,
a successful self-made man who had married a woman twenty years
younger than himself, PQ dated only women under the age of nineteen.
Being attractive to young women was so imporant to him that much of
his time was spent in the company of teenagers.  During business hours
he would wear a conservative three-piece suit and drive a new sedan,
but when he was with his young friends he would wear a leather jacket
and drive a motorcycle.  Anxiety and fears of inadequacy dominated
both of these lives.  Several months after therapy began, during a
weekend in a small resort town, his young friends decided to take LSD,
and he felt obliged to dissemble his fears and join them; it was his
first and only trip.  He felt a panic he had never known before; he
thought that he was losing his mind and going "out of control."  His
friends were so concerned thet they took him to a small hospital,
where he was given chlorpromazine and after six hours released in
their care.  The next day he had a flashback that lasted one or two
hours and was almost as frightening as the original experience.
Flashbacks continued for six months, their frequency, duration, and
severity eventually diminishing to the point where it was difficult
for him to determine whether they were related to the LSD trip or
merely an intensification of his usual anxiety.  In fact, the patient
described the flashbacks as being like very much enhanced anxiety
episodes.  Even several years after this experience, when he became
very anxious, he was reminded of the trip and these flashbacks.  He
denied that these experiences had any perceptual or cognitive aspect;
both during the LSD trip and later, the only symptom was panic.  There
is no question that the nature of his trip was influenced by the
unfortunate set and setting.  It is a matter of speculation what part
his underlying chronic anxiety played in the development and form of
the flashback phenomena.

    Several explanations for flashbacks have been proposed.  One
is that the drug has lowered the threshold for imagery and fantasy and
made them less subject to voluntary control; in another version of
this explanation, flashbacks are caused by a heightened attention to
certain aspects of immediate sensory experience suggested by drug
trips and reinforced by the community of drug users.  Something more
seems to be needed to account for repeated fearful relivings of
sequences from past drug trips, and these have been explained as
similar to traumatic neuroses precipitated by fright: disturbing
unconscious material has risen to consciousness during the drug trip
and can be neither accepted nor repressed.  For example, D. F. Saidel
and R. Babineau (1976) have reported a case of recurrent flashbacks --
three years of blurring images and auditory distortions, with some
anxiety and confusion -- which they regard as a neurosis founded on
the patient's problems with his career and his relationship to his
mother. (See also Horowitz 1969; Shick and Smith 1970; Heaton 1975.)
Another explanation treats the flashback as an example of recall
associated with a particular level of arousal. (Fischer 1971).  In
this conception the memory of an experience is best retrieved when the
rate of mental data-processing is the same as it was during the
original experience -- in other words, when the state of consciousness
in similar.  Therefore, psychedelic experiences are likely to be
recalled and relived when the ego's sorting and control of sensory
information is disturbed by drugs, stress, or the state of half-sleep.

    For a critique of flashback studies, see Stanton et al. 1976

    -    -    -    -    -    -    -








******************************

INSOMNIA:

Insomnia occurs frequently after the trip.  A mild, over-the-counter
sleeping aid can help, and these antihistamines do not produce adverse
interactions.  Also, some people like to consume a small amount of alcoholic
beverage to "smooth the jitteries".  The usual precautions about sleeping
aids if alcohol has been consumed apply of course.


******************************

TOLERANCE:

Aquired rapidly, within 3 days.  Tolerance dissipates equally rapidly,
without withdrawal, craving, or symptoms of addiction.

Cross-tolerance can and is developed between other indole hallucinogens, eg,
DMT, LSD and Psilocybin.

******************************

BOTANY:

Lysergic compounds appear in ergot, a fungal parasite of cereal grains;
morning glory and hawaiian baby wood rose seeds; psychedelic tryptamines
also occur in psilocybe mushrooms, in some south american trees and the
poison glands of the cane toad.  (Mescaline is not in this chemical family).

...............................



"Indole Alkaloids In Plant Hallucinogens"  Richard Evans Schultes, PhD.
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol.8(No.1) Jan-Mar 1976

"The main constituent of the seeds of Rivea corymbosa is ergine or d-lysergic
acid amide. Minor alkaloids present are the related d-isolysergic acid amide
(isoergine), chanoclavine, elymoclavine and lysergol. The seeds of Ipomoea
violacea have a similar composition, but instead of lysergol, they have
ergometrine (ergonovine). Later, very minor amounts of two alkaloids
ergometrinine and penniclavine - were found in I. violacea by chromatography.
the total alkaloid content of the seeds of Ipomoea viloacea is approximately
five times as great as that of the seeds of Rivea corymbosa: 0.06% in the
former; 0.012% in the latter. This difference in the alkaloid content
explains why Indians employ smaller doses of seeds of the Ipomoea than of the
Rivea.

"Ethnopharmacology and Taxonomy of Mexican Psychodysleptic Plants"
 Jose Luis Diaz M.D.
 Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol. 11(1-2) Jan-Jun 1979

Seeds of various Morning Glories contain
 Ergolines:  ergine,isoergine,ergonovine
 Glucosides: turbicoryn [apparently in Rivea corymbosa only]

called Tlitlitzen (Aztec word for "The Divine Black One")
to the Aztecs, Black is a "hot" color,
a property of psychotropics associated with light

...............................

"The Botanical and Chemical Distribution of Hallucinogens"
Richard Evans Schultes, PhD.
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol.9(No.3) Jul-Sep 1977

"I. violacea, often referred to by it's synonyms I. rubro-caerulea and
I. tricolor, is represented in horticulture by a number of "varieties,"
such as: Heavenly Blue, Pearly Gates, Flying Saucers, Wedding Bells,
Summer Skies, and Blue Stars - all of which contain the hallucinogenic
ergot alkaloids."

>In the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 1980, there is an article
>on an ergot derivative used in obstetrics which is an hallucinogen.
>Although the dose required is ten times the ED50 (.2 mg) no
>significant ill effects were reported.
>I believe the name of this drug is methyl ergovine(?)  The drug
>without the methyl group is supposed to be more effective.  It
>was (is?) a Sandoz drug, for those with a PDR.

Ergonovine and methylergonovine are both oxytocic agents: they increase
uterine tone and are used (rarely) to assist in delivery and (more
frequently) to stop post-partum uterine hemorrhage.  Less frequently,
they can be used to abort a migraine headache.  If they have any
hallucinogenic effects, it is certainly a well-kept secret.

I would be quite concerned about taking 10x the therapeutic dose
of a drug like ergonovine, since it can cause arterial spasm and
precordial distress even in healthy persons, and intense vaso-
constriction and gangrene can follow from an overdose.  These
are not drugs to fool around with.

Another related drug, 1-methyl-methylergonovine, or methysergide
(Sansert), is used in migraine prophylaxis, and is claimed to have
LSD-like actions when high doses are taken.  The methyl group on
the indole nitrogen reduces the drug's vasoconstrictive actions.
Chronic, uninterrupted use of the drug causes a fibrosis of the
heart valves and the lungs.


...............................

"Burger's Medicinal Chemistry" Fourth Edition, Volume III
Chapter: "Hallucinogens"  Alexander Shulgin

                  Composition, % of total alkaloids present
                  =========================================
Compound          R. corymbosa       I. violacea
===============   ================   ======================
Ergine (LA-111)   54, 48             58, 10-16, 5-10
Isoergine         17, 35             8, 18-26, 9-17
Ergometrine                          8
Elymoclavine      4                  4
Chanoclavine      4                  4
Lysergol          4

Total Alkaloids   .012, .04          .06, .04-.08, .02-.04
(% of dry weight
 of seeds)



******************************

ANTHROPOLOGY:


_The Road to Eleusius_ by Hoffman, Wasson, and Ruck.

Summary: A secret religion existed for 2,000 years in Greece (until
the christians displaced it around 400 AD).  The initiation was open
to anyone who spoke Greek and hadn't committed murder, once in their
life.  After 6 month long preparatory rituals, members walked to
Eleusius whereupon they underwent secret rituals.  The rituals
remained secret until the 1970's.

Wasson, an ethnomycological scholar and former banker (and the first
white to trip on shrooms with the mexican indians) proposed the
following explanation of the Eleusian mysteries to Hoffman, an
ergot-alkaloid expert chemist, and Ruck, a greek scholar:

The Secret of the ritual involved the personal visions induced by
drinking the grain decoction administered to the initiates.  The
domestication of grains permitted the development of greek
civilization; it also brought ergot fungus (of St. Anthony's fire
infamy).

The thin book contains their argument for the use of the ergot fungus
in Eleusian rites, Wasson providing some background on the use of
mushrooms and grains and their role in the culture; Hoffman on the
psychoactivity of ergot strains; and Ruck on the mythological and
cultural backround of the sect.

Evidence includes: Hoffman dosed himself with large (ergot-derived)
doses of obstetric compounds to assay their hallucinogenic potential,
and found them to possess such activity.  The Eleusian temple site still
remains, but there is no room to view theatric performances, just rows of
tripping initiates, further supporting their argument.

An interesting read, and its neat to think that the culture that
more or less lead to the western industrial one had psychedelic rites.
(Various greek prominant figures attended the rituals, including Plato).

...............................


IPOMOEA PURPUREA: A NATURALLY OCCURRING PSYCHEDELIC

Charles Savage, Willis W. Harman and James Fadiman

>From  "Altered States of Consciousness, A Book of Readings"
       edited by Charles Tart   BF311.T28

Of the naturally occurring plant alkaloids used in ancient and modern
religious rites and divination one of the least studied is ololiuqui. The
earliest known description of its use is by Hernandez, the King of Spain's
personal physician, who spent a number of years in Mexico studying the
medicinal plants of the Indians and "accurately illustrated ololiuqui as a
morning glory in his work which was not published until 1651" (Schultes,
1960). In his words, "When a person takes ololiuqui, in a short time he loses
clear reasoning because of the strength of the seed, and he believes he is in
communion with the devil" (Alacon, 1945). Schultes (1941) and Wasson (1961)
have reported in detail on the religious and divinatory use of two kinds of
morning-glory seeds, Rivea corymbosa and Ipomoea violacea, among the Mazatec
and Zapotec indians. The first of these is assumed to be the ololiuqui of the
ancient Aztecs.

In 1955 Osmond described personal experiments with Rivea corymbosa seeds and
reported that the effects were similar to those of d-lysergic acid
diethylamide (LSD-25). He suggested (1957) that the word psychedelic (meaning
mind-manifesting) be used as a generic term for this class of substances to
refer to their consciousness-expanding and psychotherapeutic function as
contrasted  with the hallucinogenic aspect. In 1960 Hoffman reported that he
had isolated d-lysergic acid amide (LA) and d-isolysergic acid amide from the
seed of both Rivea corymbosa and Ipomoea violacea. LA is very similar to LSD
in its psychological and physiological manifestations but is reported to have
about one twentieth the psychological effectiveness of LSD (Cerletti &
Doepfner, 1958).

The work of these investigators led us to a preliminary study of the
psychedelic properties of species of Ipomoea which are commonly found within
the continental United States. The seeds of Ipomoea purpurea, the common
climbing morning glory, resemble the seeds of Ipomoea violacea and have been
found to have similar psychedelic properties. Recent analysis by Taber et al.
(1963) has verified that LA is present in the varieties used and is probably
the primary active agent.

The effects of the seeds of Ipomoea purpurea (varieties Heavenly Blue and
Pearly Gates) in a total of 45 cases are summarized below. The subjects are
all normally functioning adults and the majority had previous experience with
LSD. The onset of effects is about half an hour after the seeds have been
chewed and swallowed and they last from five to eight hours.


               Low Dose, 20-50 Seeds (11 Subjects)

This dosage rarely produces any visual distortions, although with eyes
closed there may be beginning imagery. Restlessness, evidenced by alternating
periods of pacing about and lying down, may be present. There tends to be a
heightened awareness of objects and of nature, and enhanced rapport with
other persons. A feeling of emotional clarity and of relaxation is likely to
persist for several hours after other effects are no longer noticeable.

              Medium Dose, 100-150 Seeds (22 Subjects)

In this range the effects resemble those reported for medium-dose (75-150
micrograms) LSD experiences, including spatial distortions, visual and
auditory hallucinations, intense imagery with eyes closed, synaesthesia and
mood elevation. These effects, which occur mainly during the period of 1 to 4
hours after ingestion, are typically followed by a period of alert calmness
which may last until the subject goes to sleep.

              High Dose, 200-500 Seeds (12 Subjects)

In this range the first few hours may resemble the medium-dose effects
described above. However, there is usually a period during which the
subjective states are of a sort not describable in terms of images or
distortions, states characterized by loss of ego boundaries coupled with
feelings of euphoria and philosophical insight. These seem to parallel the
published descriptions of experiences with high doses (200-500 micrograms) of
LSD given in a supportive, therapeutic setting as reported by Sherwood et al.
(1962).

All the subjects who had previous experience with LSD claimed the effects of
the seeds were similar to those of LSD. Transient nausea was the most
commonly reported side effect, beginning about one half hour after ingestion
and lasting a few minutes to several hours. Other reported side effects not
commonly found with LSD were a drowsiness or torpor (possibly due to a
glucoside also present in the seeds) and a coldness in the extremities
suggesting that the ergine content of the seeds may be causing some vascular
constriction. (If this is the case, there may be some danger of ergot
poisoning resulting from excessive dosages of the seeds.) The only untoward
psychic effect was a prolonged (eight hours) disassociative reaction which
was terminate with chlorpromazine [Thorazine]. The possibility of prolonged
adverse reactions to the psychological effects of the seeds is essentially
the same as with LSD, and the same precautions should be observed (Cohen &
Ditman, 1963).

...............................

IPOMOEA.003   7-MAY-90

Additional Notes:
Ipomoea purpurea is sold as the "Heavenly Blue" variety of morning glory.
"Ipomoea tricolor" is the trade name used for that variety. It is identical
with the species of morning glory described above.

The seeds must be chewed or ground in order to be effective. Soaking the
ground seeds in water for several hours, filtering out the grounds,
and then drinking only the water portion of the mixture can reduce
some of the stomach-upset symptoms if such occur.

Unpleasant LSD and morning glory trips can be smoothed out or even
stopped by taking niacin (in the form of nicotinic acid, vitamin B-3 or
"niacin"). Vitamin C has been shown to reduce the incidence of paranoia and
prevent depletion of the vitamin from the adrenal glands during LSD trips.

There have been reports that commercially available packets of morning
glory seeds from some distributors are coated with fungicides or
other chemicals to increase shelf life or discourage the practice
of eating them. Seeds from plants grown in one's own garden will
be safe as long as you do not spray them with insecticides.

The last few notes about Niacin and Vitamin C are based on
a paperback edition of Hoffer & Osmonds "The Psychedelics"

It's pretty clear that the latin names of this plant are somewhat
confused (which is typical). Ipomoea purpurea, Ipomoea tricolor,
Ipomoea violacea and Ipomoea rubro-caerulea are all the same plant.

The other variety of morning glory, "Ololiuhqui" has at least two
Latin names as well: Rivea corymbosa, and Turbina corymbosa.

...............................

"Recreational use of Ergoline Alkaloids from Argyreia Nervosa"
William E. Shawcross
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol. 15(4) Oct-Dec 1983

CHEMISTRY AND EFFECT OF THE SEEDS
The Hawaiian baby woodrose entered the drug scene in 1965 with the
publication of a paper in "Science" entitled "Ergoline Alkaloids in Tropical
Wood Roses" by Hylin and Watson. The wide circulation of this journal assured
thorough dissemination of the information they presented. They wrote, "The
possible health and legal problems associated with the presence of similar
compounds in commercially cultivated plants led us to examine the ornamental
wood roses, Ipomoea tuberosa and Argyreia nervosa, both common Hawaiian crops
that have assumed commerical importance as components of [the] dried tropical
flower industry." Comparing the seeds of these two plants with those of the
morning glory varieties Pearly Gates and Heavenly Blue, they found the
following yield of alkaloids (mg of alkaloid/g of seed material):

     Heavenly Blue        0.813
     Pearly Gates         0.423
     I. tuberosa          [None]
     A. nervosa           3.050

The seed of A. nervosa is the best plant source of ergoline alkaloids
discovered; it contains approximately 3 mg of alkaloidal material per gram of
seed. Approximately one-eighth of this is lysergamide.

Hylin and Watson found the major alkaloidal constituents in A. nervosa seeds to
be ergine (780 mcg/g of fresh seed) and isoergine and penniclavine (555 mcg).

[Note: Argyreia nervosa has NO history of shamanic use as a hallucinogen]

This is an excerpt from the article cited.
There's no record of Argyreia being used as an hallucinogen in
India, but it was used externally as some kind of skin medicine.
There's been speculation that Argyreia might have been a component
of "Soma", but there's no evidence for that, apparently.
Because there's not a long history of human usage of Argyreia,
it may be that there are glycosides not mentioned here that
take effect at higher doses or might cause stomach upset, tachycardia
etc. The article mentioned intestinal complaints in one or two
cases at higher experimental doses.






******************************

CHEMISTRY:

lysergic acid diethylamide _is_ lysergic acid diethylamide (or...
N,N-diethyl-D-lysergamide or...
9,10-Didehydo-N,N-diethyl-6-methylergoline-8B-carboxamide).

Only one stereoisomer (the d-) is psychoactive.  Thus, racemic (l/d 50-50 mix)
lsd shows half the potency of the dextro form.  In synthesis it is possible
to recover the l-form for the lysergic acid.

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is LSD rather than LAD because the German word
for acid is saeure (sp).

    LSD-25                Lysergic acid

        O      CH2-CH3                  O
       ||     /                        ||
       ||    /                         ||
        -C--N                           C---OH
        |    \                          |
        |     \                         |
        |___   CH2-CH3                  |___
       /    \                          /    \
      /      \                        /      \
    <<        N---CH3               <<        N---CH3
     \\      /                       \\      /
      \\____/                         \\____/
      /     \                         /     \
     /       \                       /       \
    <         >                     <         >
  // \       /                    // \       /
 //   \_____/                    //   \_____/
 |    ||   ||                    |    ||   ||
 |    ||   ||                    |    ||   ||
 |    ||   ||                    |    ||   ||
 \\   /\   /                     \\   /\   /
  \\ /  \ /                       \\ /  \ /
         N                               N
         H                               H

Ergot is a product of the fungus Claviceps purpurea.  The bio-active
ingredients of ergot are all derivatives of lysergic acid.  LSD is a
semisynthetic derivative of lysergic acid.  Thus LSD is an
"ergot"-like substance.

******************************


MECHANISM OF ACTION:

(Note: the mechanism of action of LSD and other psychedelics is uncertain.)

From a chapter titled Hallucinogens and Other Psychotomimetics: Biological
Mechanisms by S.J.Watson

"The current thesis of the effect of indole hallucinogens on
5-hydroxytrypamine might be stated as follows: LSD acts to preferentially
inhibit serotonergic cell firing and seems to spare postsynaptic serotnergic
receptors.  This preference is shared by other simillar hallucinogens but in
a limited fashion.  Nonhallucinogenic analogs of LSD show no preference.
These results suggest that there are two different steric conformation of
serotonergic receptors, one of which has higher affinity for LSD than the
other.  In general, 5-ht is an inhibitory transmitter; thus, when its
activity is decreased, the next neuron in the chain is freed from inhibition
and becomes more active.  Since serotnergic systems appear to be intimately
involved int eh control of sensation, sleep, attention, and mood, it may be
possible to explain the actions of LSD and other hallucinogens by their
disinhibition of these critical systems.

There is also evidence for interaction with dopaminergic systems.

...............................

LSD acts as a 5HT autoreceptor agonist in the raphe nucleus.  These
autoreceptors are typically considered to be 5HT1As.  It also acts as a 5HT2
agonist, which is thought to be the main site of hallucinogenic activity.
It's probably best called a a mixed 5HT2/5HT1 receptor partial agonist.

I don't know of its effects on dopamine.  Wouldn't be surprised if it has
'em; the systems aren't really functionally separable.  The DA effects
wouldn't be necessary for hallucinogenic activity, I'd bet.

...............................

(From Snyder, "Drugs and the Brain", 1986, Sci Am Books Inc., Reprinted w/o
permission, blah, blah, blah... )

  In more recent studies, Aghajanian has focuses not on the serotonin neu-
rons of the raphe nuclei but on the norepinephrine neurons of the locus
coeruleus. As we saw in Chapter 6, the locus coeruleus cell bodies give rise to
axons that ramify all over the brain and provide the majority of the norepi-
nephrine neuronal input in most brain regions. Amphetamine releases norepi-
nephrine from these nerve terminals by diplacing the norepinephrine from the
neurotransmitter storage vesicles. Presumably, the overall influence of amphet-
amine on brain function is therefore somewhat different than what occurs
when the locus coeruleus fires rapidly.  The amphetamine-induced seepage of
norepinephrine out of nerve terminals probably elicts a milder type of activa-
tion than does the repetitive and presumably more robust ejection of norepi-
nephrine that occurs with rapid firing of the locus coeruleus. Drug-induced
changes in animal behavior support this conceptual model.  Amphetamine elic-
its behavioral activation, represented by the rats or mice running about the
cage. In contrast, electrical stimulation of the locus coeruleus produces a more
dramatic startle response. It is difficult to observe a rat and make inferences
about what the animal is feeling, but rats in whom the locus coeruleus has been
stimulated seem to go into a state of panic. They stare about, hyper-responsive
to all stimuli in the enviornment, whether visual, auditory, or tactile.
  Rats show the same hyper-responsiveness to environmental-stimuli--
jumping abruptly at the sound of fingers snapping or in response to a puff of
air in the face--when they have been treated with a psychedelic drug.  And as
you will recall, hyper-responsiveness to sensory stimuli of all modalities is
just what one observes in humans under the influence of psychedelic drugs.  At-
tracted by the similarity between the behavior of rats on LSD and their reac-
tion to stimulation of the locus coeruleus, Aghajanian embarked in 1980 upon
a series of studies to evaluate how psychedelic drugs affect the locus
coeruleus. He showed that any kind of sensory stimulation--sight, sound, smell,
taste, or tactile sensation--speeds up the firing of locus coeruleus neurons in
rats, and that the accelerated firing is greatly enhanced by treating the
animals with LSD or mescaline.  In contrast, nonpsychedelic drugs, such as
amphetamines and antidepressants, fail to exert this effect.  Moreover, the LSD
analogue methysergide, which has no psychedelic effects in humans, is
correspondingly ineffective in enhancing the reactivity of locus coeruleus
neurons to sensory stimulation.
  Although psychedelic drugs increase the response of locus coeruleus cells to
sensory stimulation, they do not cause the neurons to fire spontaneously in the
absence of such stimulation.  Moreover, directly applying LSD or mescaline to
locus coeruleus neurons does not enhance the neurons' reponse to sensory
stimulation. We must therefore conclude that the effect of psychedelic drugs on
sensory stimulation is indirect--the drugs presumably interact with a different
set of neurons that in turn make direct contact with the locus coeruleus.
  What is particularly fascinating about Aghajanian's findings is how nicely
they correspond to what we know about the effects of psychedelic drugs in
humans, and how readily they explain the way psychedelic drugs accentuate all
our sensory perceptions. The locus coeruleus is a funneling mechanism that
integrates all sensory input. Viewed in this way, the observations of
Aghajanian can explain synesthesia. If the locus coeruleus lumps all types of
sensory messages--from sights, sounds, tactile pressures, smells, tastes--into
a generalized excitation system within the brain, one can readily appreciate
that stimulation of the locus coeruleus will cause the drug user to feel that
sensations are crossing the boundaries between different modalities.
  Aghajanian's research may also illuminate how LSD influences the user's
sence of self. The greatly accelerated firing of the locus coeruleus presumably
provokes a powerful, patterned release of norepinephrine from nerve terminals
throughout the brain. As we discussed earlier, the consequent alerting action
would be much more pronounced than what occurs with the far more gradual
leaking out of norepinephrine produced when amphetamine displaces the
transmitter from the storage vesicles. This extremely enhanced level of alert-
ness might possibly account for the "transendent" mental state produced by
psychedelic drugs. In other words, in a state of such heightened awareness, the
drug user may become conscious of an "inner self" to which he or she is
normally oblivious.

Did that answer any of your questions?  Probably not, but I thought it was
interesting.

P.S. Snyder has tripped before =)

...............................

>"If there's no documentation, you can't tell bugs from features." ---C.P.

...............................


>>Lysergic-acid diethylamide >> >>When ingested into the human body, LSD act
as 5-HT (Serotonin) autoreceptor >>inhibitor, thus it is a 5-HT agonist.
LSD increases the level of active 5-HT >>molecules by disaffecting their
autoreceptors (a safeguard type feature in the >>brain which reduces levels
of certain neurotransmitter and the like).

That "thus" in the first sentence should be an "and."  I'm not certain
what "disaffecting" should be (autoreceptors' only true loyalty is
to the laws of chemistry & physics) for the second sentence to be
true.

The autoreceptors in question are 5-HT1As.  5-HT2s, which are not
autoreceptors and which hallucinogens agonize, seem to be the more
important ones for hallucinogenic activity. Hallucinogens need not
affect 1As directly (some definitely don't).  However, 5-HT2 receptor
activation seems to facilitate presynaptic 1A function (such that,
for example, hallucinogen use produces rapid 5-HT2 downregulation
which, in turn, decreases 5-HT1A function).  So hallucinogens would
inhibit autorecetpor activity, but not necessarily directly.

>LSD also has effects on 5-HT1C receptors, and its not entirely sure what the
>specific receptor mechanism is -- there's also the question of why the
>psychological effects seem to last much longer than the presence of the LSD
>molecule.  One thing that is fairly sure is that LSD shuts down the firing of
>the seratonin neurons in the raphe, though.

It is difficult to separate 1Cs from 2s because of their great similarity.
However, hallucinogens seem to be all 2 & 1C agonists.  Molecules which (like
LSD) are partial 2 agonists, and which (unlike LSD) are 1c antagonists
are not hallucinogenic.

I believe that the effects of DOI (and probably LSD) on firing in the
raphe nucleus are not blocked by 5-HT2 antagonists (like ketanserin),
implying that these effects are not mediated by 5-HT2 receptors.
Oddly enough, ritanserin (which antagonizes 2 and 1C) doesn't block
'em either.  That's kind of mysterious to me.

>  5-HT has been implicated in
>>certain behaviors, notably dreaming and sleep, which explains the hallucinatory
>>effect.  We are in effect dreaming while completely awake and aware.

>Actually, a better explanation is the increased firing of the locus coereleus
>by its disinhibition due to the neurons in the raphe slowing down (since you
>are inhibiting an inhibitory neuron the result is excitation...).  The l.c.
>has been associated with being a "sensory highway" in the brain, and has also
>been associated with feelings of anxiety, and theorized that its invovled
>with depression.  My guess is that the hallucinations and stimulatory effects
>of LSD come from potentiating the l.c., while the effect on the 5-HT neurons
>in the raphe is responsible for its entheogenic effect on the mind.

This isn't the full story since this decrease in firing (in the raphe) is still
produced by hallucinogens even after chronic treatment with hallucinogens.
Since tolerance does develop to hallucinogens, we would have
expected to see it in the firing.  Of course, rate of firing and amount
of 5-HT released _are_ two different things.  Besides, tolerance may
occur via another route.





******************************

RELATED COMPOUNDS:



Related compounds are the indole hallucinogens including DMT
(dimethyl-tryptamine), DET (diethyl-), etc.; psilocybin; lysergic acid.  DMT
is very fast acting, lasting less than an hour.  Psilocybin, found in
hallucinogenic (aka magic or mexican) mushrooms, has effects similar to LSD
but they work for approximately half the duration.  These are all indole
derivatives like the neurotransmitter serotonin, 5-hydroxy-tryptamine.
"Indole" is the name of the 6-carbon ring attached to the 5-ring containing
a nitrogen. The lysergic acid molecule contains an indole structure plus
additional rings.

LSD's two ethyl groups hanging off the amine may be replaced with
other carbon chains for compounds with different durations, potencies,
and effects.

While LSD is semi-synthetic, DMT and psilocybin are found in nature.
See the sections on BOTANY and ANTHROPOLOGY for info on related
natural (plant) compounds and their uses.

...............................

   1) DMT, DET, psylocin, psylocybin, : The mushroom psylocybin cubensis
contains all four of these indole derivatives, as well as others. DMT is
dimethyltryptamine, an indole derivative which has functionalized at the 3
position with the dimethyl ethylamine group.  It is a close relative to the
amino acid, tryptophan, which until recently was available in bulk at
vitamin shops, until some jerk poisoned himself by taking a wonga dose of
it. [Actually it may have been a single toxic batch mistakenly produced in
Japan.] A prep came out in 1984 for LSD using l--tryptophan as the
precursor, so this may have facilitated the government's pullin it from the
shelves. I can't find tryptophan anywhere, now, and I've tried, bud.
     DMT, and it's brother DET (diethyltryptamine), have no oral activity,
so have to be smoked. They stink like fish oil when lit, though. Both have
hallucinogenic effects within 2-3 minutes of toking, wand while DMT lasts
for only a half hour, DET is a smoother, more euphoric high, lasting twice
as long. DET has effects similar to psylocybin.
     Psylocybin is DMT which has a functional group, phosphoryloxy-, at the
4 position on the indole ring. This group is immediately converted to
hydroxyl- as soon as the stuff hits your stomach to give the cousin,
psylocin. In preparing the drug, then, it is not necessary to proceed beyond
the psylocin.
     DMT and DET are easily derived from many indole derivatives, the
easiest of which is indole-3-acetic acid. I've done this reaction and it
stinks to high heaven of indole gunge, skatoles (methylindoles), and
indenes. Bad news if you want to make it at home, because the stench is
pervasive. Other derivatives, using phenyl or butyl groups have been
reported as having oral activity, so it is not necessary to smoke the stuff.
Doses run at about a hundred mgs for smoked drug, while psylocin is orally
active at about 5 mgs.
     For a good reference work on these compounds, their preps, and effects,
see Michael Valentine Smith's "Psychedelic Chemistry," publisher unknown.


                                   Your Friendly Neighborhood Chemical
                                                Dude,
                                   St. Theo


...............................

             DMT
                                CH
                              /   3
        // \\---  --- CH CH N
        || ||   ||      2  2  \
        \\ //\ /                CH
              N                   3
              H



 When DMT is smoked or injected, effects begin in seconds, reach a peak in
five to twenty minutes and end after a half hour or so. This has earned it the
name "businessman's trip." The brevity of the experience make its intensity
bearable, and, for some, desirable.

 At least two synthetic drugs in which the methyl group of DMT is replaced by
a higher radical are psychedelic:

              /\       (CH2)2-N(C2H5)2     /\      (CH2)2-N(CH2CH2CH2)2
             // \ ____/                   // \ ____/
            |   ||   ||                  |   ||   ||
            |   ||   ||                  |   ||   ||
             \\ /\   /                    \\ /\   /
              \/  \N/                      \/  \N/
                   H                            H

        N,N-diethyltryptamine          N,N-dipropyltryptamine

 The drug DET is active at the same dose as DMT and the effects last slightly
longer, about one and a half to two hours. DPT is longer-acting still and has
fewer autonomic side effects. In therapeutic experiments its action continues
for one and a half to two hours at the lowest effective dose, 15 to 30mg, and
for four to six hours at doses in the range of 60 to 150mg. Both DET and DPT
are milder than DMT. The drug 6-FDET (6-fluorodiethyltryptamine) resembles DET
in its effects. All these drugs, like DMT, are inactive orally and must be
smoked or injected. Dibutyltryptamine (DBT) and higher substitutions are
inert, but other synthetic drugs related to DMT may be psychoactive.


...............................



From the Merck Medical Manual, 16th edition, page 2652:

"Serotonin (5-HT) is the neurotransmitter of many central neruons (eg raphe
nucleus).  ITs synthesis begins with the uptake of tryptophan into
serotonergic neurons.  Tryptophan is hydroxylated by the enzyme
tryptophan hydroxylase to 5-hydroxytryptophan and then decarboxylated
to serotontin (5-hydroxytryptamine) by the enzyme aromatic L-amino
acid decarboxylase.  Levels of 5-HT are controlled by the uptake
of tryptophan and intraneuronal MAO.  Metabolism occurs mainly via
MAO to 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid."

The Merck also states that tyrosine is the precursor of norepinephrine,
acetylcholine's precursor is choline, tyrosine is the precursor of
dopamine, GABA is made from glutamic acid.


...............................



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++


DMT FAQ (Draft, inserted into LSD FAQ)
8 Aug 94



DMT, DiMethylTryptamine, or 3-(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl)-indole is a chemical
in the same class of drugs as Psilocybin and LSD.  Structurally related to
serotonin, their effects on the body are similar and cross-tolerance can and
is developed between DMT, LSD and Psilocybin.

DMT is not absorbed into the blood stream when taken orally and therefore is
usually inhaled as a powder or smoked.






 A little drivel from your neighborhood chemist regarding some
questions recently asked. If I'm erroneous in anything I spout,
let me know. Thanks.
   1) DMT, DET, psylocin, psylocybin, : The mushroom psylocybin
cubensis contains all four of these indole derivatives, as well as
others. DMT is dimethyltryptamine, an indole derivative which has
functionalized at the 3 position with the dimethyl ethylamine group.
It is a close relative to the amino acid, tryptophan, which until
recently was available in bulk at vitamin shops, until some jerk
poisoned himself by taking a wonga dose of it. A prep came out in
1984 for LSD using l--tryptophan as the precursor, so this may have
facilitated the government's pullin it from the shelves. I can't find
tryptophan anywhere, now, and I've tried, bud.
     DMT, and it's brother DET (diethyltryptamine), have no oral
activity, so have to be smoked. They stink like fish oil when
lit, though. Both have hallucinogenic effects within 2-3 minutes of
toking, wand while DMT lasts for only a half hour, DET is a smoother,
more euphoric high, lasting twice as long. DET has effects similar
to psylocybin.
     Psylocybin is DMT which has a functional group, phosphoryloxy-,
at the 4 position on the indole ring. This group is immediately converted
to hydroxyl- as soon as the stuff hits your stomache to give the
cousin, psylocin. In preparing the drug, then, it is not necessary
to proceed beyond the psylocin.
     DMT and DET are easily derived from many indole derivatives, the
easiest of which is indole-3-acetic acid. I've done this reaction and it
stinks to high heaven of indole gunge, skatoles (methylindoles), and
indenes. Bad news if you want to make it at home, because the stench is
pervasive. Other derivatives, using phenyl or butyl groups have been
reported as having oral activity, so it is not necessary to smoke the
stuff. Doses run at about a hundred mgs for smoked drug, while psylocin
is orally active at about 5 mgs.
     For a good reference work on these compounds, their preps, and
effects, see Michael Valentine Smith's "Psychedelic Chemistry," publisher
unknown.

                                   Your Friendly Neighborhood Chemical
                                                Dude,
                                   St. Theo


...............................


existing literature on each drug (some would have hundreds of references and
some perhaps two), the facts that are known concerning history, human
pharmacology and human psychopharmacology will be amalgamated into a
"profile." The drugs to be presented will be chosen randomly, rather than with
preference given to popularity, unusual potency, or current availability.
Botanical mixtures will not be considered as such, but as their known active
compnents. As there are upwards of a hundred psychedelic drugs currently
known, it is expected that these "profiles" will eventually form an extensive
reference atlas of compactly prsented drug information.

                               1. DMT

Description and properties:

 DMT, N,N-diemethyltryptamine, Nigerine, desoxybufotenine,
3-(2-dimethylaminoethyl)-indole is a white, pungent-smelling, crystalline
solid with a melting point of 49-50 degrees Celsius, hydrochloride salt
hygroscopic, picrate m.p. 171-172 degrees Celsius and methiodide m.p. 215-216
degrees Celsius. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in organic solvents and
aqueous acids.

History:

 DMT was first synthesized  in 1931, and demonstrated to be hallucinogenic in
1956. It has been shown to be present in many plant genera (Acacia,
Anandenanthera, Mimosa, Piptadenia, Virola) and is a major component of
several hallucinogenic snuffs (cohoba, parica, yopo). It is also present in
the intoxicating beverage "ayahuasca" made from Banisteriopsis caapi, and it
may have oral effectiveness due to the presence of several naturally occuring
inhibitors of catabolic deamination.

Human Biochemistry and Pharmacology:

 Both the parent compound tryptamine and the N-methyltransferase system which
is capable of converting it to DMT, occur in humans, but there is as yet no
evidence that DMT is formed "in vivo". DMT has nonetheless been identified in
trace amounts in the blood and urine of both normals and of schizophrenic
patients, but its origins and functions are unknown. Following intramuscular
administration, maximum blood levels of about 100 ng/ml are observed in 10
minutes, coincident with the maximum changes in electroencephalographic
responses. The plasma clearance t-1/2 [half-life] is about 15 minutes.
Elevated blood levels of indoleacetic acid (IAA) are seen during the time of
peak effects, implying its role as a metabolite. Urine levels of IAA are also
elevated and account for about 30% of the administered drug. An increase in
5-hydroxy-IAA excretion suggests the involvement of serotonin in DMT action.
Unchanged DMT is not excreted.

Human Psychopharmacology:

 DMT is inactive orally at dosages of over 1000mg. With intramuscular
injection, there is an abrupt threshold of activity shown with 30mg, and a
complete psychedelic experience results from the administration of 50-70mg
(75mg subcutaneously, 30mg by inhalation). An unusual feature of the induced
intoxication is the speed of onset and short duration. Within 5 minutes of
administration there is mydriasis [dilated pupils], tachycardia [rapid heart
beat], a measurable increase in blood pressure, and related vegetative
disturbances which usually persist througout the drug experience. In 10-15
minutes, the full intoxication is realized, generally characterized by
hallucinations with the eyes either open or closed, and extensive movement
within the visual field. There is difficulty in the expression of one's
thoughts, and in concentration on a given subject. There is usually a mood
change to the euphoric with unmotivated laughter, but instances have been
reported in which paranoid ideation has promoted anxieties and feelings of
forboding into a state of panic. The subject is largely symptom-free at 60
minutes, although some residual effects have been seen in the second hour.
With the inhalation route of administration the time scale is contracted, with
onset of effects noted in 10 seconds, a short period of full intoxication at
2-3 minute, and a complete freedom from any residual effects within 10
minutes. At higher drug levels, there are increased vegetative symptoms, and
these effectively overwhelm the psychedelic experience at dosages of 150mg
i.m.  Interactions with other drugs are rarely seen; a sensitivity has been
observed with pretreatment with methlysergide, but there is no cross-tolerance
with LSD. Repeated usage does not appear to lead to either physical or
psychological dependency.

Legal Status:

 DMT is explicitly named as a Schedule I drug in the Federal Controlled
Substances Act; registry number 7435.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                                 DMT

         [Excerpt from a pharmacology textbook published in 1988]

Chemical structure and source:

 This is the prototype member of the tryptamine subclass of indole
derivatives. The structural formula is:

                         /\       (CH2)2-N(CH3)2
                        // \ ____/
                       |   ||   ||
                       |   ||   ||
                        \\ /\   /
                         \/  \N/
                              H

                   N,N-dimethyltryptamine


The drug is a constituent of many of the same South American snuffs and drinks
that contain other psychedelic indole deriviatives, it is often found in the
same plants as 5-MeO-DMT, and Indians add a substance containing it to drinks
containing harmala alkaloids. DMT is the major constituent of the bark of
Virola calophylla, mentioned above; it is also found in the seeds of
Anadenanthera peregina; in the seeds of the vine Mimosa hostilis, used in
easter Brazil to make a drink called "ajuca" or "jurema"; in the leaves of
Banisteriopsis rusbyana, which are added to the harmaline drinks derived from
other plants of the Banisteriopsis genus to make "oco-yage"; and in the leaves
of Psychotria viridis, also added to the Banisteriopsis drinks. Like
5-MeO-DMT, DMT must be combined with monoamine oxydase inhibitors to become
active orally.

Dose:

 First strong effects are felt at about 50mg, whether it is smoked or
injected. Tolerance develops only after extremely frequent use - injections
every two hours for three weeks in rats; at that dose frequency, but not
otherwise, there is also a cross-tolerance between DMT and LSD (Rosenberg et.
al. 1964; Kovacic and Domino, 1976).

Physiological effects:

 Resembles LSD, but sympathomimetic symptoms like dilated pupils, heightened
blood pressure, and increased pulse rate are more common and more intense.

Psychological Effects:

 Like LSD but often more intense. Since it is not taken by mouth, the effects
come on suddenly and can be overwhelming. The term "mind blowing" might have
been invented for this drug. The experience was described by Alan Watts as
like "being fired out of the nozzle of an atomic cannon" (Leary 1968a p.215).
Thoughts and visions crowd in at great speed; a sense of leaving or
transcending time and a feeling that objects have lost all form and dissolved
into a play of vibrations are characteristic. The effect can be like instant
transportation to another universe for a timeless sojourn.

Duration of action:

 When DMT is smoked or injected, effects begin in seconds, reach a peak in
five to twenty minutes and end after a half hour or so. This has earned it the
name "businessman's trip." The brevity of the experience make its intensity
bearable, and, for some, desirable.

 At least two synthetic drugs in which the methyl group of DMT is replaced by
a higher radical are psychedelic:

              /\       (CH2)2-N(C2H5)2     /\      (CH2)2-N(CH2CH2CH2)2
             // \ ____/                   // \ ____/
            |   ||   ||                  |   ||   ||
            |   ||   ||                  |   ||   ||
             \\ /\   /                    \\ /\   /
              \/  \N/                      \/  \N/
                   H                            H

        N,N-diethyltryptamine          N,N-dipropyltryptamine

 The drug DET is active at the same dose as DMT and the effects last slightly
longer, about one and a half to two hours. DPT is longer-acting still and has
fewer autonomic side effects. In therapeutic experiments its action continues
for one and a half to two hours at the lowest effective dose, 15 to 30mg, and
for four to six hours at doses in the range of 60 to 150mg. Both DET and DPT
are milder than DMT. The drug 6-FDET (6-fluorodiethyltryptamine) resembles DET
in its effects. All these drugs, like DMT, are inactive orally and must be
smoked or injected. Dibutyltryptamine (DBT) and higher substitutions are
inert, but other synthetic drugs related to DMT may be psychoactive.
 ..............................

        Remember the L-Tryptophan scare a little while ago?  Well I have
been thinking about it and have come up with a conspiracy theory.  It
may be off base but it was fun to come up with it.

        Ever since the War on Drugs the government has become increasingly
protective of precursors for drug manufacture.  Some friends of mine and
I were talking about Tryptophan, and it came up that it could be used as
the base for several drugs.

        So maby the government generated the Trypto scare so people would
be scared to buy/use it and stores would take it off their shelves.  Has
anyone on the net known anyone who got sick from L-Tryptophan?

        The following is a simple reaction to synthesize DMT from Tryptophan.
using no hard to get or controlled chemicals save L-Tryptophan.
WARNING...
WARNING...
WARNING... This is something I just came up with and may work but I am no
chemist, j!ust a Software Engineering type, so research it yourself or lets
have some net/chem/god help us out.  These two reactions can be found
and read about in any good library.

        The first reaction is using Trypto and Sodium HydroChlorite (AKA
Chlorox) in a 1:1 reaction to produce Indole Acetaldehype(IAA).  This
reaction was use by some company to produce IAA to use to stimulate plant
growth.  The yield should be 70-80%.

        The second reaction is the IAA and Dimethyl Formamide in a 1:4
reaction to produce DMT.  Dimethyl-F is supposedly a very common organic
solvent easy to get and not controlled.  This reaction is documented in a
paper called the 'Leukart Reaction'.  This paper should also have the
instructions on cleaning the DMT from the other byproducts of these
reactions.

Remember this is just to strengthen my conspiracy theory.  It is not
guaranteed correct.


             Tryptophan

                       NH
                       | 2
                       |
        // \\---  --- CH -- CO H
        || ||   ||            2
        \\ //\ /
              N
              H

              |
              |         + 1 Molar Equiv
              |
             \|/          Sodium Hydrochlorite (chlorox)


        Indole Acetaldehyde
              (IAA)

        // \\---  --- CH CHO
        || ||   ||      2
        \\ //\ /
              N
              H
                               CH
              |              /   3    Di-Methyl Amine
              |    <------ NH
              |              \
              |                CH
              |                  3
              |
              |                 Leukart Reaction
              |                     4 Equivs
              |                        Dimethyl Formamide
              |                     1 Equivs
              |                        IAA
             \|/

             DMT
                                CH
                              /   3
        // \\---  --- CH CH N
        || ||   ||      2  2  \
        \\ //\ /                CH
              N                   3
              H



(C) 1990 Mycal Johnson All Rights Reserved.  Distribute this post in anyway
        for non commercial use.

In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] (Mike Johnson) writes:
>        Remember the L-Tryptophan scare a little while ago?  Well I have
>been thinking about it and have come up with a conspiracy theory.  It
>may be off base but it was fun to come up with it.

I'm pretty sure the ~5000 reported cases of EMS (eosinophilia-myalgia
syndrome) and 27 deaths, and their connection to a batch of Showa Denko
tryptophan is real.  But, I do like a good conspiracy...

>        Ever since the War on Drugs the government has become increasingly
>protective of precursors for drug manufacture.

Not too many years ago any old Joe could buy isosafrole (precursor to MDA)
or phenylacetone (precursor to amphetamine) and all necessary apparatus
and ancilliary chemicals with no more than a money order, [fake] signature,
and the address of, say, a vacant house or apartment.  Nowadays it seems
even MEK (methylethylketone) is difficult to obtain.

>        So maby the government generated the Trypto scare so people would
>be scared to buy/use it and stores would take it off their shelves.  Has
>anyone on the net known anyone who got sick from L-Tryptophan?

Considering the numbers above, it's not surprising that noone has reported
any first-hand experience with tryptophan-related EMS.

If we believe the EMS problem is real, and government-generated, this
would make for an intriguing conspiracy.  Let us also add that many are
eagerly pointing the finger at genetic engineering as the root cause of
the problem.  Showa Denko used a bacillus genetically engineered to produce
higher yields of tryptophan.  Now, can someone postulate a role for
Lyndon LaRouche?

>        The following is a simple reaction to synthesize DMT from Tryptophan.
> ...
>WARNING... This is something I just came up with and may work but I am no
                              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Admit it, you did research!  Well, conspiracies do need some grounding in
fact.

>        The first reaction is using Trypto and Sodium HydroChlorite (AKA
>Chlorox)                                             [hypochlorite]

You are perhaps refering to

    R. A. Gray [Pineapple Research Institute of Hawaii]
    Preparation and Properties of 3-Indoleacetaldehyde [IAc]
    Arch. Biochem. Biophysics 81, 480-8 (1959)

Not merely "AKA Chlorox [sic]", but Clorox was the actual reagent!

Aldehydes can be difficult to prepare (contrast to ketones) as they are
easily oxidized to acids.  Special care was taken by Gray to prevent this,
and IAc was actually obtained as the bisulfite addition product, "which
was stable for many years."

>        The second reaction is the IAA and Dimethyl Formamide in a 1:4
>reaction to produce DMT.

Dimethylamine is really the reagent of interest here (which you did
indicate in your drawings).

>solvent easy to get and not controlled.  This reaction is documented in a
>paper called the 'Leukart Reaction'.  This paper should also have the

The Leukart-Wallach reaction is well-known.  The original publications are

    Leukart
    Chem. Ber. 18, 2341 (1885) {Ger.}

    Wallach
    Ann. Chem. 272, 100 (1892) {Ger.}

Formic acid or a formamide is used as a reducing agent. DMF
(dimethylformamide) is probably to be prefered as IAc is not stable in
acidic solution.

>Disclamer :
>                The above may not be even remotely correct.  I myself

As an outline it was pretty darn good.  You've shown there's no reason
people outside a particular field can't learn some factual information
about current topics.  Although I'm sure it's not necessary, I will add
that a list of reagents does not a synthesis make!

So, yes, it's not difficult to make DMT from tryptophan.  But it's also
not difficult to make DMT from many other starting materials.  Indole
itself is readily 3-substituted (but note that indole has a horrible,
intense fecal odor!) and there are also many well known reactions to
produce directly 3-substituted indoles from simpler precursors.

Now, do more than a handful of people actually know about DMT?  I guess
it must have had some use in the '60s, but I don't recall ever hearing
it mentioned in the press as a drug of abuse.  Perhaps it has made come-
back?  If people will lick toads for bufotenine, well, there's just no
telling...

It may be the case that peoples' desire for drugs is matched by their
ingenuity to discover and re-discover many substances.  If so, the WoD
officials have a lesson to learn.  Granted the analogue drug bill
effectively makes many known and unknown chemicals illegal, it may yet
become a burden simply to keep the testing and analysis procedures up to
date.
--

[e-mail] (root) [Sean] writes:
>Also, while I am asking...Simon & Schuster's guide to House Plants enumerate
>many plants that are rumored to have narcotic properties as common house
>plants or curio plants.  Datura for one and mimosa pudica (sensitva) I have
>heard contain DMT?  Are there sources for these plants and publications on
>their properties?
>...doesn't this seem very interesting?

Sure does. Where'd you hear about Mimosa pudica containing DMT?
There are two species of Mimosa that have been used in the Amazon
that certainly contain DMT: Mimosa hostilis and Mimosa verrucosa.
A hallucinogenic drink called Jurema was made from the roots of
Mimosa hostilis.

A taped interview with Dennis McKenna from 1985 makes mention of several
other members of the pea family (Leguminosae) that contain DMT:
Acacia flabiphylla, which I haven't been able to find any reference
to anywhere else, and Desmodeum (only the genus was mentioned, the common
name for these are "Tick Trefoil"). An tree in this same group is
Anadenanthera peregrina, seeds of which are used for psychedelic snuffs in
the Amazon, and which also grows in the West Indies, including Puerto Rico.

(This tape, "Dennis McKenna/2 (1985)", is available from:
 Something's Happening Productions, Box 8381, Universal City, CA 91608)

In another tape Dennis' brother, Terence, made passing mention of
a plant, Desmanthus illinoensis, that was recently discovered to contain
DMT as 6% of it's dry weight, according to his report. Desmanthus is
closely related to Mimosa, and grows in the midwestern prairies of
the continental US.

If you run across a specimen of this in a University's botanical collection,
or in the field, I'd like to know about it.  Preserved or living specimens
in herbarium collections almost always include the date and place they
were collected.

Desmanthus illinoensis is listed in
_Petersen's Field Guide to Eastern/Central Medicinal Plants_
but the drawing is misleading. (It shows the pinnae of the compound
leaves as alternating instead of opposite). The best illustration I've
run across is in
 _An Illustrated Flora of the Northeastern United States and Canada_ Vol.II
where it's listed as Acuan illinoensis. Unfortunately the measurements
for various features of the plant are in error there.
Decent descriptions are found in the
_New York Botanical Garden Illustrated Encyclopedia of Horticulture_ and
the _Standard Encyclopedia of Horticulture_ Vol 2.


Two other plants reputed to contain DMT are Desfontainia spinosa, a
holly-like ornamental plant available at some nurseries, and
Arundo donax, the Giant River Reed, (used for clarinet reeds among other
things) which grows all over the place along rivers and in urban
environments where it's used for landscaping. The rootstocks of Arundo donax
are supposedly DMT-bearing, but there's never been a report of Arundo
being used as an hallucinogen, or even that such use is practical.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

As far as Datura and other plants in the nightshade family (Solanaceae)
are concerned, they contain anticholinergic alkaloids like hyoscyamine,
atropine or scopolamine, none of which are considered psychedelic, but
which do cause delirium and hallucinations and are quite toxic and risky.





--------------------------------------------------


Here is the second in a series of "Gracie and Zarkov" articles.

-- Chris

============================================

DMT - HOW AND WHY TO GET OFF
.. . . a note from underground
by "Gracie and Zarkov"

Copyright December 1984 by Gracie and Zarkov Productions. We believe that
in a truly free society the price of packaged information would be driven
down to the cost of reproduction and transmission.  We, therefore, give
blanket permission and encourage photocopy, quotation, reprint or entry
into a database of all or part of our articles provided that the copier
or quoter does not take credit for our statements.
Revised August 1985.

Number 3.

DMT, (N,N-dimethyltryptamine is not orally active (by itself), and must
be smoked to experience its effects.  Tolerance for the drug builds
almost immediately.  If you don't get enough in the first 30 seconds,
smoking more will not put you into the far out visionary DMT state, but
will only result in a more "ordinary" hallucinogenic state. If on an
attempt, you don't get enough, you must wait at least one hour before
trying again (smoking multiple doses within the hour can result in you
seeing the patterns but it is almost impossible to break through to the
extreme states described below).  Furthermore, the actual mechanics of
smoking DMT can be quite tricky.  In our experience, without careful
attention to technique, about half the DMT shots misfire.  Therefore, it
is essential to use effective technique in order not to waste the drug.
In this paper we offer three different tested techniques in an easy to
follow step-by-step format;  We have also included our description
(however inadequate) of what a DMT trip is like.

We are well aware of how scarce a substance DMT is.  We had to undertake
a long, intensive search to secure a supply of this marvelous drug in the
smokeable, freebase form.  The search was well worth it!  One of the
reasons for writing this paper is, hopefully, to increase the demand for
DMT.  If this paper intrigues you, we suggest that the you seek out a
supply of your own.  Laok for DMT in the smokeable freebase, not
hydrochloride form.  You will not be disappointed.

Getting Ready

1.  We recommend a uniformly, though not brightly, lit room.  Unlike with
mushrooms, in total darkness the DMT visions are rather drab.  In full
sunlight the colors are unbelievably intense with red and gold
predominating but we feel that bright sunlight tends to obscure some of
the intricate detail so characteristic of DMT visions.  We usually do it
during the day in a room that is brightly lit with indirect light.

2.  Get comfortably seated where you can lie back and rest your head
during the trance.  If you smoke DMT standing up, you will almost
certainly fall on your ass if you get a good hit!

3.  We recommend a dosage of about 40-50 mg.  The dosage should be
weighed out and not eyeballed.  Dosages below 25 mg yield only physical
and threshold psychedelic effects.  Dosages between 25 mg and 40 mg are
usually not enough to display the full range of the unique DMT effects
described below.  Dosages in excess of 55 mg, particularly if you are
successful in holding all of the vapor in your lungs, can be VERY heavy
and are not recommended for f irst time users.

Method One:  The "Freebase" Method

4a.  Obtain a "freebase" airpipe such as the one illustrated below.  Use
with the largest funnel type bowl you can find.  Insert the largest fine
mesh stainless steel screen that will fit into the bowl.  Then sprinkle
the DMT uniformly over the center of the mesh screen.  Make sure to keep
thE DMT away from the edges of the screen so that when it melts it does not
run over the edge of the screen.

     \  /
\\  __||__            _==_        ________________
 \\/  ||  \          |    |____  / _______________
  \   ||  |          |     ___ \/ /
   |  ||  |          |    |   \  /
   |      |          |    |    \/
   \______/           \__/

FREE BASE AIR PIPE   CLASSIC DMT PIPE

5a.  Hold a match or torch above the screen and inhale deeply and slowly.
Do not let the flame touch the DMT as this will destroy much of the drug.
DMT melts and vaporizes easily so the point is to let the hot air rushing
by the flame into the pipe vaporize the DMT.  It is quite easy to
vaporize the DMT and end up with the airchamber full of white DMT vapor.

Method Two:  The Classic Psychedelic Ranger Method

4b.  If you hanq out around a good glass blower or long time "head" you
might be able to obtain a classic DMT pipe such as the one illustrated.
Load the DMT into the glass reaction chamber and heat the outside bottom
of the chamber with a flame.

5b.  When the white vapor appears, breathe in deeply and slowly.  If you
inhale too soon or too quickly, the powdered DMT will be blown down your
throat.  It is not active that way.  Make sure that all of the DMT is
vaporized.  In the absence of a classic DMT pipe, some people use a
regular "hash oil" pipe heated from the outside.  We find this too tricky
to be reliable.  You are just as likely to end up with boiling liquid DMT
in your mouth.  (That's why the classic pipe has a "V" shaped stem.)  We
personally use the "freebase" method.

In either case...

6.  The smoke is very harsh.  It tastes like burning plastic.  It isn't
particularly hot, but you will have a tendency to cough.  On each toke
try to hold your breath for as long as possible.  Exhale and immediately
take a second toke.  The physical effects, a buzzing or vibration
throughout your whole body, come on first.  The intensity of these
effects is not a reliable guide to the dosage of DMT that you have
consumed.  Keep taking lungfuls and holding them until all of the
premeasured DMT is consumed.  Gracie suggests that the best way to smoke
DMT is to try to smoke as much as you can before you inevitablly fall
into a trance.  While not recommended for beginners, it does capture the
approach you should take towards smoking your premeasured dose.

One advantage of the "freebase" method is that the 50 mg of DMT can be
divided into three toke sized piles.  The smaller amount can be easily
vaporized and inhaled in one breath with the screen being reloaded with
DMT after each toke.

7.  Just as you feel yourself "going over the top", exhale.  Breathe
normally, close your eyes and enjoy the visions.

Your companions should be instructed to take the pipe from you when you
close your eyes because you will have poor motor control. Since you will
be in a trance for 4-8 minutes, you should also have told them not to
disturb you.  To them you will look like you are asleep.  This is not a
social drug or one to be taken casually; you will be entranced.

8.  When you come our of the trance, remain seated for about 10 more
minutes as you will still have only shaky control of your limbs.

9.  In 30 minutes from the time you started you will be pretty much down,
but still euphoric.  You will be completely down after a total of about
one hour.

1O.  We do not recommend that DMT be combined with other drugs.  It
should be done on a clean head.  Marijuana fogs the effects.  It is not a
party drug:  the effects are most entertaining experienced in a quiet
room.  When DMT is smoked at the peak of a mushroom or LSD trip, the
effects are spectacular, but only recsmmended for the experienced, most
brave (or some might say, most foolhardy) of investigators.  The effects
used at the peak of another psychedelic can last for several hours.

NOTES ON THE VISUAL STAGES OF A DMT TRIP:

0 - 20 seconds - a scratchiness in the lungs

20 - 30 seconds - a buzzing starts in the ears, rising in tone and volume
to an incredible intensity. Its like cellophane being ripped apart (or
the fabric of the universe being torn asunder). Your body will vibrate in
sympathy with this sound, and you will notice a sharp blood pressure
rise.  You may feel like you are deeply under water.  Wearing a unitard
or leotard and tights helps to minimize this sensation.  Your visual
field will also vibrate in resonance to the sound and will finally be
completely obscured by the visions.

30 seconds - 1 minute - You break through into DMT hyperspace.  Often at
this point, users believe that their hearts or breathing have stopped.
This is not true.  To an outside observer, you are breathing normally and
your pulse, while elevated, is strong.  We believe that this subjective
effect is due to your "internal clock" being slowed so greatly that the
subjective time interval between breaths or heartbeats seems like an
eternity.  Synthetic DMT has been extensively tested by medical
authorities here and in Europe.  It is perfectly safe with no lasting
physical effects at these doses.  However, since smoked DMT causes an
abrupt blood pressure increase, it is probably not good for people with
abnormally high blood pressure.

1 minute - 2 - 5 minutes - depending on dosage:  DMT hyperspace.  For all
practical purposes, you will no longer be embodied.  You will be part of
tne intergalactic information network.  You may experience any of the
following:

o  Sense of transcending time or space
o  Strange plants or plantlike forms
o  The universe of formless vibration
o  Strange machines
o  Alien music
o  Alien languages, understandable or not
o  Intelligent entities in a variety of forms

Do not be amazed and do not try to actively direct your observations but
merely pay attention.  The beings can show you amazing things, but if you
try to impose vour personal trip on the DMT you will find that you cannot
and may become frightened.

At the end of the "flash" of the visions you will have an after-vision of
circular interlocking patterns in exquisite colors. It has been described
as looking at a vaulted ceiling or dome.  If you did not "breakthrough"
to the levels described above, this "chrysanthemum" pattern, as we call
it, is all you will see.  It is worth the trip, too.

You may begin to wonder how you will ever find your way back to your
body.  If you have taken enough DMT to fully "breakthrough", by the time
you can even wonder about it, you are almost back.  Trust in your own
wetware; your psyche and your body will be reunited. Worrying will only
prolong the process.

5 - 12 minutes - The visions have subsided. There are still patterns when
you close your eyes, but with eyes open the world is back. At this point
a flood of information may rush through your mind. The phase is fleeting.
In order to preserve your DMT ideation, we recommend that you begin
talking as soon as you come out of the visionary state.  Don't try for
complete sentences but get as many ideas out as you can while you can.
Have a tape recorder running during the trip and you can review your
thoughts at a later time.

15 - 30 minutes - The ideation flood subsides leaving you euphoric.  You
may still have a trace of the vibrations in your body.

30 - 60 minutes - The euphoria subsides.

60+ minutes - You are completely down.

Note:  While we recommend above not to combine DMT with other
hallucinogens, we have had excellent results using DMT as a "pre-dose"
for LSD, MDM, MDA, or mushrooms.  The technique is to take the second
hallucinogen orally just as you come out of the vision state.  The
resulting trip will be more profound and will help you to understand the
strange and alien vistas which you were shown while on the DMT. (For more
details, see our Note from underground no. 4.)

Method Three:  The Tryptamine Giggles

If the description of the DMT effects sound too heavy for you, (we
certainly don't deny that DMT can be a heavy trip) 25 mg of DMT can be
mixed with some dope in a joint or in a pipe and smoked in a liesurely
fashion.  The giggley mood lift is quite pleasant.  The occasional
breaking through of abstract hallucinatory patterns can liven up an
otherwise quite ordinary stoned-again evening.  However, we would
recommend that before you burn up all your DMT in this fashion that you
at least try one high dose trip as described.

Finally, while there is no such thing as a "typical" DMT experience, we
have attached a note of ours (reprinted from High Frontiers, issue 2) to
this paper which describes one of our DMT trips.  The most accessible
information on DMT is Peter Stafford's Psychedelics Encyclopedia.
Terence McKenna, who offers, in our opinion, the most sophisticated
analysis of the DMT experience, has two excellent cassette tapes which
discuss the DMT state:  Mind, Molecules &Maqic. June 1984; and Tryptamine
Hallucinogens and Consciousness,  December 1982.  They are available from
Dolphin Tapes, P.O. Box 71, Big Sur, CA  93920 for $9.00 plus tax and
$2.00 postage.

=============================================================================

a hit of dmt 10/9/84 - zarkov

i loaded about 40-50 milligrams of dmt into a glass pipe on top of a
small amount of damiana.  even though i had been warned, i was still
shocked at how harsh the first toke was.  it tasted and smelled like
burning plastic.  i involuntarily exhaled.  i immediately took a second
toke.  the heavy white smoke rushed up the pipe as harsh as before, but i
was somewhat better prepared for the terrible taste and i was able to
hold the smoke for a few seconds.  i exhaled, took a third toke, and was
able to hold this last lungful.  suddenly i began to hear a loud,
moderately high-pitched carrier wave.  immediately, the room started
vibrating in sympathy.  the pattern on the wall hangings oscillated madly
in time to the buzzing that overlaid the carrier wave╒s fundamental tone.
simultaneously, a heavy, trembling feeling swept over my entire body as
if i were being propelled at multiple g acceleration by some giant rocket
engine.  my visual field dissolved in the most amazing colors.  i could
not see the room over the intensity of the visual effects.  the events of
the preceding paragraph occurred in the space of a few short seconds.

closing my eyes, i got a glimpse of several entities moving in front of a
giant complex control panel.  the visions were not crystal clear and
seemed as if i were viewing it through a scrim.  the creatures were
bipedal and of about human size.  it was impossible to say more other
than they did not move like the giant insect creatures i have seen
clearly under the influence of stropharia mushrooms.  there was a direct
awareness of an overwhelmingly powerful and knowledgable *presence*!  it
was neither frightening, nor encouraging.  it was just mentally there.  a
thought came, unbidden, into my head.  i realized that i was viewing ╥god
central.╙  the central panel i saw was the control panel for the entire
universe.

the vision was fleeting and dissolved into a vision of much greater
clarity.  a gaggle of elf-like creatures in standard issue irish elf
costumes, complete with hats, looking like they had stepped out of a
hallmark cards ╥happy saint patrick╒s day╙ display, were doing strange
things with strange objects that seemed to be a weird hybrid between
crystals and machines.

this vision was also fleeting, and it dissolved into a visual pattern
unlike that experienced by me on any other psychedelic or combination of
psychedelics.  the visuals were interlocking sinusoidal patterns arranged
in a japanese chrysanthemum pattern that filled my entire visual field.
the pattern was ever-changing and the colors of the individual patterns
changed independently of the underlyng pattern.  the colors were intense
and came in a magnificent variety of colors: metallics, monochromes,
pastels, each flickering in and out of existence as if obeying some
undetected ordering principle.

an idea came into my head that i was seeing the ╥true universe╙ or
universe as it really exists.  that is to say, i was seeing *directly*
the vibrations of every particles in the universe that ╥i╙ was somehow in
contact with.  ╥i╙ was directly ╥seeing╙ the universe withough ordering
it into an arbitrary reality tunnel -- i.e., perceived ╥solid, objective
reality.╙  the visual pattern seemed to be a sort of m-dimensional
lissajous curve formed by the intersection of ╥i╙ with the shock wave of
space-time causality.

the carrier wave remained strong throughout the experience.  while
definitely the same type of phenomena as the carrier wave heard under the
influence of psilocybin mushrooms, the dmt carrier wave was *much* louder
than even the loud carrier wave heard under the influence of ten grams of
very potent, dried stropharia mushrooms.  also, by comparison to the
mushroom experience, the carrier wave sounded as a ╥purer╙ tone -- i.e.,
the sinusoidal component dominated the buzzng component.  my throat was
too sore from the harsh smoke and the control of my breathing was
hindered by the intensity of the expereince, so i was unable to sing or
even generate a solid tone, to attempt audio driving of the visuals.

the overwhelming sense of a *presence* did not disappear when the vision
changed to visual patterns, but remained an almost palpable entity as lon
as the visuals remained intense.  i never felt the foreboding -- let
alone the direct challenges -- i have felt under the influence of
stropharia mushrooms whenever the feeling of contact with the presence
has been strong.  the presence was just there and *very* powerful.  i
felt that i had glimpsed whitehead╒s god.

the period of intense visuals lasted about eight minutes.  the side
effects remained unpleasant, but easily ignorable.  the dmt left me
euphoric and very bemused for about an hour.

definitely far out and very impressive!



--------------------------------------------------

>
>
>     After reading the 'Time and Mind' article kindly typed in by Bob
>     I am intrigued to hear more about DMT, I was always under
>     the impression that LSD-25 was the strongest hallucinogen available
>     but even under the influence (of some pure liquid) it has always been
>     the real world around me that was distorted in some way and not some
>     fantasy land (although you could imagine it to be a fantasy land, the
>     very fact that you are conciously imagining it to be real is constantly
>     reminding you that its not.)
>
>     So is DMT that superior an hallucinogenic?

There are three issues here which are a little confused:
1) strength in the sense of effective dose,
2) strength in terms of subjective intensity,
3) being a superior hallucinogen in some subjective sense.

Comparing DMT and LSD, the first is easy.
The effective dose of LSD is around 100 ug, of DMT is around 60 mg,
so in this sense, LSD is a much stronger hallucinogen.

In terms of intensity, they are difficult to compare. Part of the intensity
of DMT stems from the fact that the onset is virtually instantaneous;
one is taken from feeling normal to the peak of the trip in the space
of a few seconds, and this can be totally disorienting and frightening.
DMT does not have the euphoria of LSD, in fact it can be quite
uncomfortable. Also, the smoking of DMT is quite unpleasant compared
with eating some small object. The types of hallucinations experienced
within the peak of the DMT trip differ markedly from those in the peak
of the LSD trip. This difference is very hard to describe, although
one might contrast the dripping flowing colourful experience of LSD
with the DMT visuals in which everything becomes super sharp to the
point of being ripped into fragments, like placing a photo in a blender.
There is some colour enhancement, but it is more like lightning-bolts
of colour rather than flowing ripples of colour, and colours may
be actually entirely changed and several multiple images seen at once.
The 20-30 minute come-down of DMT is similar in experience and intensity
to a small dose of LSD, however one is likely to be too shattered by
the initial peak to worry about this much. The account Bob posted is
highly subjective and metaphorical (as is this one, I suppose) and I
doubt that many people would experience DMT in the way described there.
However, extending the duration of DMT by the use of monoamineoxidase
inhibitors (Ayahuasca,Yage,etc.) is supposed to be a very intense
experience and could give one time to become more involved in it.
It is possible to lose all contact with the senses and the world
briefly while on DMT, as it is, e.g. from a combination of nitrous
oxide and LSD. Also, psiloc(yb)in seems to have some similarity to
DMT whilst retaining similarity to LSD, in that during the psilocin
experience one can be transported into a different reality, although
one which is still definitely based sensually on this one, and
not be able to remember or understand everday reality.
Other hallucinogenic experiences, e.g. the delerium caused by
anti-cholinergics, might be still more intense than DMT in terms
of being completely removed from traditional reality, but I don't
think anyone would recommend experimenting with these dangerous
substances.

In terms of which is the superior hallucinogen, it depends on your
taste. DMT is very interesting and extremely intense, but not
necessarily pleasant. LSD has more potential for pure recreation.
Most people would probably prefer LSD as a recreational hallucinogen,
and it would be ill-advised for someone who was not very familiar
with coping with the intensity of LSD to be thrust into the
intensity of DMT. On the other hand, if you don't like DMT, you only
have to hang on for a few minutes, whereas if you don't like LSD
you have to hang on for several hours.

This is, of course, apart from the dosage, all subjective.

...............................

> Does anyone know if 4-MeO-DMT is pharmacologically active?
> This would be the methyl analog of psilocin, 4-OH-DMT of
> mushroom fame.
>
> Shulgin, among others, has made a number of tryptamine analogs.
> This one seems like a logical target but I have never seen it
> in the literature.  Does anyone have any information on this
> compound?

Here is the best I can do to answer this:
Extract from Hallucinogens: Neurochemical, Behavioral, & Clinical
Perspectives, edited by B.L. Jacobs, Raven Press, New York (c) 1984

Medicinal Chemistry and Structure-Activity relationships of Hallucinogens
- David E. Nichols & Richard A. Glennon
p. 124

"
4-methoxy-N,N-dimethyl tryptamine (4-OMeDMT) has been examined only in
animal studies and has shown behavioral activity roughly comparable to
that of DMT (65,236,238). It has also produced discriminative stimulus
effects similar to those of 5-OMeDMT with a potency somewhat less than
that of DMT but greater than that of either 6-OMeDMT or 7-MeODMT (93).
In drug discrimination studies using DOM as the training drug, 4-OMeDMT
was more active than DMT but less active than DET (91).

References:
(65)
Gressner, P.K., Godse D.D., Krull,A.H.,& Mc Mullen, J.M. (1968)
Structure-activity relationships among 5-MeODMT, 4-HODMT (psilocin)
and other substituted tryptamines. (life Sci., 7:267-277)

(91)
Glennon, R.A., Young, R., Jacyno, J.M., Slusher, R., and Rosecrans,J.A.
(1983)
DOM stimulus generation to LSD and other hallucinogenic indolealkamines.
Eur.J.Pharmacol.,86:453-459

(93)
Glennon,R.A.,Young,R.,Rosecrans,J.A.,& Kallman,M.J (1980): Hallucinogenic
agents as discriminative stimuli: Correlation with serotonin receptor
affinities. Psychopharmacology, 68:155-158.

(236) Ulyeno, E.T. (1969): Alteration of a learned response of the
squirrel monkey by hallucinogens. Int.J.Neuropharmacol. 8:245-253.

(238) Ulyeno, E.T. (1971): relative potency of amphetamine derrivatives.
Psychopharmacologia 19:381-387



...............................


Check out these. Looks like you already have the articles about
Acacias from the Australian Journal of Chemistry.


-----------------------------------------------
J. Agriculture and Food Chemistry 35:361-365
(1987) Thompson, A. C., Nicollier, G. F. and Pope, D. F.
"Indolealkylamines of Desmanthus illinoensis and their growth
inhibition activity."
-----------------------------------------------
Smith, T. A. (1977) "Tryptamine and related compounds in plants."
Phytochemistry 16:171-175.
An excellent short guide to the literature for many
tryptamine-containing plants.
-----------------------------------------------


I'm having trouble uploading to this Usenet node, otherwise I'd send
you excerpts from several related articles.


------------------------------
[e-mail] (Mark Thompson)  or  qed!marsthom
The QED BBS -- [phone]


...............................

>Can anyone tell me about this drug (IT-290)?  Especially if it really exists.

IT-290 is alfa-methyltryptamine. It's an orally active psychedelic
tryptamine, dosage about 30 mg.
...............................

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                         How To Make DMT

DMT stands for N,N-dimethyltryptamine. It is a semisynthetic
compound similar to psilocin(the hallucinogenic substance in
psilocybin) ins structure. The most common method of ingestion is
smoking. Soaked parsley leaves are the usual method of ingestion
although persons have dipped marijuana in it and said the
experience was fantastic. The following recipe can be performed in
the kitchen.

Recipe for DMT:

Mix thoroughly and dissolve 25 grams of indole with a pound of
dry ethyl ether in a 2000 ml flask(2 quart jar.)

2. Take an ice tray and fill with chipped or shaved ice. Cool
solution for about 35 minutes until it reaches 0 degrees C. At the
same time cool 50 ml dry oxalychloride to about 5 degrees below 0
C. in the same ice tray.

3. VERY slowly add the oxalychloride solution to the indole
solution. These two chemicals are highly reactive. Avoid boiling
over, contact with skin, and fumes.

4. Wait until all the bubbling has died down, then add a few
handfuls of table salt to the ice tray, to cool the solution
further. Label the solution "solution 1" and put it in the
freezer.

5. Cool 100 ml. of dry ethyl ether in a 500 ml. flask to 0 degrees
C. in a salted ice tray. At the same time cool an unopened bottle
of dimethylamine to 0 degrees C. in the same ice bath.

6. Open the seal of the dimethylamine bottle and slowly pour a
steady stream into the ether. Label "solution 2."

7. Very slowly and carefully add solution "1" and "2" together.

8. Now take the mixed solutions from the ice tray and bring up to
room temperature stirring the solution all the time. You should be
left with a solution that is almost clear. If it is still murky,
continue stirring until it becomes as clear as possible.

9. Now filter the solution to seperate the precipitate by suction.

                       <---Solution and Precipitate
        ------------
        \          /<---Funnel  /    / <-- Rubber hose to
         \        /     and    /    /      Vacuum source
          \      /      Filter/____/
     \*****\    /*************{   }*****/ <--- Two hole
      \****{    }*************{   }****/       rubber stopper
       \   {    }             {   } <-/--- Glass Tube
        \  {    }             {   }  /
         | {    }             {   } |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         |                          |
         |__________________________|
                  Figure A.

10. Refilter with suction after pouring technical ether over the
precipitate.

11. Repeat filtering once more with ether, then twice with water.

12. Let this substance dry on a plastic or china plate.(do not use
metal) After drying, a solid material will be formed. Take
particles and place them in an 800 ml beaker.

13. Mix 100 ml. benzene with 100 ml. methyl alcohol. After this
mixture has been stirred, cover solid particles from step 12 with
about 1/2 inch of the solution and heat the beaker in water until
all solid material had dissolved. Add more solvent if
necessary.(Note: Do not place beaker in water bath directly over
the flame.)

14. After all solid material has dissolved, remove beaker from the
heat, and allow to cool. As it cools, small needle-shaped crystals
will appear. When this happens, try to pour off as much solvent as
possible without disturbing the crystals.

15. Place crystals in a 1000 ml flask and dissolve in
tetrahydrofurane.(Use only as much as absolutely necessary.) Label
this solution "A".

16. Slowly mix 200 ml. tetrahydrofurane and 20 grams lithium
aluminum hydride in a 500 ml flask, and label it solution "B".
(By the way, lithuim aluminum hydride ignites on contact with
moisture. Protect eyes and hands.)

17. Mix solutions "A" and "B" slowly, stirring constantly.

18. Prepare a water bath and heat solution for three hours,
stirring for four minutes every half hour. When not stirring, make
sure to use aspirator tube.
                             /  / <--- Rubber Tubing
                             ---
                         \**{   }**/<---- One hole rubber stopper
                         /**{   }**\      and glass tubing
                        /   {   }   \
                       /    {   }    \
                       :             :
                       :             :
                       :             :
      \ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:_____________:~/
       \______________________________/

           Heat source

           Figure B.

Place Figure B. flask at a higher level than Figure A. flask. Run
tube from Figure B. flask down to left side of figure A. flask,
replacing funnel with glass tubing. Disconnect right side tube
from vacuum source. This will be used as the aspirator tube.

19. When this is completed, allow the flask to remain at room
temperature for about 20 minutes. Then place in salted ice bath,
and cool to 0 degrees C. Add a small amount of chilled methanol,
stirring gently until solution appears murky.

20. Filter this murky solution through a paper filter in a funnel,
and collect the filtered liquid in a flask.

21. Add 100 ml. of tetrahydrofuran through the filter and collect
in the same flask. Now heat the solution in a water bath until
most of the tetrahydrofuran is evaporated and a gooey substance
remains.

22. Place little piles of this substance on a cookie tray and dry
with a heat lamp for three or four hours.

Well, after all that you now have DMT. Was it worth it? To ingest,
crumble a small quantity with parsley or mint, and smoke. Do not
inject. Do not mix with tobacco.


                     Keep your thoughts free
                      and your reality...err
                            different.

                          - Black Adder


--
send flames, comments, questions, pap smear results, $10,000 in small bills, and
a large packet of neurotransmitter precursors to :  [e-mail]
=====->Legalize Spiritual Discovery and Powerful Oxyhematoporphyrin Tools<-=====                 ...have you hugged an Ischiopagus lately?


In article <[e-mail]> [e-mail] writes:
>The subject of DMT came up, and in a previous post it was mentioned that
>it was available in some plants and could be extracted.  Does anyone have
>a list of the more common of these, and references for extraction?

Here's my paper on psychedelic tryptamines, where I've tried to list all
the known plant sources. If you know something that isn't there please
let me know. Maybe our friend Jeremy could post the excellent extraction
instructions he wrote? You can also find descriptions of extractions from
the articles I've referred to below.

TRYPTAMINE CARRIERS
===================
by [e-mail]             Last update Nov 13 1992

ORALLY AND PARENTERALLY ACTIVE PSYCHOTROPIC TRYPTAMINE DERIVATIVES
Based on McKenna & Towers 1984

            R4              R1
            |              /
      R5  // \       /\   N
        \//   \ ____/  \ / \
         |    ||   ||   |   R2
         |    ||   ||   |
         \\   /\   /    R3
          \\ /  \ /
                 N
                 H                                      Dosage  Route
Name of Compound         R1     R2     R3     R4     R5     (mg)    Oral/Par.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
tryptamine               H      H      H      H      H      100 *1  par/oral?
DMT (dimethyltryptamine) CH3    CH3    H      H      H      60      par
DET                      C2H5   C2H5   H      H      H      60      par/oral
DPT                      n-prop n-prop H      H      H      60      par/oral
DAT                      C3H5   C3H5   H      H      H      30      par/oral
DIPT                     i-prop i-prop H      H      H      30      oral
5-MeO-DIPT               i-prop i-prop H      H      OCH3   12      oral
5-MeO-DMT                CH3    CH3    H      H      OCH3   6       par
psilocin                 CH3    CH3    H      OH     H      12 *2   oral
CZ-74                    C2H5   C2H5   H      OH     H      15 *2   oral
serotonin                H      H      H      H      OH     100 *3  oral
bufotenine               CH3    CH3    H      H      OH     16 *4   par
IT-290                   H      H      CH3    H      H      30      oral
4-hydroxy-alfa-methyl-
tryptamine               H      H      CH3    OH     H      20 *3   oral
MP-809                   H      H      CH3    H      CH3    60 *5   oral
5-fluoro-alfa-methyl-
tryptamine               H      H      CH3    H      F      25 *6   oral
5-methoxy-alfa-methyl-
tryptamine               H      H      CH3    H      OCH3   3       oral
4-hydroxy-diisopropyl-
tryptamine               i-prop i-prop H      OH     H      12 *6   oral
4-hydroxy-N-isopropyl,
N-methyl-tryptamine      i-prop CH3    H      OH     H      6 *6    oral
N-t-butyl-tryptamine     H      t-butylH      H      H      ? *7    par?
3-(2-(2,5-dimethyl
pyrrolyl)ethyl)-indole                 H      H      H      ?       ?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Data compiled from Kantor, et al. 1980; Shulgin 1976,1982; Shulgin&Carter 1980
*1 Autonomic symptoms; little central activity.
*2 The phosphate esters are psilocybin and CEY-19, respectively; both are
   stoichiometrically equivalent to the 4-hydroxy isomers.
*3 Cardiovascular and autonomic symptoms; little central activity.
*4 A pressor amine rather than a hallucinogen in man.
*5 An antidepressant rather than a hallucinogen in man.
*6 Based on anonymous reports in the lay press. No clinical studies have been
   published.
*7 No oral activity with doses up to 20 mg, may be parenterally active.

MAO Inhibitors and Tryptamines

Monoamine oxidase (MAO) is the primary inactivation pathway of most
tryptamines. Because of this, inhibitors of the MAO enzyme (MAOIs) can be
used to potentiate the effects of tryptamines and to make DMT and 5-MeO-DMT
orally active.

MAO inhibitors fall into two classes: Irreversible and reversible MAOIs.
Irreversible MAOIs (e.g. the hydrazides iproniazid and phenelzine) bind
permanently to the enzyme and cause MAO inhibition lasting 1-2 weeks after
ingestion. They are used clinically to treat depression. Reversible MAOIs,
such as the beta-carbolines harmine and harmaline, are effective for much
shorter time, maybe up to 24 hours. Reversible MAOIs are not used clinically,
but recreational drug users around the world prefer them despite the lack
of scientific studies about their effects in humans.

Natives of Amazon have traditionally combined Banisteriopsis caapi vine,
which contains harmine, harmaline and related beta-carbolines, with DMT-
containing plants to make an orally active brew called ayahuasca. Other
plants containing harmine and/or harmaline can be substituted for B.
caapi. The usual 'North-American ayahuasca' consists of Peganum harmala
seeds and Desmanthus illinoensis roots, and in Australian 'acaciahuasca'
leaves of Acacia complanata are combined with material from DMT-containing
acacias (the effectivity of this mixture hasn't been confirmed). MAOIs
have also been used to potentiate the effects of mushrooms containing
psilocybin. Terence McKenna has mentioned chocolate being a weak MAOI, which
could be a reason for the popular habit of ingesting mushrooms with cocoa.

Peganum harmala (Syrian rue) seeds are the most concentrated natural source
of harmine and harmaline - about 3% of their weight consists of these
alkaloids. Banisteriopsis caapi has been found to contain from 0.18% to
1.36% beta-carbolines, with the concentration of harmine being from 0.057%
to 0.635% (McKenna et al. 1984). According to anecdotal reports one gram
of P. harmala seeds ingested inhibits MAO enough to make DMT orally active.

Harmine and harmaline are hallucinogenic on their own with doses
starting from around 300 mg (Naranjo 1967). They have little emotional
or 'psychedelic' effects, but produce strong visual hallucinations. Because of
this the natives of Amazon often add larger amounts (75-100 cm of stem per
dose) of B. caapi to ayahuasca brew than is needed for MAO inhibition
(Luna 1984).

There are significant dangers in using MAO inhibitors. MAOIs potentiate
the cardiovascular effects of tyramine and other monoamines found in
foods. Ingestion of aged cheese, beer, wine, pickled herring, chicken liver,
yeast, large amounts of coffee, citrus fruits, canned figs, broad beans,
chocolate or cream while MAO is inhibited can cause a hypertensive
crisis including a dangerous rise in blood pressure. Effects of
amphetamines, general anaesthetics, sedatives, anti-histamines, alcohol,
potent analgesics and anticholinergic and antidepressant agents are
prolonged and intensified. Overdosage of MAOIs by themselves is also
possible with effects including hyperreflexia and convulsions.

Self-Synthesis of DMT Derivatives

Tryptamine derivatives and beta-Carbolines have been detected as
endogenous metabolites in mammals, including humans. Methyl transferases
that catalyze the synthesis of tryptamines, including DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and
bufotenine, are found in human lung, brain, cerebrospinal fluid, liver
and heart (McKenna & Towers 1984). In the pineal gland MAO is the primary
inactivation pathway of serotonin, a neurotransmitter synthesized from the
amino acid tryptophan. If MAO is blocked by harmine, harmaline or other MAO
inhibitors serotonin can be converted by the methyltransferase enzymes
HIOMT and INMT into psychedelic tryptamines (serotonin --(HIOMT)-->
5-MeO-trypt. --(2*INMT)--> 5-MeO-DMT).

So, ingesting l-tryptophan to increase serotonin levels, a candy bar to
increase the amount of tryptophan getting to your brain and natural
plant material containing 25-50 mg harmine/harmaline to block MAO, all at the
same time, is supposed to cause your pineal gland to synthesize substantial
amounts of 5-MeO-DMT (Most 1986). This is extremely dangerous for persons
with existing amine imbalance or schizophrenia. For normal, healthy people
*data insufficient*, possible consequences are very bad.

A potent inhibitor of INMT, which is a necessary enzyme for the synthesis
of DMT and 5-MeO-DMT, is found in particularly high concentrations in the
pineal gland. A bypassing or inhibition of the synthesis of this inhibitor
might be responsible for trances and other psychedelic states achieved
"without drugs" (Strassman 1990). See Strassman's article for more info and
speculation about the pineal gland.

Psychedelic Toads

Bufotenine and related 5-hydroxy-indolethylamines are common constituents
of venoms of the genera Hyla, Leptodactylus, Rana and Bufo. Bufotenine
is not psychedelic in reasonable doses (with larger doses there are
dangerous physiological side effects), but the skin of one species, Bufo
alvarius, contains 50-160 mg 5-MeO-DMT/g of skin (Daly & Witkop 1971).
It's the only Bufo species known to contain a hallucinogenic tryptamine
(McKenna & Towers 1984).

The Plants

Family: Acanthaceae
Genus:  Justicia
Species: pectoralis (var. stenophylla)

Waikas of Orinoco headwaters in Venezuela add dried and pulverized
leaves of this herb to their Virola-snuff. Intensely aromatic smelling
leaves probably contain tryptamines (Schultes 1977). Plants are available
from ..Of the jungle (PO Box 1801 sebastopol CA 95473) for $35.

Family: Agaricaceae
Genus:  Lepiota
Species: peele "Peele's Lepiota"

This recently discovered mushroom is supposed to contain a legal tryptamine,
which produces a trip with less physical symptoms and better ability of
logical thinking than psilocin/psilocybin. Florida Mycology Research Center
(PO Box 8104 Pensacola Florida 32505) sells spores ($10) and cultures ($112).

Genus:  Psilocybe

These are the psilocin and psilocybin carrying mushrooms, which have
their own section in the Natural Highs FAQ.

Family: Aizoaceae
Genus:  Delosperma

Contains DMT and N-methyltryptamine (see Smith 1977 for refs).

Family: Apocynaceae
Genus:  Prestonia
Species: amazonica?

Contains DMT (Smith 1977).

Family: Gramineae
Genus:  Arundo
Species: donax

Leaves, flowers and rhizomes contain DMT, Bufotenine and related compounds
(Ghosal et al. 1972).

Genus: Phalaris
Species: arundinacea
         tuberosa

Leaves of P. arundinacea and leaves and seedlings of P. tuberosa
contain DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and related compounds (Smith 1977). P.
arundinacea plants are available from ..Of the jungle for $15.

Family: Leguminosae
Genus:  Acacia
Species: confusa
         jurema
         maidenii
         phlebophylla
         polycantha subsp. campylacantha
         niopo
         nubica
         senegal
     others

Dried A. confusa stems contain 0.04% N-methyltryptamine and 0.02% DMT
(Arthur et al. 1967). The dried leaves of A. phlebophylla contain 0.3% DMT
(Rovelli & Vaughan 1967). The bark of A. maidenii contains 0.6% of
N-methyltryptamine and DMT in the proportions approx. 2:3 (Fitzgerald
& Sioumis 1965). Smith (1977) and Schultes & Hofmann (1980) mention other
species.

Seeds of several acacia species are available from ..Of the jungle.

Genus:  Anadenanthera (Piptadenia)
species: peregrina
         colubrina

Black beans from these trees are toasted, pulverized and mixed with ashes
or calcined shells to make psychedelic snuff called yopo by Indians in
Orinoco basin in Colombia, Venezuela and possibly in southern part of
Brasilian Amazon. Yopo is blown into the nostrils through bamboo tubes
or snuffed by birdbone tubes. The trees grow in open plain areas, and
leaves, bark and seeds contain DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and related compounds
(Schultes 1976,1977; Pachter et al. 1959).

Genus:  Desmanthus
Species: illinoensis "Illinois Bundleflower"

Thompson et al. report that the root bark of this North American perennial
shrub contains 0.34% DMT and 0.11% N-methyltryptamine. The bark accounts
for about a half of the total weight of the roots. The plant should be
resistant to cold and draught and easy to grow. ..Of the Jungle sells D.
illinoensis seeds and dried roots (seed packet $3, 7 grams $10, oz $25;
roots 4 oz $15, pound $50). Seeds are also available from more main-stream
mail-order houses.

Genus:  Desmodium
Species: gangetium
         gyrans
         pulchellum
         tiliaefolium
         triflorum

Leaves, root, stem and seeds contain DMT and 0.06% 5-MeO-DMT of wet weight
(Banerjee & Ghosal 1968).

Genus: Lespedeza
Species: bicolor

Leaves and root contain DMT and 5-MeO-DMT (Smith 1977). Seeds of this hardy
perennial shrub are available from ..Of the jungle for $5.

Genus:  Mimosa
Species: tenuiflora (== hostilis) "tepescohuite"
         verrucosa

The roots of M. hostilis, which is not the common houseplant M. pudica
("sensitive plant"), contain 0.57% DMT and are used by Indians of Pernambuso
State in Brazil as part of their Yurema cult (Pachter et al. 1959, Schultes
1977, Meckes-Lozoya et al. 1990). Bark of M. verrucosa also contains DMT
(Smith 1977).

Genus:  Mucuna
Species: pruriens

Leaves, stem and fruit of this jungle vine contains DMT and 5-MeO-DMT
(Smith 1977). Seeds are available from ..Of the jungle for $5.

Genus: Petalostylis
species: labicheoides

Leaves and stem contain 0.4-0.5% tryptamine, DMT and other alkaloids
(Johns et al. 1966).

Family: Malpighiaceae
Genus:  Banisteriopsis
Species: rusbyana
         argentea

Natives of western Amazon add DMT-containing leaves of the vine B. rusbyana
to a drink made from B. caapi, which contains beta-carbolines harmine and
harmaline, to heighten and lengthen the visions (Schultes 1977, Smith 1977).

Family: Myristicaceae
Genus:  Virola
Species: calophylla
     calophylloidea
      rufula
     sebifera
      theiodora

The bark resin of these trees is used to prepare hallucinogenic snuffs
in northwestern Brazil by boiling, drying and pulverizing it. Sometimes
leaves of a Justicia are added. The snuff acts rapidly and violently,
"effects include excitement, numbness of the limbs, twitching of facial
muscles, nausea, hallucinations, and finally a deep sleep; macroscopia is
frequent and enters into Waika beliefs about the spirits resident in the
drug." Snuffs made from V. theiodora bark contain up to 11% 5-MeO-DMT and
DMT. Also leaves, roots and flowers contain DMT.

Amazonian Colombia natives roll small pellets of boiled resin in a
evaporated filtrate of bark ashes of Gustavia Poeppigiana and ingest
them to bring on a rapid intoxication (Smith 1977, Schultes 1977).

Family: Rubiaceae
Genus:  Psychotria
Species: viridis (psychotriaefolia)

Psychotria leaves are added to a hallucinogenic drink prepared from
Banisteriopsis caapi and B. rusbyana (which contain beta-carbolines) to
strengthen and lengthen the effects in western Amazon. P. viridis
contains DMT (Schultes 1977). 5 seeds $10 from ..Of the jungle.

Family: Rutaceae
Genus:  Dictyoloma
Species: incanescens

Bark contains 0.04% 5-MeO-DMT (Pachter et al. 1959).

Genus: Vepris
Species: ampody

Contains DMT (Smith 1977).

References

Arthur, H.R., Loo, S.N. & Lamberton, J.A. 1967. Nb-methylated tryptamines
  and other constituents of Acacia confusa Merr. of Hong Kong. Aust. J
  Chem. 20, 811.
Banerjee, P.K. & Ghosal, S. 1968. Simple indole bases of Desmodium gangeticum.
  Aust. J Chem. 22, 275.
Daly, J.W. & Witkop, B. 1971. Chemistry and pharmacology of frog venoms.
  In: Venomous animals and their venoms. Vol II. New York: Academic Press.
Fitzgerald, J.S. & Sioumis, A.A. 1965. Alkaloids of Australian
  Leguminosae V. Aust. J Chem. 18, 433.
Ghosal, S., Chaudhuri, R.K., Dutta, S.K., Bhattacharya, S.K. 1972. Occurrence
  of curaromimetic indoles in the flowers of Arundo donax. Planta Med. 21, 22.
Johns, S.R., Lamberton, J.A., Sioumis, A.A. 1966. Alkaloids of the
  Australian Leguminosae VI. Aust. J Chem. 19, 893.
Kantor, R.E., Dudlettes, S.D. & Shulgin, A.T. 1980. 5-Methoxy-alfa-methyl-
  tryptamine (alfa,O-dimethylserotonin), a hallucinogenic homolog of
  serotonin. Biological Psychiatry Vol 15:349-352.
Luna, L.E. 1984. The Healing Practices of a Peruvian Shaman. J of
  Ethnopharmacology 11, 123-133.
McKenna, D.J., Towers, G.H.N., & Abbott, F. (1984). Monoamine oxidase
  inhibitors in South American hallucinogenic plants: Tryptamines and
  Beta-carboline constituents of ayahuasca. J of Ethnopharmacology, 10, 195-223.
Mckenna, Dennis J. & Towers, G.H.N. 1984. Biochemistry and Pharmacology of
  Tryptamines and beta-Carbolines: A Minireview. J Psychoactive Drugs 16(4).
Meckes-Lozoya, M., Lozoya, X., Marles, R.J., Soucy-Breau, C., Sen, A.,
  Arnason, J.T. 1990. N,N-dimethyltryptamine alkaloid in Mimosa tenuiflora
  bark (tepescohuite). Arch. Invest. Med. Mex. 21(2) 175-7.
Most, Albert. Eros and the Pineal: the layman's guide to cerebral
  solitaire, 1986, Venom Press Box 2863 Denton TX 76202
  (also publishes "Bufo alvarius: The Psychedelic Toad of the Sonoran Desert")
Naranjo, C. 1969. Psychotropic Properties of the Harmala Alkaloids. In: Efron
  (Ed.) The Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs.
Pachter, I.J, Zacharias, D.E & Ribeir, O. 1959. Indole Alkaloids of Acer
  saccharinum (the Silever Maple), Dictyoloma incanescens, Piptadenia
  colubrina, and Mimosa hostilis. J Org Chem 24 1285-7.
Rovelli, B. & Vaughan, G.N. 1967. Alkaloids of Acacia I. Aust. J Chem.
  20, 1299.
Schultes, R.E. 1976. Indole Alkaloids in Plant Hallucinogens. J of
  Psychedelic Drugs Vol 8 No 1 7-25.
Schultes, R.E. 1977. The Botanical and Chemical Distribution of Hallucinogens.
  J of Psychedelic Drugs Vol 9 No 3 247-263.
Schultes, R.E. & Hofmann, A. 1980. The Botany and Chemistry of Hallucinogens.
  Springfield, Ill: Thomas. pp. 142 & 155.
Shulgin, A.T. 1982. Chemistry of Psychotomimetics. In: Hoffmeister, F. &
  Stille, G. (Eds.) Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, Vol 55:
  Alcohol and Psychotomimetics, Psychotropic Effects of Central-Acting
  Drugs. New York: Springer-Verlag.
Shulgin, A.T. 1976. Psychotomimetic agents. In: Gordon, M. (Ed.)
  Psychopharmacological Agents, Vol IV. New York: Academic Press.
Smith, T.A. 1977. Review: Tryptamine and Related Compounds in Plants.
  Phytochemistry Vol 16 171-175.
Strassman, R.J. 1990. The Pineal Gland: Current Evidence For Its Role In
  Consciousness. In: Lyttle, T. (Ed.) Psychedelic Monographs and Essays
  Vol 5.
Thompson, A.C., Nicollier, G.F. & Pope, D.F 1987. Indolealkylamines of
  Desmanthus illinoensis and Their Growth Inhibition Activity. J Agric.
  Food Chem. 35 361-365.

Have fun!

Petrus



++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++



******************************

MANUFACTURE:

Forget it.  Precursors (ergot alkaloids, used medicinally for migraines and
ob/gyn due to their vasoconstrictive effects) are closely watched.  (They
are obtained through commercially cultured ergot fungus; one could
theoretically extract lsyergic amides from morning glory or Hawaiian wood
rose seeds.)  (Though there are routes to synthesize lysergic acid from
"scratch", these are complicated also.)  Other typically needed chemicals
are very dangerous.  Serious experience in organic chemistry lab would be
necessary.  If you have to ask where to find the recipes, you don't know
enough about chemistry to try it.  (For the curious: the _Anarchists
Cookbook_ is a bad place to start.  _Psychedelic Chemistry_ is better, the
patent office or chem. lit. better.)  And you'll probably trip during
manufacture if you actually succeed.  Its easier and safer to buy it on the
black market.

...............................

>In the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 1980, there is an article
>on an ergot derivative used in obstetrics which is an hallucinogen.
>Although the dose required is ten times the ED50 (.2 mg) no
>significant ill effects were reported.
>I believe the name of this drug is methyl ergovine(?)  The drug
>without the methyl group is supposed to be more effective.  It
>was (is?) a Sandoz drug, for those with a PDR.

Ergonovine and methylergonovine are both oxytocic agents: they increase
uterine tone and are used (rarely) to assist in delivery and (more
frequently) to stop post-partum uterine hemorrhage.  Less frequently,
they can be used to abort a migraine headache.  If they have any
hallucinogenic effects, it is certainly a well-kept secret.

I would be quite concerned about taking 10x the therapeutic dose
of a drug like ergonovine, since it can cause arterial spasm and
precordial distress even in healthy persons, and intense vaso-
constriction and gangrene can follow from an overdose.  These
are not drugs to fool around with.

Another related drug, 1-methyl-methylergonovine, or methysergide
(Sansert), is used in migraine prophylaxis, and is claimed to have
LSD-like actions when high doses are taken.  The methyl group on
the indole nitrogen reduces the drug's vasoconstrictive actions.
Chronic, uninterrupted use of the drug causes a fibrosis of the
heart valves and the lungs.



...............................

>You mean to tell me that the people who make LSD have a GC/MS in their
>basement and know how to use it properly.

No, but they probably run the GC/MS where they work and can sneak samples
in -- or else know someone in a chem department somewhere that can do it
for them.

>I had no idea that the field was
>so high tech.

LSD is not particularly easy to synthesize.  It certainly takes a little bit
more than 2nd year O-Chem to do it.  There are various synthetic methods
floating around the net, along with methods published in _psychedelic
chemistry_ but i gather that they're all more difficult than some relatively
recent methods...

===forwarded article:

Newsgroups: alt.drugs,alt.conspiracy,alt.psychoactives,rec.music.gdead,alt.folklore.urban
From: [e-mail] (aankrom)
Subject: Re: How to Make LSD File 2
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 4 Apr 1994 18:56:10 GMT

 When I saw the subjects relating to the synthesis of LSD, I knew the
information would be outdated. It's humourous to see people who think
they're in the know giving out information that was outdated even in the 70's.
Lysergic acid amides are commonly made by a simple and efficient procedure
using POCl3 and the desired amine in CHCl3 solution. I doubt that this
procedure is used by the majority of clandestine chemists, but since I
don't know any, I wouldn't know. By the description of the procedure,
it's simple and uses relatively safe reagents. (I have a reference, but
not handy...) And you won't find it in any obvious places even in the
most recent Merck because LSD is not the product of focus in the article.
This is why I doubt that unsavvy clandestine chemists would be using this
procedure. But according to the article, the method has a broad scope
and has been used by Nichols and Oberlender for some other lysergic acid
amides. (The article in question regards 9,10 saturated derivatives
tested for emetic properties.) It's time to stop turning to those stupid
"how to make your very own drug" guides and learn how to read real chemsitry
literature. If you can't, don't bother...
 Even the synthesis of lysergic acid is outdated. Rebek has described
an extremely elegant synthesis of methyl lysergate from L-tryptophan
which gives only the natural isomer of lysergic acid. It's still a
several step procedure, but most of the reagents are fairly common and the
yields are greatly improved over past syntheses.
 This brings me to an interesting side-note. Several years ago, analogues
of LSD that were 2 and 3 times as potent as LSD were synthesized. These
went largely unnoticed and would most likely prove of little interest
to clandestine chemists because LSD was the precursor used and the loss
in synthesis outweighed the gain in potency. But using Rebek's synthesis,
one could simply alter the procedure slightly and intorduce the groups
that make the compounds more potent. When the 6N-methyl group is replaced
by ethyl or allyl, it becomes 2 and 3 times as potent respectively.
I am posting this for general information. I may post references if I
decide it would be prudent. Requests will be ignored and I ask you not to
send e-mail requesting references. But if you just want to chat about them
and maybe speculate on subjective effects or other avenues of substitution...
I don't know if I'll ever see the day that research in this area is open
and legal, but I'd love to...






******************************

DRUG TESTING:

No risk.  Its not looked for,  hard to find, and transient.

...............................


"A maximum concentration of 2-8 ng/ml [Plasma concentration of LSD]
 was reached 1.0-1.25 h after an oral dose of 160 ug.
 ...[A] value of 2.9 h for the elimination half-life of LSD from
 plasma [was reached].
    [Upshall, D.G., Wailling, D.G.: The determination of LSD in
     human plasma following oral administration.
     Clinica Chimica Acta 36, 67-73 (1972)]

Second of all, LSD and its metabolites are detectable in the urine
for much longer than one hour.

"LSD and its metabolites were still detectable in human urine for
 as long as 4 days after the ingestion of 0.2 mg of the drug.
    [Faed, E.M., McLeod, W.R.: A urine screening test of lysergide.
     Journal of Chromatographic Science.  11, 4-6 (1973)]

Note that standard, cheap initial drug screening does not use
chromatography or mass-spectrometry, and does not look for LSD.

...............................



There were rumors going around that LSD could be detected
by drug tests fo thirty days.  I think this reference and
abstract makes it clear that it is probably 4 days, max.
(see the end of the abstract)

 IDNUM     03319915
 TYPE      Journal paper
 DATE      880715
 AUTHOR    Heng Keang Lim; Andrenyak, D.; Francom, P.; Foltz, R.L.; Jones, R.T.
           Center for Human Toxicology, Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT, USA
 TITLE     Quantification of LSD and N-demethyl-LSD in urine by gas
           chromatography/resonance electron capture ionization mass
           spectrometry
 SOURCE    Analytical Chemistry; vol.60, no.14; 15 July 1988; pp. 1420-5
 SUBJECT   chromatography; electron capture; mass spectroscopic chemical
           analysis; organic compounds; quantification; gas chromatography;
           resonance electron capture ionisation mass spectrometry; LSD;
           N-demethyl-LSD; urine; lysergic acid diethylamide; human; in vitro;
           in vivo; aromatic hydroxylation; drug; metabolite;
           N-tri-fluoroacetyl derivatives; calibration curves; urinary
           concentrations; adult volunteer; excretion; elimination half-lives;
           4 to 6 hrs; 8 to 10 hrs
           Numerical data: time 1.4E+04 to 2.2E+04 s; time 2.9E+04 to 3.6E+04 s
           Class codes: A8280M; A8280B; A3470
 CODEN     ANCHAM
 ABSTRACT  Demethylation of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in the human has
           been demonstrated, both in vitro and in vivo, and aromatic
           hydroxylation at positions 13 and 14 has been tentatively
           identified. A gas chromatography/resonance electron capture
           ionization mass spectrometry (GC/MS) assay for LSD and
           N-demethyl-LSD in urine has been developed, in which the drug and
           its metabolite are converted to their N-tri-fluoroacetyl derivatives
           prior to GC/MS analysis. Linear and reproducible calibration curves
           have been obtained for LSD concentrations from 0.05 to 5.0 ng/mL,
           and for N-demethyl-LSD concentrations from 0.03 to 5.0 ng/mL. The
           assay was used to determine the urinary concentrations of LSD and
           N-demethyl-LSD following administration of a single oral dose of the
           drug (1 mu g/kg) to an adult volunteer. The rates of excretion of
           LSD and N-demethyl-LSD reached maxima in urine collected at time
           intervals of 4-6 and 8-10 h after administration, respectively. The
           elimination half-lives for LSD and N-demethyl-LSD were 3.6 and 10.0
           h, respectively
 MISCELLANEOUS
           Treatment: experimental
           Anal. Chem. (USA)
           Abstract number(s):  A89037987
           ISSN: 0003-2700
           Refs: 15



  Marijuana is detectable from 2 to 5 days after a single, isolated
use using the standard 50-ng cutoff for the EMIT test.  At 20 ng, the
time may go out to a week.  Frequent users (every other day or more )
may be positive for 3 weeks or more (84 days is the longest I have
heard of).  However, this time can be abridged considerably(to a day
or two in some cases) given proper measures, in particular, drinking
lots of fluids.
 For up-to-date details on how to deal with  this new intrusion on personal
privacy, contact Californ NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278, San Francisco 94114-
[phone].


...................................................


  If you smoke only occasionally (once or twice a month) you are likely
to pass a urine test within no more than 3-5 days.  If you smoke several
times a week, you should allow at least 3-4 weeks, and if you smoke
several time daily, you may need 6 weeks or more (84 days is the record).
However, there are ways that can help you pass a urine test on shorter
notice.  For info, contact California NORML, 2215-R Market St. #278,
San Francisco CA 94114;  [phone].

  What they are most likely to detect about a diluted sample is incorrect
temperature.  More and more labs are checking to see that the specimen is
within the range 92-100 degrees F.  To my knowledge, no one looks at cholrine
or fluorine.  Howver, there has been some talk of testing creatanin levels,
which can tell if urine has been diluted.
Actually, your friend took an unnecessary risk in diluting his sample
in the first place.  The fact is that occasional marijuana use (say, on the
order of once a month or two weeks) is typically detectable only 2-5 days.
A lot of occasional users get really paranoid because they hear of marijuana]
staying around 4-6 weeks, but this is true only for regular users who smoke
every day.  For info about urine testing, send to Cal. NORML, 2215-R Market
St. #278, San Francisco CA 94114 [phone].






...............................

Spinal taps are not particularly useful (cerebro-spinal fluid doesn't
concentrate LSD or metabolites) and are never done under any
circumstances: they are painful and dangerous.

...............................


You might want to mention that Abbie Hoffman's _Steal This Urine Test_
has a table which claims lsd is detectable for 40 days. I'm almost sure
this was a typo.

...............................


> 1] How long can LSD be detected in the body?

This varies by the test being used, the detection limit placed on the test,
the point of collection and type of the sample fluid, the amount of LSD that
was taken, and the individual in question.

Assuming the testers are using an RIA screening test with the cutoff set at
0.1 ng/ml and assuming that the user has recently emptied their bladder,
then the detection limit for one hit (100 ug) is normally around 30 hours.
Each doubling of the initial amount will add about 5 hours.  Thus taking 8
hits will leave a user vulnerable for approximately 2 days.  (NOTE: This is
based on the data in [7])

> 2] What exact form of test can be used to detect LSD in the body?  There
are a number of tests which can be used to detect LSD in the body.

Abuscreen, a product of Roche Diagnostic Systems, is a series of
RadioImmunoAssay (RIA) tests, one of which is used to detect LSD and its
metabolites in whole blood, serum (blood), urine and stomach contents [1].
RIA can in theory be used to detect quantities as small as 0.020 nanograms
(ng) per milliliter (ml) of sample [2].  Laboratory tests have shown that
RIA results are accurate down to at least 0.1 ng/ml [3].  The manufacturer
recommends limiting the cutoff to 0.5 ng/ml.

EMIT, a product of Syva Corporation, is another series of tests, one of
which can be used to detect LSD and its metabolites in serum and urine.
EMIT stands for Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique.

Both EMIT and Abuscreen are "positive/negative" response tests (much like
pregnancy tests) which require periodic equipment calibration and consume
chemicals for each test performed.  A basic battery of tests costs approx.
$15-$25 per person [4].  The basic tests (recommended by NIDA) include
marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and phencyclidine (PCP).
Normally, unless an (employer) specifically requests the test, an LSD assay
is not run.

Both Roche and Syva recommend confirmation of positive results by using a
different test.  The usual method of confirming positive results is some
form of chromatography.  These include High Performance Thin Layer
Chromatography (HPTLC)[3], and different forms of Gas Chromatography/Mass
Spectrometry (GC/MS)[5][6][7][8][9].  HPTLC and GC/MS can be used to give
quantitative results as opposed to the Boolean results from EMIT or
Abuscreen.  Laboratory tests have shown that GC/MS test for LSD in urine[6]
and blood[7] can be accurate down to 0.1 ng/ml.  The cost for confirmation
of a positive screening test is approximately $50-60.

Positive results to either EMIT and RIA are held to be "probable cause" by
U.S. courts.  GC/MS results are held to be "proof" by U.S. courts.

> I am asking for an actual text message containing a short, precise >
description of each test,

Immunoassays chemicals are created by injecting animals (rabbits, sheep,
donkey, etc) with the drug to be tested for and an albumin which force the
animal to produce antibodies.  The antibodies are then removed from the
animal, purified and bottled.  In RIA tests, the antibodies are then added
to the fluid sample with a radioactively labeled chemical.  Any of the drug
(or similar chemicals) found in a sample that is being tested will react
with this glop and by measuring the radioactivity, the amount of drugs can
be determined [2][10].

> 3] How can such a test be beaten?

While there is some literature on adulterating urine samples to produce
false negative results [11], there has been little written that applies
specifically to the LSD screening tests.

I would suggest you read the article posted by Paul Hager paying particular
attention to the warning about water intoxication [12]:
In <[e-mail]> [e-mail] wrote
+ Recommended: "Dealing With Urine Tests on Short Notice"
+         by Dale Gieringer, California NORML
+
+ Most folks recommend that people hydrate themselves -- the idea
+ being that by drinking water and taking a diuretic that will
+ promote water loss, the urine will be very dilute and THC metabolite
+ content from "tomatoe" consumption will drop below the 100 ng/ml
+ threshold that defines a "positive".
+
+ Mr. Gieringer recommends that, the day before the test, the
+ person drink lots of water.  I would amend this to, drink your
+ normal "8 glasses" plus a few more.  Don't get carried away with
+ drinking water -- there is such a thing as "water intoxication"
+ which can result in brain swelling and other nasties so don't
+ chug-a-lug a gallon of water just before the test.  After
+ hydrating, and a little before the test, drink some more water
+ and use a diuretic (coffee is a weak diuretic).  Urinate to
+ flush the bladder -- the first urination of the day is the
+ one most charged with metabolites.  The pamphlet quotes from
+ a _High Times_ article, "How to Beat a Drug Test":
+
+         Take an 80 mg dose of the prescription diuretic Lasix
+         (furosemide); take a hefty drink of water; piss two
+         or three times; then take the test.
+
+ Some caution is to be exercised in taking diuretics.  Consult
+ your physician.
+
+ Mr. Gieringer also suggests that the clear, watery urine that
+ results from the above procedure is sometimes suspicious.  He
+ recommends taking 50-100 mg of vitamin B2 which will color
+ urine yellow for a couple of hours.  Vitamin C does not produce
+ this effect -- contrary to rumor.
+
+ For more information, I'd suggest contacting California NORML
+ directly at [phone].  They are located in San Francisco.
+ It is also possible that Mr. Gieringer will respond directly
+ via his canorml account.

> I am asking for ...[a description]... of each thing that LSD leaves behind
> that can be detected, and of each method used to beat each test.

The immunsoassay tests vary in their specificity.  Some display a relatively
low cross-reactivity[13], others a high cross-reactivity[14].  The exact
metabolites of LSD in humans have not been fully determined yet, though
animal studies have been done.  The only verified human metabolite I could
find in the literature was N-demethyl-LSD[6] but I did not check all the
references.

FOOTNOTES:
[1]
Altunkaya, D; Smith R.N.
"Evaluation of a commercial radioimmunoassay kit for the detection of
lysergide (LSD) in serum, whole blood, urine, and stomach contents"
Forensic Science International.  v47n2, September 1990, p113-21.
[2]
Taunton-Rigby, A.; Sher, S.E.; Kelley, P.R.
"Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Radioimmunoassay"
Science.  v181, July 13 1973, p165-6.
[3]
McCarron, M.M.; Walberg, C.B.; Baselt, R.C.
"Confirmation of LSD intoxication by analysis of serum and urine."
Journal of Analytical Toxicology.  v14n3, May-June 1990, p165-7.
[4]
Berg, E.
"Drug-testing methods: what you should know."
Safety & Health.  v142n6, Dec 1990, p52-6.
[5]
Lim, H.K.; Andrenyak, D.; Francom, P.; Bridges, R.R.; Foltz, R.L.
"Determination of LSD in urine by capillary column gas chromatography
and electron impact mass spectrometry."
Journal of Analytical Toxicology.  v12n1, Jan-Feb 1988, p1-8.
[6]
Lim, H.K.; Andrenyak, D.; Francom, P.
"Quantification of LSD and N-demethyl-LSD in urine by gas chromatography/
resonance electron capture ionization mass spectrometry."
Analytical Chemistry.  v60, July 15 1988, p1420-25.
[7]
Papac, D.I.; Foltz, R.L.
"Measurement of lysergic acid dietylamide (LSD) in human plasma by gas
chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry."
Journal of Analytical Toxicology.  v14n3, May-June 1990, p189-90.
[8]
Paul, B.D.; Mitchell J.M.; Burbage, R.; Moy, M; Sroka, R.
"Gas chromatographic-electron-impact mass fragmentometric determination
of lysergic acid diethylamide in urine."
Journal of Chromatography.  v529n1, July 13, 1990, p103-12.
[9]
Blum, L.M.; Carenzo, E.F.; Rieders, F.
"Determination of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in urine by instrumental
high-performance thin-layer chromatography."
Journal of Analytical Toxicology.  v14n5, Sep-Oct 1990, p285-7.
[10]
Ratcliffe, W.A.; Fletcher, S.M.; Moffat, A.C.; et. al.
"Radioimmunoassay of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in serum and urine
by using antisera of different specificities."
Clinical Chemistry.  v23n2, Feb 1977, p169-74.
[11]
Cody, J.T.; Schwarzhoff, R.H.
"Impact of adulterants on RIA analysis of urine for drugs of abuse."
Journal of Analytical Toxicology.  v13n5, Sep-Oct 1989, p277-84.
[12]
Klonoff, D.C.
"Acute water intoxication as a complication of urine drug testing in the
workplace."
Journal of the American Medical Association.  v265n1, Jan 2 1991, p84-6.
[13]
Christie J.; White, M.W.; Wiles, J.M.
"A chromatographic method for the detection of LSD in biological liquids."
Journal of Chromatography.  v120n2, May 26, 1976, p496-501.
[14]
Twitchet, P.J.; Fletcher, S.M.; Sullivan, A.T.; Moffat, A.C.
"Analysis of LSD in human body fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography,
fluorescence spectroscopy and radioimmunoassay."
J. Chromatogr.  v150n1, March 11 1978, p73-84.

Sorry this was so long but I thought it deserved it :-)
Enjoy a "referenced" article.
Tim Basher

...............................

There were rumors going around that LSD could be detected
by drug tests fo thirty days.  I think this reference and
abstract makes it clear that it is probably 4 days, max.
(see the end of the abstract)

 IDNUM     03319915
 TYPE      Journal paper
 DATE      880715
 AUTHOR    Heng Keang Lim; Andrenyak, D.; Francom, P.; Foltz, R.L.; Jones, R.T.
           Center for Human Toxicology, Utah Univ., Salt Lake City, UT, USA
 TITLE     Quantification of LSD and N-demethyl-LSD in urine by gas
           chromatography/resonance electron capture ionization mass
           spectrometry
 SOURCE    Analytical Chemistry; vol.60, no.14; 15 July 1988; pp. 1420-5
 SUBJECT   chromatography; electron capture; mass spectroscopic chemical
           analysis; organic compounds; quantification; gas chromatography;
           resonance electron capture ionisation mass spectrometry; LSD;
           N-demethyl-LSD; urine; lysergic acid diethylamide; human; in vitro;
           in vivo; aromatic hydroxylation; drug; metabolite;
           N-tri-fluoroacetyl derivatives; calibration curves; urinary
           concentrations; adult volunteer; excretion; elimination half-lives;
           4 to 6 hrs; 8 to 10 hrs
           Numerical data: time 1.4E+04 to 2.2E+04 s; time 2.9E+04 to 3.6E+04 s
           Class codes: A8280M; A8280B; A3470
 CODEN     ANCHAM
 ABSTRACT  Demethylation of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in the human has
           been demonstrated, both in vitro and in vivo, and aromatic
           hydroxylation at positions 13 and 14 has been tentatively
           identified. A gas chromatography/resonance electron capture
           ionization mass spectrometry (GC/MS) assay for LSD and
           N-demethyl-LSD in urine has been developed, in which the drug and
           its metabolite are converted to their N-tri-fluoroacetyl derivatives
           prior to GC/MS analysis. Linear and reproducible calibration curves
           have been obtained for LSD concentrations from 0.05 to 5.0 ng/mL,
           and for N-demethyl-LSD concentrations from 0.03 to 5.0 ng/mL. The
           assay was used to determine the urinary concentrations of LSD and
           N-demethyl-LSD following administration of a single oral dose of the
           drug (1 mu g/kg) to an adult volunteer. The rates of excretion of
           LSD and N-demethyl-LSD reached maxima in urine collected at time
           intervals of 4-6 and 8-10 h after administration, respectively. The
           elimination half-lives for LSD and N-demethyl-LSD were 3.6 and 10.0
           h, respectively
 MISCELLANEOUS
           Treatment: experimental
           Anal. Chem. (USA)
           Abstract number(s):  A89037987
           ISSN: 0003-2700
           Refs: 15

******************************

LEGAL SCHEDULING:

Class I, "no medical use" --- mostly for political reasons, as it was
and is used in psychotherapy.  (Current use is in Switzerland.)

Though LSD has very different subjective qualities than MDMA, Dutch psy
chiatrist Dr. Hans Bastiaans' use of LSD for decades  in the treatment of
concentration camp survivors is an inspiring example of the beneficial use of
psychedelics in the treatment of people with  severe trauma.


******************************

SET and SETTING:

"SET" is the expectations a person brings with them.  "Setting" is the
environment that a person is in.  Set includes expectations about the
drug's actions and how the person will react.  Setting includes the
social and physical conditions.  For LSD and the hallucinogen-type
drug more than other psychoactives, set and setting are very important
in determining the nature of the experience.  These factors make the
difference between, e.g., the experiences of someone taking the drug
for enhancement at a concert, for psychotherapy in an doctor's office,
in a religious context, or in the outdoors for an aesthetic
experience.  For best results, one should take LSD only with people
one trusts in safe, comfortable surroundings, free of everyday
intrusions.  Tripping alone is a very risky thing to do, that
inexperienced people should avoid.

******************************

STORAGE:

First, note that LSD is a fairly stable organic molecule, no more or
less fragile than other molecules with comparable structures.

The main factors to be concerned with are moisture (due to leaching
and facilitated chemical reactions in the presense of moisture),
oxygen, light, and temperature.  Reaction rates typically depend upon
temperature exponentially.  These factors basically apply to all
organic compounds.

Sealing in AL foil in a cool dark place is fine.  Some recommend
refrigeration, but be careful about nosy guests, condensation, and frost.
Multiple, redundant seals are suggested, eg., paper in metal foil in
plastic in a metal candy tin which has been taped shut.  Should last
at least a presidential term.

Wallets are contraindicated as storage locations due to sweat.

******************************

SYNERGIES, BAD COMBINATIONS:

Smoking cannabis products considerably increases the effects,
increasing the visuals and also possibly increasing the cognitive and
linguistic disorders.  As the effects of LSD wear off, marijuana may
bring them back, and also ease the jitteriness some dislike.  Nitrous
oxide goes well with LSD, though one should be extra careful (not to
suffocate or fall down) with the nitrous because of the effects of the
LSD.  MDA & cousins can go well, but people on these drugs should not
take LSD unless they are familiar with the latter's effects.

Alcohol's effects are largely overwhelmed by LSD, and they act in opposite
ways: alcohol being a depressant and LSD being a (hyper)stimulant.
Generally mixing stimulants and sedatives is counterproductive.

MAO inhibitors ???
Amphetamines and cocaine ???

******************************

SYNTHESIS:

Don't try it, too difficult and risky both physically and
legally.  Precursor medical drugs (ob/gyn and migraine ergot
alkaloids) are watched.


 When I saw the subjects relating to the synthesis of LSD, I knew the
information would be outdated. It's humourous to see people who think
they're in the know giving out information that was outdated even in the 70's.
Lysergic acid amides are commonly made by a simple and efficient procedure
using POCl3 and the desired amine in CHCl3 solution. I doubt that this
procedure is used by the majority of clandestine chemists, but since I
don't know any, I wouldn't know. By the description of the procedure,
it's simple and uses relatively safe reagents. (I have a reference, but
not handy...) And you won't find it in any obvious places even in the
most recent Merck because LSD is not the product of focus in the article.
This is why I doubt that unsavvy clandestine chemists would be using this
procedure. But according to the article, the method has a broad scope
and has been used by Nichols and Oberlender for some other lysergic acid
amides. (The article in question regards 9,10 saturated derivatives
tested for emetic properties.) It's time to stop turning to those stupid
"how to make your very own drug" guides and learn how to read real chemsitry
literature. If you can't, don't bother...
 Even the synthesis of lysergic acid is outdated. Rebek has described
an extremely elegant synthesis of methyl lysergate from L-tryptophan
which gives only the natural isomer of lysergic acid. It's still a
several step procedure, but most of the reagents are fairly common and the
yields are greatly improved over past syntheses.
 This brings me to an interesting side-note. Several years ago, analogues
of LSD that were 2 and 3 times as potent as LSD were synthesized. These
went largely unnoticed and would most likely prove of little interest
to clandestine chemists because LSD was the precursor used and the loss
in synthesis outweighed the gain in potency. But using Rebek's synthesis,
one could simply alter the procedure slightly and intorduce the groups
that make the compounds more potent. When the 6N-methyl group is replaced
by ethyl or allyl, it becomes 2 and 3 times as potent respectively.
I am posting this for general information. I may post references if I
decide it would be prudent. Requests will be ignored and I ask you not to
send e-mail requesting references. But if you just want to chat about them
and maybe speculate on subjective effects or other avenues of substitution...
I don't know if I'll ever see the day that research in this area is open
and legal, but I'd love to...



Anthony


******************************




REFERENCES & FURTHER READING:

    HISTORICAL:
LSD: My Problem Child [A. Hofmann, PhD] (excellent)
Storming heaven : LSD and the American dream  [Jay Stevens]. (excellent)
Ceremonical Chemistry [T. Szasz, M.D.]    (excellent)
Acid Dreams
Drugs and the Brain
Psychedelics Reconsidered
Electric Koolaid Acid Test
Flashbacks (Leary's autobiography)
The Great Drug War
Dealing With Drugs

    USAGE/INFORMATIONAL:
Psychedelic Encyclopedia [Stafford] (excellent)
Psychedelic Chemistry [M.V.Smith]
Biochemical Basis of Neuropharmacology (technical)
Consumer Reports: Licit & Illicit Drugs
Recreational Drugs

    REFERENCE:
Merck Handbook
Physician's Desk Reference
The Botany And Chemistry Of Hallucinogens, Shultes & Hofmann

    JOURNALS:
Journal of Psychoactive (formerly Psychedelic) Drugs



...............................

 AUTHOR:    Cohen, Sidney
 AUTHOR AFFILIATION:
            U California School of Medicine, Neuropsychiatric
            Inst, Los Angeles
 TITLE:     LSD: The varieties of psychotic experience.
 SOURCE:    Journal of Psychoactive Drugs  1985 Oct-Dec Vol 17(4)
              291-296
 ABSTRACT:  Discusses the contributing factors (e.g., preexisting
            character structure, insecurity, negative experience,
            current mood and stress level) and prevention and
            treatment of acute and prolonged psychotic reactions
            to LSD. (10 ref)

...............................


Additional (detailed) References (in random order):

"Indole Alkaloids In Plant Hallucinogens"  Richard Evans Schultes, PhD.
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol.8(No.1) Jan-Mar 1976

"Ethnopharmacology and Taxonomy of Mexican Psychodysleptic Plants"
 Jose Luis Diaz M.D.
 Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol. 11(1-2) Jan-Jun 1979

"The Botanical and Chemical Distribution of Hallucinogens"
Richard Evans Schultes, PhD.
Journal of Psychedelic Drugs Vol.9(No.3) Jul-Sep 1977

"Burger's Medicinal Chemistry" Fourth Edition, Volume III
Chapter: "Hallucinogens"  Alexander Shulgin


J. Psychoactive Drugs Vol 21 (1) Jan-Mar 1989

The Addictvie Behaviors: treatment of alcoholism, drug use, smoking, and
obesity
W.R.  Miller, Ed
(small amount of info on use of psychedelics in psychotherapy)
Pergammon press 1986


Biological Basis Of Behavior
N.Chalmers R. Crawley S.P.R.Rose Eds
Open Univ Press Harper & Row1971

Recreational Drugs
Young Klein Beyer
Collier Books, div of Macmillan pub co 1977

The Biochemical Basis Of Neuropharmacology
J.R.Cooper F.E.Bloom R.H.Roth
Oxford Univ Press 1982 (4th ed)

Craving For Ecstasy:  Consciousness And Chemistry Of Escape
H.Milkman S.Sunderwirth
Lexington Books, DC Heath and co  1987

A Primer of Drug Action
R.M.Julian
W.H.Freeman & Co.1978



LSD & Creativity
O.Janiger, M.D.de Rios
J. Psychoactive Drugs Vol 21 (1) Jan-Mar 1989

An Introduction To Pharmacology
J.J.Lewis
Williams and wilkins Co, Baltimore 1964 (3rd edition)

Metabolism Of Drugs Of Abuse
Spectrum Publications 1976
Dist by Halstead Press of John Wiley Press
L. Lemberger

Medicinal Chemistry: a series of monographs
G.deStevens Ed
Vol 4: Psychopharmaceutical agents
M. Gordon (ed)
Vol I, ch 13: psychomimetic compounds D.F.Downing
Vol II, ch 4: psychomimetic agents by A.T.Shulgin
Academic press 1976

The Road To Eleusis
Unveiling the secret of the mysteries
R.G.Wasson, A.Hoffman, C.A.P.Ruck
harcourt brace jovanovich inc. 1978

Lsd Man And Society
R.C.Debold, R.C.Leaf Eds
Wesleyan U press
Middletown Conn 1967

Hallucinogenic Plants (A Golden Guide) New York: Golden Press
1976
Shultes, R.E., Smith E.W.

The Sun And The Moon
A.Weil, MD

The Natural Mind
A.Weil, MD 1986
Houghton-mifflin pub co.

Sacred Narcotic Plants Of The New World Indians
H. Schleiffer ed.
Hafner press 1973
Div of mcmillan pub co

Moksha: Writings On Psychedlics And The Visionary Experience
A.C.huxley
stonehill pub co., NY
M.Horowitz, C. palmer Eds 1977

Psychedelic Chemistry
m.v.smith
2nd edition 1973
rip off press

Psychotropic Methoxyamphetamines: Structure And Activity In Man
S.H.Snyder, E.Richelson, H.Weingartner, LA.Faillace

Ethnopharmacological Search For Psychoactive Drugs
Proc of a symposium in SF, Ca Jan 28-30 1967
D.H.Efron, B.Holmstedt, N.S.Kline eds
US Dept of HEW

The Botany And Chemistry Of Hallucinogens
R.E.Schultes, A.Hoffman
charles C Thomas Publisher
Springfield Ill 1980


The Behavioral Effects Of Drugs
(Ch 4 Hallucinogens: Complications of LSD: A Review of the Literature;
Dimensions of the LSD, Methlphenidate, and Chlordiazepoxide
Experiences; LSD: Injection Early in Pregnancy Produces Abnormality
in Offspring of Rats; LSD: No Teratogenicity in Rats;  Congenital
Malformation Induced by Mescaline, LSD, and Bromolysergic Acid in
the Hamster;  Drug Motivated-Behavior: The Effect of Morning Glory Seeds
On Motor Activity In Chicks) (Also Includes Weil'S Study Of "Clinical and
Psychological Effects Of Marijuana In Man")
D.W. Matheson M.A. Davidson Holt Rinehart
Winston Inc 1972


any textbook titled "Physiological Psychology"

...............................

*BOOKS*

        (For a complete listing of books that we have in the No More
        Drug War Foundation Research Library, e-mail or write your
        address to me:

                      Gerald Bryan, Secretary
                      The No More Drug War Foundation
                      2045 Kearney St.
                      Denver, CO 80207-3919
                      303/388-5495 days
                      303/394-3930 evenings)

        BREAKING THE IMPASSE IN THE WAR ON DRUGS, by Steven Wisotsky,
        1986, 279 pages, $35.00, Greenwood Press.  Sympathetic to the
        idea of legalization.  Can be ordered from publisher at 88
        Post Road West, Box 5007

        PSYCHEDELIC DRUGS RECONSIDERED, by Lester Grinspoon & James B.
        Bakalar, 1979, 1981, Basic Books, Inc.  Good book that covers
        all aspects of psychedelic drugs, written by Harvard professors.
        You can probably order this from anywhere.

        ECSTASY: THE MDMA STORY, by Bruce Eisner, mid-1980s.  Covers
        all aspects of this drug, good book, available anywhere.

        PSYCHEDELICS ENCYCLOPEDIA, by Peter Stafford, Revised Edition,
        1983, J.P. Tarcher, Inc.  Great resource book, you can probably
        order this from anywhere (huge bookstore in Denver had it in
        stock)


*ORGANIZATIONS*

        The Drug Policy Foundation           The grand-father of all the
        4801 Massachusetts Ave., N.W.        legalization groups, this one
        Suite 400                            appeals to educated mainstream
        Washington, D.C. 20016-2087          folk.  Holds annual conference,
        202/895-1634                         has respectability.  This is a
                                             MUST-JOIN !!

        Multidisciplinary Assoc. for         Educational group seeking to
         Psychedelic Studies (MAPS)          give drug study legitimization
        23A Shaler Lane                      through normal public policy
        Cambridge, MA 02138                  channels.  Supports drug
        617/547-7271                         research projects worldwide.

        The Albert Hofmann Foundation        Educational group seeking to
        132 West Channel Road                build a library to house
        Suite 324                            vast amount of research work
        Santa Monica, CA 90402               done on consciousness, including
                                             extensive LSD studies.

        Coalition for 100% Drug Reform       Political, grass-roots activist
        9 Bleecker Street                    group seeking an end to zero-
        New York, NY 10012                   tolerance policies and promoting
        212/995-1245                         safe drug use education.  They
                                             have a drug reform conference
                                             scheduled for Dec 1-3.

        The No More Drug War Foundation      Activist group seeking to bring
        Box 18780                            an end to the drug war through
        Denver, CO 80218                     grass-roots political action &
        303/320-1910                         education.

        N.O.R.M.L.                           Still around, still holding pot
        2001 'S' Street, N.W.                rallies.  Good for people who
        Suite 640                            want MJ legalized but don't care
        Washington, D.C. 20009               about other drugs.
        202/483-5500

        Ed Hassle's Freedom Fighters         Activist group associated with
        Trans-High Corp                      High Times.  Similar agenda to
        211 East 43rd St.                    NORML.
        NY, NY 10017

        PRIDE                                Yes, this is an anti-drug,
        50 Hurt Plaza                        pro-drug-war group, but they
        Suite 210                            publish a good newsletter
        Atlanta, Georgia 30303               that informs well on what the
        404/577-4500                         opposition is doing.
        800/241-7946





...............................

(about  visual disturbances: )
Migraine: the evolution of a common disorder
O. Sacks
U CAl press 1970

Brain Damage, Behavior, And The Mind
M. Williams
John Wiley & Sons 1979
ch 5 Disorders of visual perception

Mescal And Mechanisms Of Hallucinations
Heinrich Kluver
U. Chicago Press 1930

Drugs And The Brain
Perry Black MD, Ed
Johns Hopkins Press 1969
behavioral effects of LSD in subhuman primates


Hallucinations
Sci Am
R.K.Siegal
(see also article on phosphenes in amateur scientist column in another issue)


Luria's _The Shattered Mind_


Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) -
Your Psychedelic Pharmaceutical Company
by Rick Doblin, MAPS President
MAPS, 1801 Tippah Avenue, Charlotte, NC. 28205 Phone (704) 3
58-9830, FAX [phone], e-mail [e-mail]


 Becoming a member of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic
Studies, Inc. (MAPS) and receiving the MAPS newsletter is an excellent way to
stay abreast of the latest developments in psychedelic research around the
world.  In addition, your membership donation will be used to support
research into the medical uses of MDMA, LSD, marijuana,
and a cornucopia of other fascinating compounds.

 MAPS is an IRS-approved non-profit corporation supported by tax-deductible
contributions from a membership of about five hundred people and growing.
MAPS  works to develop the medical potential of MDMA and other psychedelics
by assisting researchers around the world to design, obtain governmental
approval for, fund,  conduct and report on psychedelic research.  MAPS is
also involved in research  exploring the medical use of marijuana.  MAPS'
primary goals are to help researchers conduct the studies necessary to
transform MDMA and marijuana into FDA-approved prescription medicines. For
MDMA, this is an estimated ten-year, $10 million project;  for mar
ijuana, a two-year, $500,000 task.

 MAPS offers its members a quarterly newsletter reporting on MAPS-sponsored
and other psychedelic research in progress both in the US and abroad,
political developments that affect psychedelic research and use,  and
conferences, books and articles of interest.  In addition, MAPS offers for
sale various unique publications (for example the protocol submitted to the
FDA for the investigation of the use of MDMA in the treatment of pain and
distress in terminal cancer patients),  videotapes (of a MAPS benefit held in
Berkeley in 1990 that featured Jerry Beck, Ram Dass, Bruce Eisner, Rick
Doblin,  Laura Huxley, Emerson Jackson, Mark Kleiman, Timothy Leary, Dennis
McKenna, Terence McKenna, Ralph Metzner, Andrew Weil, and Robert Zanger), and
audiotapes (of a MAPS seminar held in Prague in 1992  featuring Ram Dass, Ken
Ring and Richard Yensen discussing working with the terminally
 ill with psychedelics).

  Since its inception in 1986, MAPS has invested about $75,000, donated by
its members, into preliminary FDA-required 28-day MDMA toxicity studies in
the dog and rat. These studies were submitted to the FDA  in order to open
MAPS'  FDA Drug Master File for MDMA. These toxicity studies were a
prerequisite for all FDA-approved studies involving the administration of
MDMA to human volunteers. When UC Irvine psychiatrist Dr.  Charles Grob
applied to the FDA to conduct human research with MDMA, MAPS provided him
with written permission to cross-reference its MDMA Drug Master File. This
document saved Dr. Grob from having to reproduce the  toxicity data, a hurdle
that  he would have foun
d prohibitively expensive.

 MAPS has  also invested an additional $125,000 on pilot studies into the
effect of MDMA on the serotonin levels of humans, on  MDMA neurotoxicity
studies in the primate, and on protocol design for  Phase 1 and Phase 2 human
studies with MDMA. In addition to MAPS' preliminary toxicity research and its
subsequent efforts on protocol design, MAPS  successfully assisted Dr.
Charles Grob in obtaining FDA permission to  study  the effects of MDMA on
human volunteers. Dr. Grob's study is the first that the FDA has ever
permitted involving the administration of  MDMA to human volunteers. The
study is designed to gather information for a subsequent study by Dr. Grob
which will investigate the use of MDMA in the treatment of pain and distress
in end-stage pancreatic cancer patients.  MAPS intends to raise funds for Dr.
Grob's studies and provide him with whatever scientific and profess
ional  support he may need to conduct his experiments.    One function of
MAPS is to conduct MDMA research as if MAPS were a pharmaceutical company
interested in  making MDMA  into a prescription medicine. The critical
difference is that MAPS makes its data available for free to responsible
researchers to help advance the field of MDMA research rather than keep the
data as proprietary information. In this way, duplication of expensive
required studies is eliminated and researchers can focus on research
rather than profit considerations.
 ...


------------------------------


You may have heard about "no-hitter" that Bob Milacki's of the Oakland A's
pitched last week.  No-hitters are pretty rare and this one made the
news everywhere.  One of the local TV stations refered to it as
Milacki's "no-no," a term that originated with Dock Ellis's no-hitter
back on June 20th, 1970 for the Pirates.

  Dock pitched that game on acid.  That fact didn't come out until almost
  15 years later.  Here are some interesting excerpts from Eric Brothers
  account of the game in the August 1987 issue of High Times magazine:

  "Dock woke up late.  Why shouldn't he?  As far as he knew, the team had
  an off day and he planned to take full advantage of it.  Three hits of
  LSD were ready and waiting in the refrigerator.

  "A few minutes later, his girlfriend returned with coffee, donuts, and
  the morning paper.  At noon, they dropped acid.  Dock put on a record,
  while his girlfriend read the paper.

  "Dock, it says here you're pitching today!"

  "Whaaaa...?  said Dock groggily.  He snatched the paper, scanned the box
  scores, and read:

        PITTSBURGH AT PADRES
           DOUBLEHEADER
      (6 P.M.) - Ellis (4-4) vs.
           Roberts (3-3)

  [He makes it to the game and after having someone help him find his
  locker, he suits up and enters the game.]

  "Dave Roberts, the Padres' pitcher, had an easy first inning, ending
  with Roberto Clemente hitting one back to the box.  Dock marched to the
  mound, wondering if he'd last the inning.

  "His fingers tingled as he squeezed the ball.  He squinted to see
  catcher Jerry May's hand signals.  He nodded his head and went into his
  windup, falling slightly off balance in the process.  The ball hit the
  ground about two feet in front of the plate and skipped into May's
  glove.

  "May signaled for a fastball outside.  Dock wound up and threw a hot one
  over the the corner of the plate - a swinging strike!  In was no
  ordinary pitch:  The ball burst from Dock's hand and left a blazing,
  cometlike tail that remained visible long after the ball was caught.

  "Dock felt wobbly on the mound and his stomach was churning with acid
  cramps.  His concentration, however, was superb.  As long as he kept to
  his fastball, the comets kept burning across the plate.  All he had to
  do was steer the ball down the multicolored path.  Dock had a crazed
  look in his eyes and his lack of control was evident to the batters,
  many of whom were feeling increasingly vulnerable in the batter's box.
  Dock easily retired three batters in a row [in the second inning].

  [the seventh inning:]

  "The Pirates were clinging to their 1-0 lead.  Dock was staring at the
  scoreboard when he realized he'd pitched hitless ball for seven innings.
  He smacked Cash on the arm.

  "Hey, look," said Dock, pointing at the scoreboard.  "I've got a no-no
  going!"

  Cash gave him a blank look.  "A no-no?" asked Cash.  He'd never heard
  the term before.  But Cash wanted to keep the pitcher loose and happy,
  so he smiled and said nothing.

  [He finished the game without a hit.]

  (Dock had a pretty good year in 1970.  He went 13-10, and helped the
  Pirates win their first of three divisional championships.  The fact
  that he pitched his no-hitter on LSD was not revealed until April 8,
  1984. [no details given])


******************************


From the 11th Edition of the Merck manual, the "Centennial Edition" no less:
[perhaps something to drop in the FAQ?]

  5505. Lysergamide.  9,10-Didehydro-6-methylergoline-
8beta-carboxamide; lysergic acid amide; ergine.  C16H17N3O;
mol wt 267.32.  C 71.88%, H 6.41%, N 15.72%, O 5.99%.
Isoln from _Rivea_corymbosa_(L.) and from _Ipomoea_tricolor_
Cav., _Convolvulaceae_:  Hofmann, Tscherter, _Experientia_ 16,
414 (1964).  Prepn from lysergic acid hydrazide:  Ainsworth,
U.S. pat. 2,756,235 (1956 to Lilly); from lysergic acid and
phosgene-dimethylformamide complex:  Patelli, Bernardi,
U.S. pat. 3,141,887 (1964 to Farmitalia).  Microbiological
production:  Rutschmann, Kobel, U.S. pat. 3,219,545 (1965
to Sandoz).

          H.     CONH2
            '. /
             / \
           /     \
          ||      |
          ||      N
   /\\    /\     / \
 /   \\ /    \ /     CH3
||     |      | \
||     |      |   H
 \   // \    /
   \//    \/
    |     ||
    |     ||
   HN-------

  Prisms from methanol. dec 242deg.  [alpha](5461)(20) + 15% (c = 0.5 in
pyridine).
  Methanesulfonate, C7H21N3O4S, prisms from methanol +
acetone, dec 232deg.
  Note:  This is a controlled substance (depressant) listed in
the U.S. code of Federal Regulations, Title 21 Part 1308.13
(1987).

  5506. Lysergic Acid.  9,10-Didehydro-6-methylergoline-
8-carboxylic acid.  C16H16N2O2; mol wt 268.32.  C 71.62%,
H 6.01%, N 10.44%, O 11.93%.  Lysergic acid and isolyser-
gic acid are the main cleavage products formed on alkaline
hydrolysis of the alkaloids which are characteristic of ergot.
Jacobs, Craig et al., _J._Biol._Chem._ 104, 547 (1934); 125, 289
(1938); 130, 399 (1939); 145, 487 (1942); _J._Org._Chem._ 10,
76 (1945).  High-yield production by _Claviceps_paspali_:
Arcamone et al., _Proc._Roy._Soc._ (London), _Ser._B_, 155, 26
(1961).  total synthesis: Kornfeld et al., _J._Am._Chem._Soc._
76, 5256 (1954); 78, 3087 (1956); M. Julia et al., _Tetrahedron_
_letters_ 1969, 1569; V.W. Armstrong et al., ibid. 1976, 4311;
W. Oppolzer et al., _Helv._Chem._Acta_ 64, 478 (1981); R.
Ramage et al., _Tetrahedron_ 37, Suppl. 9, 157 (1981); J.
Rebek, D.F. Tai, _Tetrahedron_Letters_ 24, 859 (1983). Ste-
reochemistry: Stoll et al., _Helv._Chem._Acta 37, 2039 (1954);
Stenlake, _J._Chem._Soc._ 1955, 1626; Leeman, Fabbri, _Helv._
_Chim._Acta_ 42, 2696 (1959).  Absolute configuration:  Stad-
ler, Hoffman, ibid. 45, 2005 (1962).

          H.     COOH
            '. /
             / \
           /     \
          ||      |
          ||      N
   /\\    /\     / \
 /   \\ /    \ /     CH3
||     |      | \
||     |      |   H
 \   // \    /
   \//    \/
    |     ||
    |     ||
   HN-------

  Haxagonal scales, plates with one or two moles H20 from
water, mp 240deg (dec). [alpha](D)(20) + 40deg (c = 0.5 in pyridine).
Behaves as an acid and base, pKa 3.44, pKb 7.68.  Moder-
ately sol in pyridine.  Sparingly sol in water and in neutral
organic solvents; sol in NaOH, NH4OH, Na2CO3, and HCL
solns.  Slighly sol in dil H2SO4.
  Methyl ester, thin leaflets from benzene, mp 168deg.
  Note:  This is a controlled substance (depressant) listed in
the U.S. code of Federal Regulations, title 21 Part 1308.13
(1987).

  5507. Lysergide.  9,10-Didehydro-N,N-diethyl-6-meth-
ylergoline-8beta-carboxamide; N,N-diethyl-D-lysergamide; D-
lysergic acid diethylamide; LSD; LSD-25; Lysergsaure Di-
ethylamid.  C20H25N3O; mol wt 323.42.  C 74.27%, H 7.79%,
N 12.99%, O 4.95%.  Microbal formation by _Claviceps_pas-
pali_ over the hydroxyethylamide;  Arcamone et al., _Proc._
Roy._Soc._(London) 155B, 26 (1961).  Partial synthesis:  Stoll,
Hofmann, _Helv._Chim._Acta_ 26, 944 (1943); 38, 421 (1955).
Industrial prepn: Pioch; Garbrecht, U.S. pats. 2,736,728;
2,774,763 (both 1956 to Lilly); Patelli, Bernardi, U.S. pat.
3,141,887 (1964 to Farmitalia).  Isotope-labeled LSD:  Stoll
et al., _Helv._Chim._Acta_ 37, 820 (1954).  Toxicity data:  E.
Rothlin, _Ann._N.Y._Acad._Sci._ 66, 668 (1957).  Review:  Hof-
fer, _Clin._Pharmacol._Ther._ 6, 183 (1965).  Book: _The_Use_of_
LSD_in_Psychotherapy_and_Alcoholism_, H.A. Abramson, Ed.
(Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, 1967) 697 pp.

                     / C2H5
          H.     CON
            '. /     \ C2H5
             / \
           /     \
          ||      |
          ||      N
   /\\    /\     / \
 /   \\ /    \ /     CH3
||     |      | \
||     |      |   H
 \   // \    /
   \//    \/
    |     ||
    |     ||
   HN-------

  Pointed prisms from benzene, mp 80-85 degs.  [alpha](D)(20) + 17deg (c =
0.5 in pyridine).  uv max (ethanol):  311 nm (E(1 cm)(1%) 257).
LD50 in mice, rats, rabbits (mg/kg):  46, 16.5, 0.3 i.v.
(Rothlin).
  D-Tartrate, C46H64N6O10, solvated, elongated prisoms from
methanol, mp 198-200deg.  [alpha](D)(20) + 30 deg.  Soluble in water.
  Caution:  This is a controlled substance (hallucinogen)
listed in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Title 21 Part
1308.11 (1987).
  USE: In biochemical research as an antagonist to serotonin.
Has been used experimentally as adjunct in study and treat-
ment of mental disorders.

NOTES:  Not guaranteed to be free from typos.
        Underlines are supposed to be italic (ie book/journal titles, etc)
        Alpha, beta, and deg are the greek letters and the degree symbol
        [alpha](D)(20) means a greek letter in [] followed by a subscript
          and then a superscript (I don't know *WHAT* this actually is)
        The chemical structures are almost exactly what the Merck manual has
          drawn.  Almost nothing was lost in the conversion to ASCII.

...............................


.... of the jungle
P.O. Box 1801
Sebastopol, CA  95473

Their catalog doesn't list how much their catalog is.  I'm
sure it wasn't more than $2.  It might be free.

>From their catalog - "We are ... of the jungle.  This catalog
lists some of our favorite beneficial plants and botanical
products from our personal collection ... The propagule units
listed here are intended for cultivation as houseplants only.
The data provided on folk uses is given for historical
interest and can be found in ethnobotanical literature.  We do
not suggest or imply attempting such folk use ... [ :-) ]"

They sell San Pedro cuttings and a number of other
Trichocereus Cacti seeds, Hawaiian Woodrose, Datura, etc.
Pretty much every legal medicinal plant.  They are very prompt
at shipping orders.

LUX NATURA
2140 Shattuck Ave.
Box 2196,
Berkeley, CA  94704

>From an October 1988 Douglas J. Trainor posting - "Mostly
listing many tapes by McKenna, but also a new expanded edition
of _Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide_."  Their
catalog is free (?).

----

SYZYGY
P.O. Box 619
Honaunau, HI  96726

Amazonian Psilocybe Cubensis spore prints  $10 + $1 shipping.
This info is also from the October 1988 Douglas J. Trainor
posting.

----

Spectra
P.O Box 203
Capitola, CA  95010

They used to advertise San Pedro cactus seeds and cuttings in
H.T.  I ordered seeds from them and they came promptly with
some nice growing information.

----

The Twentieth Century Alchemist
P.O Box 1684
Manhattan Beach, CA  90266

They publish a number of booklets [some apparantly formatted
using troff & Berkeley fonts, interestingly enough] including -
 "The Book of Acid" - LSD synthesis
 "Peyote and other Psychoactive Cacti" - growing and extracting alkaloids.
 "Legal Highs"
 "Basic Drug Manufacture"

Booklets are $1.50 each (plus $.25 for handling).  The catalog
alone is 25 cents.  I have quite a few from the collection,
but I've bought them from bookstores, so I don't know how good
the mail order service is.

----

Thompson & Morgan
P.O Box 1308
Jackson, NJ  08527
[phone]

The largest seed catalog in the world.  The beautiful catalog
is free (you can get it by calling them).  They sell peyote
seeds.

----

Island Spore Co.
P.O Box 8055
Honolulu, Hawaii  96830

"Baby or regular Hawaiian Woodrose Seeds, a sample $20 [20
seeds] or $75/oz.; one Hawaiian Panaeolus Cyanescens spore
print for $15; Betel Nut seeds $10; Kava-Kava $20/pz., or
$75/quarter lb.; Imported Poppy Seeds $10 or $60/quarter lb.
Allow 6-8 weeks for delivery." - H.T. ad

This company seems to have been around a while.  I've only
ordered from them once, and they took the full 8 weeks to get
my order to me.  They are quite a bit more expensive than
other sources like "of the jungle."

----

The Shroom King
Box 17444
Seattle, WA  98107
[phone]

"Growing Wild Mushrooms" + Psilocybe Cubensis print -   $25
Above plus compost + malt agar medium               -   $35

----

The Seed Bank
Postbus 5
6576 ZA  Ooy
The Netherlands

The 1989 catalog is free.  They sell marijuana seeds.  The
color catalog is nice to look at if nothing else.

----

S.S.S.C.
Postbus 1942
100 Bx Amsterdam - Holland

S.S.S.C. is the Super Sativa Seed Club.  Their 1989 catalog free.
They sell marijuana seeds.



CEREMONIAL CHEMISTRY: The ritual persecution of drugs, addicts, and
pushers, by Thomas Szasz, 1985, Learning Publications, PO Box 1326,
Holmes Beach, Florida, 33509.  (ISBN: 1-55691-019-3.)

There is a revised edition floating around -- buy it!  This book is a
classic.

The book is divided into three major sections: (1) Pharmakos: The
Scapegoat, (2) Pharmacomythology: Medicine as Magic, and (3)
Pharmacracy: Medicine as Social Control.  There's a great appendix,
"A Synoptic History of the Promotion and Prohibition of Drugs", an
addendum to the appendix, "The `War on Drugs' 1974-1984", plus
copious references and a bibliography.

Some feminists want to borrow my copy when I'm done reading it.


LSD by Richard Alpert and Sidney Cohen, photography by Lawrence
Schiller, 1986, The New American Library, New York.

What a find!!!  Alpert and Cohen play good-cop/bad-cop with LSD.
More debate-type books like this should be written.

...............................


Getting Real About Drugs

ALEX BEAM

It was almost 30 years ago that a group of 20 young seminarians from
Andover-Newton Theological School gathered in the basement of Boston
University's Marsh Chapel to participate in an experiment using
psychedelic drugs.

Organized by Walter Pahnke, a graduate student in religion and society,
assisted by a young Harvard researcher named Timothy Leary and
encouraged by the Rev. Howard Thurman, the charismatic black chaplain
of Boston University, half the group swallowed psilocybin, a
hallucinogen derived from mushrooms, while their colleagues ingested
niacin tablets. Then all 20 filed into pews to listen to Thurman's Good
Friday sermon and reflect upon Christ's Passion on the cross.

Pahnke believed that the psilocybin would induce mystical religious
visions, and he hypothesized that the drug experiences would exert a
longterm positive influence on his subjects' lives. Little did he know
that his Good Friday experiment, which created a furor at the time,
would be one of the last scientifically controlled tests using
psychedelics.  Shortly after the experiment, Leary was booted out of
Harvard and psilocybin was outlawed. Pahnke died in 1971.

Rick Doblin, a young researcher at Harvard's Kennedy School of
Government, has spent four years tracking down the 20 participants in
the Good Friday experiment. One has died, one has disappeared.  Of the
remaining 18, all but one agreed to discuss their experiences with him.
Ten of the 18 subjects whom Doblin located entered the ministry, while
the rest fanned out among other professions.

By and large, they agree that the psilocybin experience had a lasting,
positive effect on their lives. In an article just published in the
Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, Doblin writes: "The subjects
unanimously described their psilocybin experience as having had
elements of a genuinely mystical nature and characterized it as one of
the highpoints of their spiritual life."

Robert Kirven, who at the time was writing a thesis on spiritual
reality, remembers feeling like a skeleton and experiencing his own
death.  "It was a very vivid opening onto another aspect of reality,"
he said.  "Here I thought I knew what I was talking about; it was like
writing about China and then getting a chance to go there."

Several psilocybin subjects had profound mystical experiences,
prompting one to tell Doblin: "I would want my kids to take it "

But Doblin's follow-up research also uncovered some of the experiment's
darker moments. Two subjects found the combination of the hallucinogen
and Thurman's vivid Passion sermon to be overwhelming -- When Thurman
urged his listeners to spread the news about the crucifixion, one
seminarian rushed onto Commonwealth Avenue to announce the good news
and had to be restrained.

More chillingly, one of the subjects experienced what Pahnke called a
"psychotic episode," and was given an injection of the powerful
tranquilizer thorazine - a fact Pahnke never mentioned in his writings.
Six months after the experiment, the man reported "slightly harmful"
negative persisting effects.  Almost 30 years later, the man's colleagues
told Doblin that "his experience caused no persisting dysfunction and
may even have had some beneficial as well as detrimental effects."
The subject refused to talk to Doblin.

Doblin, who is also the president of the Multidisciplinary Association
for Psychedelic Studies, believes his follow-up to Pahnke's original
research argues for the legalization of drugs, which he supports. I
don't support the full legalization of drugs, but if dissemination of
Doblin's work helps quell the antidrug hysteria in this country, so
much the better.

My own children are learning about illicit drugs from public-service
advertisements aired during Saturday-morning cartoon shows, thus
whetting their interest in the forbidden fruit of which their parents
partook. Some drugs are dangerous and are properly outlawed.  Other
controlled substances provide medical benefits. As the aging hipsters
might say: It's time to get real about drugs.

Alex Beam is a Globe Columnist.

...............................



  DATE      890922
  AUTHOR    McKenna, Terence
  TITLE     Plan plant planet. (Special Section: Plants as Teachers)
  SOURCE    Whole Earth Review n64 p5(7) 1989 Fall
  SUBJECT   Plants and civilization--study and teaching
            Botany--philosophy
            Hallucinogenic plants--history
  GRAPHICS  photograph

  DATE      890922
  AUTHOR    Rheingold, Howard
  TITLE     Ethnobotany and the search for vanishing knowledge. (Special
            Section: Plants as Teachers)
  SOURCE    Whole Earth Review n64 p16(8) 1989 Fall
  SUBJECT   Ethnobotany--study and teaching
            Plants and civilization--study and teaching
            Hallucinogenic plants--study and teaching
            Shamanism--study and teaching
  GRAPHICS  photograph


...............................


LSDCREAT.TXT follows this line:


(Originally printed in Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, Vol 21(1),
Jan-Mar 1989. Note: every word in the text, omitting the
References-section, beginning with a slash, i.e. /word, is to be
printed in cursive font.)


LSD and Creativity
------------------


Oscar Janiger, M.D. (Department of Psychiatry, University of
California, Irvine, California)

Marlene Dobkin de Rios, Pd. D. (Department of Anthropology, California
State University, Fullerton, California)


The effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on creativity were
examined in a unique experiment in the late 1950's. In this project,
artists were asked to draw and paint a Kachina doll both prior to and
one hour after the ingestion of LSD. Evaluations of these artistic
productions were analyzed by a professor of art history in order to
investigate the impact of LSD on artistic creativity. Certain
representative changes were found in the artists' predominant style.
The most significant change was noted in those artists whose styles
were intrinsically representational or abstract to more
expressionistic or nonobjective. Other changes noted included the
following: relative size expansion; involution; movement; alteration
of figure/ground and boundaries;greater intensity of color and light;
oversimplification; symbolic and abstract depiction of objects; and
fragmentation, disorganization, and distortion. Many artists judged
their LSD productions to be more interesting and aesthetically
superior to their usual mode of expression. The above-mentioned
changes contributed to heir usual mode of expression. The
above-mentioned changes contributed to the artists' convictions that
they were fashioning new meanings to an emergent world.


The eminent novelist Aldous Huxley has written that the twentieth
century may well be remembered for the impact of hallucinogens on
society. One of the issues debated regarding the use of these drugs,
particularly lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), is that they may
heighten creative capacity in the individual. There is a large and
often-cited literature of self-reports by such drug users concerning
their perceived enchanced creativiness. In addition, there are a
number of anthropological accounts that relate the use of
mind-altering ethnobotanical substances to artistic inspiration and
productivity. Objective analysis of these data is difficult, although
there is certainly a need for their systematic examination and
evaluation.

Capturing the elusive elements of a creative act is like trying to
weigh a pound of leaping mice. Janiger and his colleagues were
fortunate to have been present when several mice seemed to hit the
scale at the same time. This opportunity came during the course of a
large clinical project that was begun by Janiger in the spring of
1955, with the cooperation of the Sandoz Pharmaceutical Corporation.

Many papers had been published prior to that time regarding the unique
properties of LSD. The several clinical reports were almost all of
psychiatrically ill subjects in hospital settings, and little was
known about the effects of LSD on normal subjects in a controlled
nonmedical environment. Janiger designed a series of experiments to
study the behavioral and psychological effects of LSD in a varied
population of human subjects in a natural setting. This was done at a
time when the investigational use of the drug was legally permissible,
its clinical testing selectively encouraged among researchers, and no
public knowledge of LSD was generally available. By the close of the
project, more than 2,000 administrations of the drug had been given to
848 people who reported their experiences.

Candidates were selected from a large number of applicants on the
basis of health and demographic factors, such as ethinicity, religion,
age, sex, marital status, occupation and education. Two settings were
provided: One was a comfortable living room and the other was an
artist's studio, with facilities for painting, drawing, and sculpting.
An adjoining garden was also accessible. The subjects were given LSD
(2,5 ug/kg of body weight) and were unobtrusively monitored during the
period of heightened drug activity. They were encouraged to provide a
written account of their experiences as soon as they were able. In
addition, one-month and one-year follow-up questionnaires were
submitted by 70 percent of the participants.

The art subproject began serendipitously when one of the early
subjects, a practicing professional artist, insisted om having some
object to draw. A decorative and colorful Deer Kachina (see front
cover) taken from the mantel of Janiger's office proved to be a
fortuitous choice. The artist drew furiously and later exclaimed.
"This is four years of art school!" He felt that it would be most
insightful for other artists to experience this process of perceptual
change. It was decided to pursue this concept, and a separate art
project was formed. By the close of the study, almost seventy
practicing professional artists had participated under controlled
conditions.

This preliminary article will examine the corpus of artwork produced
by these artists who drew and painted the Kachina doll both prior to
and on ehour after ingestion of a prescribed dose of LSD (see Plate
1). Additional data were obtained on several occasions from artists
who chose to draw self-portraits or their internalized imaginery.
Whether these transformations represent enchancement or deterioration
of the artistic product is a question to which this study of
LSD-created art may provide a tentative answer. Aside from occasional
presentations at professional meetings and some partial exhibitions of
the artwork, this research material has not been previously published.


LITERATURE REVIEW

The research literature on LSD and creativity is scant. The little
information that is available is either inconclusive or the
measurements used lacked sensitivity to the issue. Six studies were
undertaken to examine the subject of hallucinogenic drugs and creative
performance. Most were pilot studies rather than full-scale
investigations. Berlin and colleagues (1955) investigated the effects
of mescaline (400-700 mg)and LSD (50 ug) on four graphic artists of
national prominence. They found impairment of fingertapping efficiency
and muscular stediness; however, all were able to complete paintings.
A panel of art critics judged the paintings as having "greater
aesthetic value" than the artists' usual works, with the lines bolder
and the use of color more vivid. However, technical execution in the
material was somewhat impaired.

In another study, Barron (1963: 284) administered psilocybin to a
number of highly creative individuals and recorded their impressions.
He concluded that "psilocybin dissolves many definitions and melts
away boundaries, permitting greater intensities or more extreme values
of experience to occur in many dimensions."

In 1967, McGlothlin, Cohen and McGlothlin studied seventy-two graduate
students, each of whom volunteered to receive 200 ug of LSD. A number
of crativity tests were given before the session and one week later.
The main finding was that 62 percent of the subjects asserted that
they had a greater appreciation of music. They purchased more record
albums, visited art museums, and attended musical events more
frequently in the postdrug period. The authors concluded that the
increase in aesthic appreciation was not accompanied by an increase in
sensitivity and performance.

Zegans, Pollard and Brown (1967) investigated the effects of LSD (0.5
ug/kg) on creativity test scores of thirty volunteer graduate students.
The indices of creativity showed that the administration of LSD to a
random sample, for the purpose of enchancing creativity, is not likely
to be successful.

The fifth study, which was conducted by Fadiman and colleagues (1966),
examined the effects of mescaline (200 mg) as a facilitating agent in
the creative process. Subjective reports culled from the participants'
responses yielded the following: the increased capacity to restructure
a problem in a larger context, an enchanced fluency of ideas, a
heightened capacity for visual imaginery, an increased ability to
concentrate, a greater accessibility of unconscious material, and an
ability to associate dissimilar ideas and to visualize the completed
solution. About half the subjects reported that they had accomplished
a great deal more during the session than they usually did. Twenty
percent were not able to concentrate on their project because they
were diverted by the hallucinogenic effectsm, and 30 percent fell in
between the two groups.

As Krippner (1969) has pointed out, two of the five studies that were
cited above indicate that experimental LSD use in unselected graduate
students does not seem to increase their creative ability. However, in
the three remaining studies utilizing hallucinogenic drugs, an
enchancement of creative ability among artistic individuals was
demonstrated. In 1967, Krippner surveyed ninety-one artists reputed to
have had one or more LSD-like experiences. He defined the psychedelic
artist as one whose work was produced during an LSD experience or as
the result of the influence of a psychedelic experience. Ninety-seven
percent of Krippner's respondents stated that their art was influenced
in three general areas: content, technique, and approach. Seventy
percent stated that their experiences affected the content of their
work, particularly the heightening of eidetic imaginery. Fortu-four
percent noted improvement in their techniques; the use of color was
the most cited example. As for the creative approach, 52 percent of
the artists stated that the experience eliminated superficiality from
their work and gave them greater depth as people and as creators.

Cohen (1964) wrote that whether LSD does or does not increase
creativity remains an open question. Certainly, no systematic research
to date has been available to help in finding an answer. All that can
be definittively said about the effect of hallucinogens on the
creative process is that a strong subjective feeling of creativiness
accompanies many of the experiences.


ANALYSIS OF THE ARTWORK

During the seven years of the experiment, 250 drawings and paintings
were produced. These were examined by Carl Hertel, professor of art
history at Pitzer College, Claremont, California, who undertook a
stylistic assessment of the artwork. An inherent difficulty of this
formal analysis was the wide range of individual stylistic tendencies
charasteristic of the works of contemporary Western artists. Hertel
has stated that "it is probably simpler to formally analyze the work
of any tribal group where definite traditional stylistic conventions
are operative than our task here. A heterogeneous group of
non-traditional artists in this study reflects the numerous
conventions that characterize post-Renaissance art in the West."

When the results are examined in light of the many stylistic
tendencies in twentieth-century paintings - such as expressionistic,
abstract-expressionistic, and nonobjective works of art - at a glance,
it is difficult to separate the drug-influenced works from the
historic examples. There is a striking homogeneity of stylistic
effect. One is also tempted to compare certain of the drug-incluenced
drawings with examples of Ch'an (Zen) Buddhist works by a traditional
Chinese and Japanese artists and to observe equally striking stylistic
similarities.

There may be some bias in the individual attitudes related to the
drug-taking experience. Some of the artists were content with quick
sketches of the subject matter presented, while others were motivated
to execute rather finished drawings and paintings. A more ideal
research design, which was not available to the study, would have been
to conduct longitudinal studies of individual artists before and after
the experimental period. Some of the most significant data and
impressions received in dealing with these particular paintings and
drawings will now be reviewed.

A Deer Kachina series, consisting of fifty-six items of
before-and-after samples of twenty artists, was selected for detailed
analysis. Twenty-five items by eight artists were labeled /series and
represented /free paintings and drawings during the experimental
period. They comprised a wide variety of subject matter, including
self-portrait series, random drawings, and paintings. Of the
eighty-one items, seventy-three were paintings done in various media
and eight were drawings.


RESULTS

This section summarizes the results of the formal analysis of the Deer
Kachina series, which were classified under the following eight
categories:
    1. Dominant style - whether the work was predominantly
    abstract, representational or of another genre.
    2. Compositional charasteristics - whether the composition was
    architectonic, a vignette or of another form.
    3. Linear charasteristics - whether the quality of line was
    nervous, angular, curvilinear of another form.
    4. Stroke charasteristics - whether the predominant stroking
    was short and broad, broken, flat field or another technique.
    5. Textural charasteristics - whether the predominant textural
    quality was a heavy impasto (actual), illusionistic or another
    format.
    6. Color charasteristics - whether color was noticeably local,
    arbitrary, brilliant, muted or otherwise portrayed.
    7. Value charasteristics - whether the use of lights and darks
    was strong in contrasts, close value or another blend.
    8. Dimensional charasteristics - whether the nature of the
    drawing and/or painting was suggestive of volume and mass,
    flat, two dimensional or otherwise presented.

The most predominant changes were in the following categories:
dominant style (1); color (6); line (3); and texture (5), in that
order. Focusing on the representative changes in the dominant style
category (1), three general stylistic tendencies in the pre-LSD state
were represented in the Deer Kachina series. First, ten of the artists
were classifiable as predominantly representational in their approach
to the subject matter (i.e., their primary motive lay in representing
the object as it presents itself to the eye). Of course, there was a
great deal of individual variation within this style category, as well
as withing the other two.

Four of these ten changed their style under the influence of the drug
to a noticeably expressionist one (i.e., their primary motive lay in
alterations of form, color, line, and medium). Within this group, the
major tendency was to radically distort stroke, and therefore medium
and form. Image was retained in varying degrees. Three changed their
style to a nonobjective one (i.e., image was lost and was replaced by
an interest in color and personal symbolism). One artist changed to a
predominantly abstract style (i.e., the primary motive lay in the
reduction of forms or simplification of forms and formal elements
generally). In this case, the focus was shifted to a single part of
the Deer Kachina. It might be noted that reduction is a charasteristic
of this Kachina's style, but the reduction utilized by the artist and
those in the category below exceeded what might be considered to be
within the realm of naturalistic representation.

Second, six of the artists were classifiable as predominantly abstract
in their approach to subject matter. Of these six, three changed their
style to a nonobjective one; two changed their style to being notably
expressionist and engaged in radical distortions of composition and
color; and on eretained an essentially abstract style.

Third, two artists were classifiable as distinctly expressionistic in
their approach to subject matter. In both cases, the predominant
stylistic tendency was retained. However, changes in articulation of
various formal elements, particularly line, were observable.

In summary, eight of the changes were to an essentially
expressionistic style. Six were to a nonobjective one, which in many
cases entailed expressionistic distortions of medium and color. In
fact, on ecan state that fourteen of the cahnges were to a style in
which the primary motive alteration of the representational image. Two
of the changes were to a predominantly abstract style. Two other
changes were ambiguous and unclassifiable. The changes generally
manifested were as follows: There was a movement toward alteration and
fragmentation; the /enlargement of the composition through focusing on
parts rather than the whole, and with filling up the page;
intensification of color; the /loosening /up of the line to either a
chiefly curvilinear (flowing) or sharply angular motive; and a general
intensification of the textural properties of the medium used.

These results are not surprising. One could suggest tentatively that
although the work done under the influence of LSD was more interesting
on a sensational level, it was not immediately clear that the
individual artist - in the majority of cases - was able to produce
aesthetically superior work during the period when the drug was
operable. To be more spesific, in a majority of cases a residual
imprint of the artist's aesthetic preferences was retained. This was
especially evident in choice of color and in technical facility. In
those cases where technical proficiency appeared deficient in the
pre-LSD state, a certain increase in articulateness (confidence) was
noted due to the freedom apparently provided by the drug experience.


PERCEPTUAL CHANGES

The most commonly reported phenomena resulting from an LSD experience
and having particular relevance to this question of creativity were
greater freedom from prescribed mental sets and syntactical
organization, an unusual wealth of associations and images,
synesthesia, the sharpening of color perception, remarkable attention
to detail, the accessibility of past impressions, memories, heightened
emotional excitement, a sense of direct and intrinsic awareness, and
the propensity for the environment to compose itself into perfect
tableaux and harmonious compositions.

The data from this study and others by Janiger (1959a, 1959b) seem to
support the thesis that the evidence from LSD-induced artwork reveals
perceptual changes indicative of those generally gound under the
influence of hallucinogenic drugs. The powerful global statement of
the artists' work bears witness to these perceptual transformations.
They can be examined at will and serve as a prototype of the visual
record of consciousness changes accompanying the creative process.

As evidenced by this study, the alterations in perception can be
categorized as follows:
    1. Relative size expansion - the figure tends to fill all
    available space and shows difficulty being contained within
    its borders.
    2. Involution - obecjts shrink down or fill less space; they
    become more compact or are imbedded in a matrix.
    3. Alteration of figure/ground - or to a circular viewpoint.
    4. Alteration of boundaries - figure and ground may be
    considered a continuum. The object tends to merge with the
    surroundings, with observer and observed not rigorously
    delineated, with less differential between the object and the
    subject.
    5. Movement - the object or environment is in continuous
    movement, with greater vibrancy and emotion.
    6. Greater intensity of color and light.
    7. Oversimplification - elimination of detail and extraneous
    elements.
    8. Objects may be depicted symbolically - or as essences.
    9. Objects are depicted as abstractions.
    10. Fragmentation and disorganization.
    11. Distortion.


CONCLUSION

Contrary to popular belief, most artists find it possible to exercise
some technical proficiency, with varying degrees of success, under the
influence of LSD. This seems to improve with repeated experiences. The
artistic productions are not ipso facto inferior to those performed in
ordinary states of consciousness. However, in evaluating the reports
and follow-up questionnaires, they are often judged by the artists to
be more interesting or even aesthetically superior to their usual mode
of expression. A review of the follow-up information shows that, in
many instances, the artist in the series described herein felt that
the LSD experience pruduced some desirable lasting change in their
understanding of their work, which continued to incluence the form and
direction of their artistic development. A so-called confusional or
disorganized phase may represent a creative crisis in which the artis
struggling, to maintain his/her traditional approach, finally reaches
another level of integration and expression.

These metamorphoses all contribute to the artists' convictions that
they are able to create new meanings in an emergent world. It is of
special interest to note that many of those elements that are
universally reported under the influence of LSD are those features
traditionally associated with heightened artistic creativity. The
ultiamte explanation for these changes may lie in a biochemical basis
of perception and/or the cultural history of the individual.


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors wish to acknowledge the asistance of Virginia D. Berg, M.
A., in the preparation and editing of this article.


REFERENCES

Barron, F. 1963. Creativity and Psychological Health. Princeton, New
Jersey: Van Nostrand.

Berlin, L.M.; Guthrie, T.; Weider, A.; Goodell, H. & Wolff, H.G. 1955.
Studies in human cerebral function: The effects of mescaline and
lysergic acid on cerebral process pertinent to creative activity.
Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease Vol 122: 487-491.

Cohen, S. 1964. The Beyond Within: The LSD Story. New york: Atheneum.

Fadiman, J.W.; Harman, H.W.; McKim, R.H.; Mogar, R.E.; & Stolaroff,
M.Y. 1966. Psychedelic agents in creative problem solving: A pilot
study. Psychological Reports Monograph Vol. 19 (Suppl. 2): 211-227.

Janiger, O. 1959a. The use of hallucinogenic agents in psychiatry.
California Clinician Vol.56:193-200.

Janiger, O. 1959b. The use of hallucinogenic agents psychiatry.
California Clinician Vol. 55: 222-224.

Krippner, S. 1969. The psychedelic state, the hypnotic trance and the
creative act. In: Tart, C. (Ed.) Altered States of Consciousness. New
York: John Wiley & Sons.

McGlothlin, W.H.; Cohen, S. & McGlothlin, M.S. 1967. Long lasting
effects of LSD on normals. Archives of General Psychiatry Vol. 17(5):
521-532.

Zegans, L.S.; Pollard, J.C. & Brown, D. 1967. The effects of LSD-25 on
creativity and tolerance to regression. Archives of General Psychiatry
Vol 16: 740-740.

...............................

>From the sci.med archives:

Migraines are severe headaches which are caused by dilatation of
blood vessels in the scalp and meninges (the brain itself is
insensitive to pain).  They are throbbing, often unilateral.
At or before onset of the pain, many people will have neurologic symptoms.
These may be caused by spasm of vessels or by electrical disturbances
in the brain (spreading activation).  EEG at this time may be abnormal.
The most common of these symptoms are visual, such as sparkling lights off to
the side (scintillating scotomas), colored jaggy lines (fortification spectra),
or blind spots that sometimes expand.  Occassionally, retinal migraine
can cause total loss of vision in one eye.  Some patients will have
numbness of the face or extremities, often progressing from foot to
arm to face or in reverse (usually on one side of the body only).
Some will have weakness, speech disturbance, or confusion.  Vertigo
is another common complaint.  These symptoms typically last 10-20
minutes.   Patients with neurologic symptoms are said to
have "classic migraine".  Common migraine may appear without such prodromes.
Blurred vision is very common with all types of migraine.  Usually,
the patient with migraine is photophobic (light hurts their eyes),
and will seek to lie down in a dark room, often with an icepack or
cool cloth on their head.  They are irritable and don't like to be
bothered at this stage.  Nausea is usually present, and vomiting may
occur.  The scalp is sore and combing the hair may be painful.  Pressure
on the temples may temporarily help the pain.  If the patient can
sleep, the pain is usually better on awakening.  The headache usually
lasts a few hours.  Sometimes, it can last days.  The frequency of
the headaches varies from every year or two to daily.  Most sufferers
have one or two per month.  Females are much more likely to have
migraine, which usually abate after menopause.  Migraines are
hereditary.  Certain foods and medications can provoke migraines.
Patients with migraine should first make a food diary to determine
if any food appears commonly in the 24 hours prior to the migraine
attack.  Such foods should be eliminated if necessary.  Chocolate,
cheese, wine, beer, nuts, and fruits are often the culprits.  Birth
control pills should be eliminated if they are being taken.  Certain
nitrates such as nitroglycerine and isosorbide are notorious provokers
of migraine.  Calcium channel blockers and theophylline are also guilty
in some.  Change in sleeping time and stress can cause a migraine.
Treatment depends on the frequency of migraines and is pharmacologic.
If migraines are less than weekly, and especially if there is a prodrome,
the vasoconstrictor ergot preparations are useful.  The ergot is most
effective sublingually or as a suppository (so it can't be vomited up) and
should be taken at the earliest sign of the prodrome.  Doses can be repeated
half-hourly up to 6mg per day and 12mg per week.  Dosages above this can
lead to overconstriction of small vessels in the periphery and should
not be taken.  This medicine has been used for hundreds of years, and
if the above caution is respected, is safe.  Midrin works like
the ergots and is an alternative.   If the migraines are
too frequent to use ergots, daily doses of propranolol (a beta blocker)
are effective in about 60% of people.  Usually 80mg or above daily
are needed.  Depression and malaise are the most common side effects
which prevent its use.  Tricyclic anti-depressants are very effective
on a daily basis.  50mg of amytriptilene nightly is the usual dose.
If the patient gets too drowsy with these, Prozac may be effective also.
Women who have migraines only during menses may benefit from tiny
doses of ergot (0.2mg tid) taken only at that time of month.  Those
who don't respond to propranolol or tricyclics may also benefit from
chronic small dose ergots.  Methysergide, a serotonin inhibitor
is also very effective, but can only be given for 6 months at a time
because of fibrotic side effects.  Cyproheptadine is another serotonin
inhibitor that is less effective but safer.  Lithium is effective,
but difficult to administer.  Fiorinal is a good migraine remedy, but
may be habit forming if taken on a daily basis.  It is good for the
occassional migraine sufferer, especially if taken early on in the attack.
Phenobarbital is also effective and is sometimes preferred by pediatricians.
In my experience, most migraineurs can be brought under control if
one is patient enough to search for the proper regimen.



...............................

This was sent to me for anonymous post.  This is a pretty good procedure, but
the author asked me to add his recommendation that anyone who wishes to grow
mushrooms of any kind consult a secondary source of information, such as the
book he mentions, or _PSILOCYBIN: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide_.  Of course
these books deal with contraband, illegal, evil, satanic hallucinogenic
mushrooms, but the information they contain can also be used to grow other
strains, and if you use one of these books to grow your morels, you should
definitely ignore the information they contain about those unAmerican
psilocybes, cuz if you don't you may just turn into an free-thinking liberal
commie pinko long hair drug abusing rebelious hippie (TM).

I didn't proofread this, so any inaccuracies or mistakes are unknown to me.
To flame the writer, copy your comments to /dev/null.

============================ BEGIN ANONYMOUS POST ==========================

Well here it is, all I know about growing psychedelic mushrooms...
This information was taken from a book in the rare books collection at the
University of Texas at Austin entitled "Magic Mushroom Cultivation", published
in 1977 and written by (the name escapes me).  Anyway, I have used the rice-
cake method described below, and am currently growing my third batch, which
has turned out some pretty potent mushrooms!  I feel the need to mention that
I'm giving you this information for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, and I don't
expect you or anyone else to actually undertake any of the techniques I will
describe below, for to do so may violate certain laws--and I wouldn't give you
this information if I thought you might do something illegal.

Before I describe the technique I use, I'd like to say that there are many
methods of growing 'shrooms, some more difficult than others, and I am simply
presenting the method which has worked well for me:  never had a dud batch--
they've always fruited readily, and I've never poisoned myself or others with
contaminated 'shrooms.

*******************************************************************************
                      HOW TO GROW PSYCHEDELIC MUSHROOMS
*******************************************************************************

Materials Needed:

- a sporeprint from a strain of psychedelic mushrooms.
    (make sure it's the real thing, and that it's not contaminated with dust
     or anything!)

- a pressure cooker, pref. 17 qt. (liquid) capacity.
    (this is the most expensive item, but it's a necessity.  Borrow, rent,
     buy, or steal one.)

- one dozen (or more) new mason jars, 1 quart size, pref. wide mouthed,
  with lids.

- a box/bag of brown rice--not white rice and not long-grain.  Use a decent
  quality brand...i find that Comet brand SUCKS! Do not use it.

- something to scrape the spores off the print into the jar... You want
  something like a stiff metal wire with a handle, so you can heat the end
  red hot in a flame to sterilize it without burning your fingers.  I find
  that a probe from a Biology dissection kit works wonderfully.

- a flame source.  An alcohol lamp is not hard to make out of a small jar
  filled with rubbing alcohol, with a cotton ball as a wick.  I suppose you
  could just use a lighter, but i prefer making an alcohol lamp--just make
  sure you don't burn your place down!!

- a clean place with a relatively constant temp. between 60-78 degrees to
  store your jars.  ( I made up the temperature range )  Closet shelves are
  fine, in my experience.  You want a place that's pretty dust/bug free,
  but you don't want the storage area to be airtight, as shrooms do have to
  breathe just like any other living organism.  Many books recommend making
  some kind of superclean box to store the jars in, but I've never bothered
  with that.  Most sources of information on growing 'shrooms (this one, too)
  stress that everything be AS STERILE AS POSSIBLE.  However, if you do have
  to cut a few corners you should still be successful if you just USE YOUR HEAD!

which leads me to the....

- optional materials:  germ-killing soap for washing hands, alcohol for
  sterilizing hands, etc.,  surgical gloves, dust masks, hair-nets, an
  air-filtering machine (Pollenex?), a couple gallon jugs of distilled water.
  (As you can see, this is all stuff which will help to make things a bit
   more sterile--definetly recommended!)

PROCEDURE (finally!)

This is the procedure I follow for the rice-cake method of propagating
psychedelic mushrooms.  I use this method for a number of reasons.  One is
that my first ever batch consisted of 6 jars of manure medium and 6 of the
brown rice medium, I found the rice cakes produced more 'shrooms, and for
a longer period of time than did the manure-filled jars.  Rice has obvious
advantages in that it's easy to obtain--no trekking thru a pasture looking
for fresh cow-shit!  Also, the manure stinks like hell when cooked in the
pressure cooker!  Perhaps the biggest advantage to the rice cake method is
that when the rice cake no longer produces crops of 'shrooms (2-3 mos.),
you can actually CONSUME THE RICE CAKE ITSELF!!  Given, of course, that you
detect no contaminants on the rice cake (molds or bacteria).  When mushroom
growth stops, the rice cake can provide a trip for 2-4 people.  See the end
of this article for methods of ingesting mushrooms/rice cakes...

PROCEDURE ( i promise! )

1.  Turn off the air-conditioner in the place you're going to do this...It is
very important to work in a draft-free area.  Turning the A/C off will allow
the dust in the room to settle (incl. the heavier mold spores which can
contaminate your rice-cake medium. )

2.  Set up the pressure cooker, make sure you read the manual if you have one.
You don't want the damn pressure cooker exploding, or anything like that...
Wash out the pressure cooker for good measure, and also wash the jars and lids.
I wouldn't use a towel to dry them out, though, you'll just wipe germs & dust
back on 'em.

3.  Wash yourself, too.  It's recommended that you wear a long sleeved shirt,
and to pull your hair back or wear a cap or hair-net.  I don't think that the
dust mask would be nec. at this point, maybe later, though...

4.  For each quart-size mason jar, add 1/4 cup brown rice, and 1/3-1/2 cup water
I use the distilled water that you can buy in any grocery store--I don't trust
tap water.  Fill 6 or 7 jars with this mixture, as many as will fit into your
pressure cooker without stacking or jamming them in there.  Place the lids on
the jars, with the rubber UP, and leave the lids very loose.

5.  Place the jars on the bottom rack of the pressure cooker.  I recommend using
the rack, that way the jars won't tip and spill as the water boils around them.
Also keeps them from breaking from the heat of the burner directly below them.
For a 17 quart pressure cooker, add about 3 quarts of water, but not so much
that the jars start to tip over too much from floating.  Again, I use distilled
water for this.

6.  Now, follow the directions for sealing the pressure cooker.  Some recommend
that you rub a dab of cooking oil on the seal, so that it seals properly and
is easier to close and open.  Do it right. Do it by the book.  Turn the stove
on high and cook the jars for 1 hour AFTER the pressure reaches 15 lbs. inside
the cooker.  LET THE PRESSURE COOKER COOL BEFORE OPENING!  Also, don't try to
rush the cooling process.

7.  Just before opening the pr. cooker, wash up again, maybe use rubbing alcohol
or surgical gloves.  Now is the time for dust masks (although I usu. use my
shirt to keep from breathing germs on the jars).  Long sleeves and a hat or
whatever is recommended because literally millions of germs are falling off
your body at any given moment.  Sterility and the absence of drafts are of
utmost importance from here on out...

8.  Open the pressure cooker and let the jars cool until they're pretty close
to room temp.  You may want to tighten the lids a bit so air/germs can't
contaminate the rice cakes.  When the jars cool off some, you're ready to go...

9.  Heat your wire loop/probe/whatever until it is GLOWING RED.  Put on your
dust mask or pull your shirt up over your nose and mouth.

10.  Lift the lid off the jar and set it down on a sterile surface, with the
inside face down.

11. Get out your sporeprint and hold it over the open jar at an acute angle.
Use the sterilized wire loop/probe to gently scrape and tap the sporeprint to
get the spores down onto the rice cake.  If you can see the dark specks fall
onto the rice, you've done it sufficiently--anything you can see is probably
a few hundred thousand spores.  A sporeprint the size of a nickel can EASILY
innoculate a dozen jars.

12.  Screw on the jar's lid tightly and shake the jar until the rice cake
breaks up, this will allow the spores to spread throughout the rice medium,
thus increasing the chances for success.  Next, unscrew the lid until it almost
comes off-- this allows for air to get into the jar.  I usu. just screw the lid
on about 3/4 of a turn--just enough where it won't fall off easily.

13.  When you've done this for all your jars, just put the jars in a safe,
clean place with a fairly steady temp., a dark place is OK.  In 3 days-2 weeks
you should see white, fluffy mycelia appear--looks like white fuzz.  Any other
color of fuzz (green, black, etc.) is mold, and the jar should be disposed of.
I'm not kidding about this!  Certain contaminants, molds in particular, can
cause illness or even death if you ingest the contaminated 'shrooms.  It's
better to be safe than sorry, believe me.  Also be on the lookout for bacterial
infections of the rice medium.  These will often appear as colored (orange or
pink) runny or clammy looking gunk in with the rice. These should be thrown out
immediately as well.  Bacterial infections may also give off a kind of putrid
odor, but of course you should not be taking the lids off the jars at all at
this stage.  Now, the rice itself will get very soft as a result of the pressure
cooking, and the initial shaking of the jar may smear gel-looking gunk all over
the insides of the jar.  But by comparing with the rest of the jars you should
be able to tell the difference between this gunk and a bacterial infection.
Like I said before, JUST USE YOUR HEAD!!

14.  This is not actually another step because you're done!  Just sit back and
wait for nature to take its course!  Shrooms are pretty much maintenance-free
until fruiting starts to occur.  It should take anywhere from 2 weeks to 1 month
for the mycelia to completely permeate the rice medium, then it will start
getting these stringy looking or fan shaped runners in the white fuzzy growth.
Mushroom formation is not far off, and the jars should be getting a couple of
hours of light per day--fluorescent is OK, and natural sunlight is superb, just
make sure the jars don't get too warm.  Of course at all stages be on the
lookout for any possible contaminants in the mycelia.  By the way, as the
mycelia mature, they may start staining blue, due to bruising, I think--so
don't mistake this for a mold infection, but keep a close eye on any change in
color from the white coloring.  The 'shrooms first appear as tiny white pinheads
and then they will darken (in P. cubensis) to a lovely reddish brown.
When the 'shrooms are growing the lids on the jars should be very loose.
Also, mushrooms grow best in an environment with a humidity of over 90%, so if
you think that your 'shrooms may need a more moist environment, one thing to do
is to simply use a spray bottle to spray boiled or distilled water directly onto
the lids of the jars.  I find that the moisture condenses inside the jars and
runs down the inside of the jars, moisturizing the mycelia.  You don't want
things TOO wet, however, as this will promote mold/bacteria growth.  Another
possible method is to replace the lids with a double layer of paper towel
which is misted daily--although I would think that not having an actual lid
on the jar would invite contamination.  Just my personal preference.  It is
important that air exchange takes place in the storage area--this becomes
more important as fruiting occurs, as the mycelia gives off CO2 and needs O2.

HARVESTING:

'Shrooms are "ripe" as soon as the white membrane connecting the cap to the
stem has broken somewhat, although you don't want to pick them before they have
reached their full size!  To harvest an individual mushroom, wash your hands
well--I usu. use rubbing alcohol, too.  Then take the lid off the jar and grasp
the mushroom firmly near the base.  You may need to use a pair of sterilized
tweezers to do this, which is what I usu. do--I avoid placing germy hands
inside the jars.  A brisk twisting motion will help to free the 'shroom from
the mycelia.


STORAGE AND METHODS OF INGESTION:

Avoid crushing fresh mushrooms.  The blue staining that is common in psychedelic
mushrooms is evidence of oxidation--meaning that the active ingredients
(psilocin and psilocybin) are being oxidized, too--rendering the 'shrooms
inactive.  While refrigeration is recommended, freezing fresh mushrooms should
be avoided, since the expansion of the freezing water in the cells ruptures the
cell walls and thus opens them up for oxidation.  Mushrooms that were frozen
while fresh may be an attractive blue color, but they are inactive....
Storage of fresh mushrooms should be in a breathable container such as a paper
bag stored in a refrigerator, avoid putting fresh 'shrooms in a ziploc bag, as
they may become slimy--ugh!  I have heard of people also storing fresh shrooms
by chopping them up and mixing them into honey--the 'shroom honey is then spread
on bread or whatever and eaten.
I have not had good experiences with drying mushrooms, although there are a
couple ways to do it.  One is by placing them on a cookie sheet in an oven on
the lowest temp. with the door slightly open.  Sun drying will also work.
My main problem with dried shrooms is that in my experience they are only about
half as potent as fresh 'shrooms.  I believe the reason for this is that the
two psychoactive ingredients (psilocin and psilocybin) are present in equal
amounts in fresh shrooms.  BUT, psilocin is an unstable compound compared to
psilocybin, and breaks down readily when exposed to heat and oxygen.  The
normal dosage for dried shrooms is 2 - 5 grams, dried.  But I have never
had a "trip" from dried shrooms--only with the fresh stuff.  I ate 4 grams once
and only got a buzz--like being stoned or drunk.
So, I like my shrooms fresh, and of course, I have that luxury since I grow my
own.  Whether they are dried or fresh, there are many interesting ways to take
them.  My current favorite method is to blend fresh ones in a blender with
orange juice--the effects are fantastic!  I believe due in part to the fact
that the shrooms are almost completely liquefied by the blending process,
releasing the "good stuff" into the orange juice and making it more readily
absorbed by the stomach.  Another good method, one which I have used to eat the
rice cakes, was to chop the rice cake (or shrooms), and brown them for JUST
a few seconds in butter before pouring in an omelete mixture.  Mushroom
omeletes!! Not only a meal, but a good trip, and a tasty way to ingest the
shrooms!  (I happen to dislike the taste of shrooms by themselves)  Yet another
method of taking shrooms is to make a milkshake in a blender, and add the
shrooms, you can make kind of a "strawberry smoothie" in this way.  Another
way is to boil the shrooms, fresh or dried (or a rice cake) in a couple cups of
water for about 15 minutes, and then either add a tea bag for hot tea, or
make Kool-Aid with the cooled water (straining out the shrooms, of course).
Sprinking fresh or dried shrooms (chopped) onto pizza, or into spaghetti sauce
is another treat--fun for a "shroom party".  Since psilocin and psilocybin are
soluble in both water and alcohol, soaking shrooms in any liquor will release
these active ingredients into the liquor, making for a powerfully intoxicating
liquor a la' the way an "Emerald Dragon" is made with marijuana...
I have tried smoking a couple dried shroom caps, but only got the slightest buzz
from the VERY harsh smoke, no real effects to tell the truth.
I should mention again that once shroom production has really tapered off (and
you'll be able to tell) after 2 - 3 months, the rice cake can be eaten/used, if
you closely examine it and decide that there is no green or black mold
contaminant present.  I should note that the rice cake will probably be all
kinds of funky colors--a mix of white, steel blue, gray, maybe even purple in
places from spores falling on it!  I have ingested several scary-looking rice
cakes, however, with no ill effects.  A single rice cake is enough for 2 - 4
people to trip on, although 2 is probably the better figure.  Some of my best
trips were on half a rice cake chopped up and cooked in an omelete!  That's
what I love about the rice-cake method--when the shrooms stop growing there's
no waste!  Speaking of no waste, if I ever had a rice cake that I didn't
want to risk eating I might use it to innoculate a compost pile or a pasture
full of cow shit by inserting a small piece into each cow-pie or into the
compost pile...Wild mushrooms...Just something to think about.


MAKING SPORE-PRINTS:

This is really easy, just take a fresh shroom and gently twist the cap off away
from the stem.  Then place the cap, gills down, on a sterile card or piece of
glass.  Cover the cap and card with a clean, small container to keep drafts
from blowing the spores away, and to prevent dust/contaminants from settling on
the card/glass.  I usu. use a small juice glass for this purpose.  Leave the
covered 'shroom cap on the card/glass overnight and, voila!  I suggest folding
the card the next day and keeping it in an airtight container (sm. ziploc bag)
in a refrigerator.  I have been told that spore prints will keep for up to a
year in an airtight refrigerated (not frozen) environment.  From personal
experience I know that they last at least 3 months.

...............................


In the middle 80's I had obtained a copy of Stafford's Psychedelic
Encyclopedia and read the description of 5-MeO-DMT.  It didn't sound
as fun as other mind drugs (eg, lsd) but the book said it was legal
and different.  (like having elephants dance on your head...)

So, I made up a company and used a quasi-safe address and money order,
and bought 250 mg from A******h chemical co.  They called and wanted to
make sure that it was for "laboratory use only".  I assured them it
was, so they were off the hook.

The first time I tried it, I was frozen with my pipe in hand.  It hits
within seconds and is like being thrown into the peak of a really
strong trip.  Thrown by being picked up and bounced on your head.
There was very momentary visual distortion ---like the visual world
was made of rubber being stretched at the center--- that lasted for
maybe half a second.  But the big effect is purely mental: you become
a catatonic psychotic for ten minutes.  Your body feels weird, you may
see a little of the acid-sheen on surfaces.  But mostly, everything
seems very strange and you sit there and wait for it to subside.  And
you're convinced you know what its like to be crazy, in a different
way than acid.  You don't talk for a minute after taking the hit.
You better sit down when you try it.

Note that this is different, though chemically related, to DMT, aka
'businenessman's trip', which is supposedly mostly visual.  Alas,
this poor monk has not tried that sacrament.  Born too late, I suspect.

The burnt chemical smells awful; use a disposable pipe, or clean it in water
after use.  Use a tiny amount ---maybe the amount of 3 grains of salt or so.
It either works or it doesn't; the dose-response curve is more like
a step-function than any other drug I know of.

There are no aftereffects evident, and you can talk to your parents
in half an hour.

It is the most potent demonstration of the physical basis of mind that
I know of.

I've let 3-4 people try it over the course of several years, (hi
Peter!) and the effects have been similar.  It is not ecstatic like
lsd, and after doing it, there is no great desire to repeat it soon
after.

The chemical is a constituent of various south american snuffs, which
contain other ingredients too.  It may also be a component of
cerebrospinal fluid.

...............................




LSD, MDMA, plus some other compounds are being used in Europe, legally,
as part of various psycholytic[*] therapies and research studies by
qualified investigators.  Newsletter #2 of the Albert Hofmann Foundation
focuses on psychedelic research in Europe and is being mailed now
( 14 pages and GROWING!!! ).  Here are only a few tidbits from Robert
Zanger's recent trip to Europe...

                             *  *  *

Jan Bastiaans of Leyden, Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at the
University of Leyden and former Director of the Psychoanalytic
Institute in Amsterdam, was the last researcher permitted to use LSD in
the Holland.  He reached the mandatory retirement age for Dutch
professors -- 70.

                             *  *  *

Hanscarl Leuner of West Germany ( Emeritus Professor of Psychiatry at
the University of Gottingen ) is currently working with Ketamine and a
new empathogen ( an unidentified phenethylamine from Shulgin, twice the
activity of MDMA, and used at 50 mg. ).  Michael Schlichting is doing a
pilot study of the phenethylamine, as part of his doctoral thesis, and
initial neurotoxicity studies have found no neurotoxicity at normal
dosage levels.

Leuner's psycholytic clinic administers Ketamine in 3 intramuscular
injections, beginning in the morning, and spaced 90 minutes apart ( 1st
dose moderate, 2nd higher, 3rd lower again ).  The phenethylamine is
taken orally, usually in just one dose.  Patients have guides.

                             *  *  *

Milan Hausner of Prague, formerly Medical Director of Sadska Hospital,
has joined the Advisory Board of the A.H.F. and will be its first
scholar-in-residence.  Hausner will spend 6 months in the U.S. putting
together results from his 20 years experience with LSD in therapy.

Czechoslovakia even made their own LSD, Lysergamid-SPOFA, and supplied
it for 8 years after Sandoz halted production in 1966.

                             *  *  *

Albert Hofmann of Burg, just received is 3rd honorary doctorate from
the University of Bern ( biochemistry of ergot alkaloids ), and has
been talking a lot lately about the medical uses of LSD, plus
celebrating Sandoz's drug Hydergine.

                             *  *  *

Peter Baumann of Zurich, President of the Swiss Association of
Physicians for Psycholytic Therapy, brings some of the best news --
that permission was granted in Switzerland ( Office of Pharmaceuticals
and Narcotics, of the Department of Public Health of the Ministry of
the Interior ) for private practitioners to use LSD, psilocybin,
mescaline, and MDMA!  Baumann's group, however, is currently using only
LSD and MDMA, and the LSD is being synthesized at the University of
Bern.

Jorg Roth of Bern, Research Director for the Association, is setting up
a whole ward at Lindenhof Hospital to study the "therapeutic efficacy
of both LSD and MDMA", at the prompting of Swiss health officials.

George Ricaurte of Baltimore, MDMA researcher at Johns Hopkins
University, will be working with the Swiss Association.  Swiss subjects
will be donating spinal fluid ( before and after ) for Ricaurte's study
( currently illegal in the U.S. to collect such data... ).

                             *  *  *

If you're currently on the Foundation's mailing list, you should be
receiving the newsletter soon.  If you're not, write for information:

    The Albert Hofmann Foundation
    132 West Channel Road, Suite 324
    Santa Monica, CA  90402

[*]  European investigators seem to like the word "psycholytic", i.e.
     mind-dissolving, over the term "psychedelic", i.e. mind-manifesting.

P.S. The 4th Symposium of the European College for the Study of
     Consciousness is focusing on PSYCHOACTIVE SUBSTANCES AND ALTERED
     STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS IN RESEARCH AND THERAPY this December
     8th-10th ( 1989 ) in West Germany.

     European ethnopharmacologists are planning the FIRST INTERNATIONAL
     CONGRESS ON ETHNOPHARMACOLOGY for June 5th-9th ( 1990 ) in France.

     Write the Foundation or send e-mail for more details on these.



...............................



                             ENTHEOGENIC RESOURCES
                            =======================
                                  Spring 1991


Analysis:

    S.P. Lab, 5426 NW 79 Avenue, Miami, FL 33166
    - Assign random five-digit number to sample, state alleged
      content, and enclose $25 money-order, allow two weeks
      before calling [phone].

Books, in-print:

    Books By Phone, POB 522, Berkeley, CA 94701; 800-858-2665
    - free catalog

Books, out-of-print:

    Cape Ann Antiques, POB 3502, Peabody, MA 01960
    - Used and rare, catalog $3.

    Flashback Books, 906 Samuel Drive, Petaluma, CA 94952
    - [phone]
    - Used and rare, catalog $1.

    Mycophile Books, POB 93, Naples, FL 33939
    - Used and rare, catalog $3.

    Skyline Books, POB T, Forest Knolls, CA 94933
    - [phone]
    - Used and rare, catalog free

Business:

    Business Alliance for Commerce in Hemp (BACH)
    P.O.Box 71093, Los Angeles, CA 90071-0093
    - [phone]
    - information and list of resources

    National Hemp Imports
    1718 M Street #322, Washington, DC 20036
    - [phone]
    - "Imported Hemp Products"

Churches:

    Church of the Tree of Life, POB 330155, San Francisco, CA
    94133-0155
    - membership: upon request, with self-addressed stamped
      envelope.
    - publications:

           BARK LEAF, quarterly bulletin, $7/yr.
           FIRST BOOK OF SACRAMENTS, updated edition, $5.75 ppd.
           SUPPLIERS LIST, $1.

    - sacraments: [for members only] from Inner Center, POB 362,
      Hermosa Beach, CA 90254

    Ethiopian Zion Coptic Church, POB 3581, Urbandale, IA 50322.
    - publications:

           THE COPTIC WORLD: THE VOICE OF THE COPTIC NATION,
                biweekly newsletter, $12/yr.
           THE COPTIC WORLD past issues, complete set $2.
           MARIJUANA AND THE BIBLE, pamphlet $3.50 from:
                E.Z.C.C., Dept. C, POB 110519, Hialeah, FL
                33011-0519.

    Fane of the Psilocybe Mushroom Association [The Fane], P.O. Box 1295,
    STN. "E", Victoria, B.C. V8W 2W3, CANADA
    - $1 for membership form
    - publication:

           THE SPOREPRINT, newsletter, $5

    Neo-American Church of California,
    c/o Robert Funk, POB 4380, Arcata, CA 95521.
    Neo-American Church of Texas,
    c/o Kevin Sanford, POB 3473, Austin, TX 78764.
    Art Kleps (Neo-A.C. founder), Gravestein 119, 1103 BH, Amsterdam, Z.O.,
    NETHERLANDS; tel. [phone].
    - inactive membership free, active membership by donation
    - publications from Neo-A.C. of Texas:

           BOO HOO BIBLE, $10
           DIVINE TOAD SWEATS, $10

    Peyote Way Church of God, Star Rt. #1, Box 7X, Willcox, AZ 85643.
    - Rev. Anne L. Zapf, President
    - lifetime associate membership, card, newsletter, BYLAWS & FREEDOM UNDER       THE CONSTITUTION/$28
    - publications:

           THE SACRED RECORD, newsletter/$2
           BYLAWS/$5
           FREEDOM UNDER THE CONSTITUTION/$3
           LETTER TO MRS. BUSH/$2
           THE SPIRIT WALK/$3

Conferences:

    Wild Mushrooms/Telluride, August 21-24
    - Fungophile, Inc., POB 5503, Denver, CO 80217-5503
     [phone] [?]; $145 inclusive, with camping.

    Omega Institute for Holistic Studies
    - Lake Drive, RD 2, Box 377, Rhinebeck, NY 12572
      Catalog of courses upon request.

    Breitenbush Hot Springs/Retreat and Conference Center
    - POB 578, Detroit, OR 97342; [phone]
      Newsletter and schedule of events upon request.

    [Esalen /A.R.U.P.A. ?]

Gene Pool:

    Botanical Dimensions, POB 807, Occidental, CA 95465
    (POB 953, Captain Cook, HI 967??)
    (POB 619, Honaunau, HI 96726)
    - private research farm operated by Terence & Kathleen McKenna
    - publication:

           PLANT WISE newsletter

Information:

    Lux Natura, 2140 Shattuck Avenue, Box 2196, Berkeley, CA
    94704
    - free catalog of books and tapes by Terence McKenna.

    Rosetta, POB 4611, Berkeley, CA 94704-0611
    - catalog of folios and books with SASE

Legal:

    National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML)
    - 1636 R Street, 3rd Floor, Washington, DC 20009
      202-483-5500 (24 hours); legal referals available.
    - $25 for annual membership and newsletter

           THE LEAFLET, quarterly newsletter

    Alexander T. Shulgin, 1483 Shulgin Road, Lafayette, CA 94549
    - reference publication:

           THE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCES ACT: A RESOURCE MANUAL OF THE CURRENT                STATUS OF THE FEDERAL DRUG LAWS (April 1, 1988)
           /$34.95 + $4 postage & handling

Libraries:

    The Albert Hofmann Foundation
    - 1341 Ocean Avenue, Suite 300, Santa Monica, CA 90401
    - [phone]
    - annual membership and newsletter/$30
    - free catalog of publications, audio and video materials
    - 24 hour computer bulletin board (Forum-PC Version 2.0E)
      [phone]  300/1200/2400  N,8,1

Periodicals:

    PSYCHEDELIC MONOGRAPHS AND ESSAYS
    - POB 740, Boca Raton, FL 33429
    - Published by Thomas Lyttle.

Political:

    Cannabis Action Network
    P.O.Box 54528, Lexington, KY 40555; [phone]

    Coalition for 100% Drug Reform, 9 Bleecker Street, New York, NY 10012
    - [phone]; 24-Hour Information Hotline

    International Anti-Prohibitionist League, 97 Rue Belliard, Rem. 512,
    1040 Brussels, BELGIUM; tel. [phone]; fax. [phone]
    - full membership US$ 100
    - publication:

           ANTI-PROHIBITIONIST REVIEW, subscription US$ 20

    Coalition for Religious Freedom, 515 Wythe Street, Suite 201, Alexandria,
    VA 22314.
    - basic membership $30
    - publications:

           RELIGIOUS FREEDOM ALERT, newsletter, $20 w/o membership
           ASSAULT ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, book, free with memebership

    [Drug Policy Institute, Chicago, DC ?]

Suppliers:

    Of The Jungle, POB 1801, Sebastopol, CA 95473.
    - catalog of beneficial plants and botanical products $1.

    Pacific Seeds, POB 15050, Honolulu, HI 96815
    - [phone]
    - seed list upon request

    Thompson & Morgan, POB 1308, Jackson, NJ 08527.
    - [phone]
    - free seed catalog
    - Lophophora williamsii, 7 seeds, $9.95 + $1.50 p&h






It seems to me that among the many positive benefits from drug use, especially
acid and to a lesser degree other hallucinagens is an enhanced appreciation of
beauty. That is finding aesthetically pleasing images that other people tend to
ignore or not appreciate. Things like enjoying the pattern of frost that forms
on a glass, or the lights of a city, or just the paterns formed on the inside of
our eyelids. This is not just limited to the periods when one is actually under
the effects of the substance. For example while driving into a city at night
with a mixed group of people, one of the persons in the car who occaisionally
uses acid was very taken with the image and described it in very poetic
picturesque words, without exception those who also used drugs were able to
sympathize and understand what the person was talking about. The rest of the
car just looked at them strangely. Or annother instant that comes to mind is
the time someone came in from outside very excited and told about how pretty
the lights shining off the frost on the cars in the parking lot looked, the
only people who went back out to look at this were those that had at some point
partaken of these psychoactives. Annother example is a time early in the
morning after a long night of talking and general togetherness, everyone was
sitting back with thier eyes closed and talking about the images that were
coming to thier mind, talking about what they could see in thier mind's eye,
and sharing it with the others there, going from one person to annother
around the room, the people who did drugs had visions that were remarkably more
detailed, vivid, and unusual. Further they could seem to relate to what the
otehr people wer describing better.

Let me emphasize that in none of these instances was anyone under the
influence of anything, this was merely their normal mindset. It is not that the
non-users couldn't see the beauty, it is just that they wer not excited or
empassioned about it, it did not touch them as deeply.

...............................


The Sacred Record
December 1990

Peyote Way Church of God
Star Rt #1 Box 7x
Willcox, Az.,  85643

Edited by Rev. Anne L. Zapf, President

The Peyote Way Church of God advocates:

1) The sacramental use of peyote;
2) a wholistic lifestyle (the health of the body, of the family, and of the
Earth -- see Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints);
3) the pursuit of personal experiences of the Holy Spirit within and
without ourselves;
4) self discipline;
5) compassion;
6) non-violence;
7) selfless service;
8) the recognition of the central role of the female as the giver of life;
9) family oriented cottage industry.

Dear Friends,
    We've been pretty busy around here making our last minute
preparations for winter.  Matthew has been especially busy filling
Christmas Pottery orders.  The final days of summer brought many Spirit
Walkers, finishing off the last of our supply of the Holy Sacrament Peyote.
    A three-judge panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Appeals court, in
Houston, heard oral arguments appealing Judge Robert Maloney's ruling
against the Peyote Way Church of God on August 8.  Two weeks before the
scheduled oral arguments, our attorney received a call from repreentatives
of the Native American Church of North America.  They requested a metter to
discuss the effect of our appeal on the Native American Church.
    Two days later, we met with two attorneys representing the Native
American Church and one Native American Church member at our attorney's
office in Safford.  The attorneys requested that we drop our appeal.  They
stated that they had a "generic" bill which would accomplish recognition of
the religious use of the holy sacrament by non-Indians.  They expressed
confidence that they could work for the good of both our Churches.  The
N.A.C. representative indicated that the Native American Church would work
with the Peyote Way Church.  After several hours of discussion, they
requested that we ask for a delay in our oral arguments.  Their major
concern was that the judges wold rule that the Texas and Federal statutes
concerning Peyote are unconstitutional, and that the exemption for the
N.A.C. would be struck down.
    The Board of Stewards was advised of the situation and gave serious
consideration to their request over the next week.  Our attorney researched
their arguments carefully and learned that their fears were unfounded.
Should the judges in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals determine that the
exemption is unconstitutional, the law itself would have to be struck down,
making the Holy Sacrament Peyote legal!  We felt that our beest course was
to continue our appeal for justice.  We are, as always, ready to work with
the Native American Church.
*************
    We would like to encourage support of the "Religious Freedom
Restoration Act of 1990," introduced by Congressman Stephen Solarz.  The
Bill (#HR5377), now in Committee, was prompted by the recent Supreme Court
ruling in Oregon vs Smith which stated that the State did not need to show
a compelling interest in enforcing laws which restrict religious observance
(see The Sacred Record, July and August, 1990).  Please write to your
Congressional Representatives asking them to support this Bill.
*************
    A few folks have written to ask about the Church since brother Guy
Mount has decided to discontinue "Friends of the Peyote Road."  He is
committed to continuing _The Peyote Book_, which has reached many folks and
been a great influence on their opinions about the Holy Sacrament Peyote.
He has donated the $2,150.49 received by the "Friends" to the Peyote Way
Church of God.  We plan to use the funds received from "Friends" to
construct the Sacramental Greenhouse Facility.
    The pump which is the only source of Church water has seized up on
several occasions, alerting us to the imminent need to repair or replace
it in the ensuing months.  We are expecting it to be a major expense.  We
would rather not use the funds received from the "Friends" to make this
expensive repair.  All donations are gratefully received and
tax-deductible.  Those who would rather not donate money to the Church
could help us by donating building materials: lumber, glass, nails, etc,
which could be used in th construction of the Greenhouse.  We also need
latex paint (white), carpets (new or used), a refrigerator, copier
cartridges for a Canon PC 5 copier, video camera, recycled copier paper, and
Fonts and a scanner for the Macintosh Plus computer.

    The Goddess
    She is beautiful
    She is terrible.
    What you can imagine is less than what you can see in the eyes of
the Goddess.
    She is all form... ever balanced and changing.
    She is everything that was and is and will be.
    -MSK

    Associate membership is available to all, over the age of eighteen,
regardless of race or spiritual disposition.  Upon the receipt of
twenty-eight dollars lifetime membership dues, we will send a membership
card and a copy of the Church Bylaws.
    All donations are Tax-deductible, and go toward the sustaining of
one hundred and sixty acres of Church land for Spirit Walk, the maintenance
of Church buildings and facilities for Spirit Walk communicants and
visitors during their stay at the Mother Church; food for visitors;
Newsletters; care of four-legged Church Stewards; and the planned
construction of a Sacramental Greenhouse Facility.  Our Tax-exempt ID # is
94-2722621.

Literature:    (suggested donations)
Bylaws                    5
Freedom under the Constitution        3
letter to Mrs. Bush            2
The Spirit Walk                3
back issues of the Sacred Record    1
Section 89: A Word of Wisdom        n/c
bibliography of books and articles    n/c
Please include .29 for n/c items and .45 for other items.

Thank you


...............................



presumably some persons have always "abused " cerain drugs --alcoohol for
millennia, opiates for centureies.  However, only in the twentieth centruy
have certain paterns of drug use been labelled as "adictions".
Traditionally, the term "adiction" has meant simply a strong inclination
toward certain kinds of conduct, withlittle or ;no pejorative meaning
attached to it.  Thus, the Oxformd English Dictionary offers such
pre-twentieth-century examples of the use of this term as being adicted "tyo
civil affairs", "to useful reading" -and also "to bad habits".  Being
addicted to drugs is not among the definitions listed.

From

Ceremonial Chemistry: The ritual persecution of drugs, addicts, and pushers
Thomas Szasz, M.D.
1985
Learning Publications Inc
PO Box 1338
Holmes Bch FL  34218-1338

Available by mail: 1-800-222-1525

...............................

I believe Gordon Wasson did a huge amount of anthropological
sleuthing into the use of mushrooms in ancient societies and
developed a compelling argument that the original tree of
knowledge (from which Adam and Eve consumed forbidden fruit)
was an abstraction of the "fruiting body" of mushrooms--
although I don't recall many of his points I do remember one
particularly facinating illustration that was a rendering of
the earliest known tree-of-life/knowledge drawing: it was
carved in stone and was simply a cap and a stem--the
stereotypical representation of a mushroom.  Wasson did his
research in the early fifties and never got much recognition.

...............................

>> Page 58 of this week's _Time_ magazine carries a very interesting
>> article headed: "Do Humans Need to Get High?" and is subtitled "A
>> scientist says society should provide safe, nonaddictive drugs."
>>
>> Basically, a UCLA researcher named Ronald Siegel argues that man's
>> very nature is to seek altered states from time to time, and we'd
>> be better off trying to find safer, better drugs, rather than trying
>> to kill the ones that exist.
>Check out his book:
>
>Ronald K. Siegel. Intoxication: Life in Pursuit of Artificial Paradise.
>New York: E. P. Dutton, 1989, 390 pp.
>
>Dr. Will

    Also, along the same lines, there is an excellent book called
_The Natural Mind_, by Andrew Weil, which deals with exactly the same
subject.  He postulates the search for altered states of consciousness
is a normal and, in fact, essential part of the human psyche.  He then
goes on to deal with how the mindset towards drugs should be changed,
and why it is as confused as it is.
    It's a really good read, and left me with a very hopeful
feeling.  It was originally written years ago (69? Early 70's?) and
recently reprinted with a new preface.
    Weil also co-authored a book called _From Chocolate to
Morphine_, a sweeping treatise on psychoactive substances.  This has
got to be one of the best pieces of drug-related literature I've ever
read.  It discusses why we do drugs, reiterates Weil's thesis that
altered states are not evil, and catalogues all the many and varied
psychoactive substances they could fit in a book.  The information on
each class of drug and individual substance consists of background,
history, subjective effects, dangers, physiological effects, and more.
The attitude put forth by this book is one which everyone should be
exposed to.  Drugs, food, amusement park rides, in fact anything, are
not inherently bad, only your RELATIONSHIP with them can be bad.  Only
when people get into bad (dependent, overloading, etc...)
relationships with psychoactive substances do problems occur.

...............................

>IMHO, this theory should be obvious.  Profound religious experiences
>involve non-ordinary states of consciousness.  Period.  This doesn't
>necessarily mean that every religious experience involves leaving your
>body and being taught how to fly by psychedlic jesus jellyfish, drugs
>need not be involved and there are plenty of different religious "highs."

I think a very interesting question is, What are those circuits doing there
in the first place?

Its easy to understand what the circuits for, e.g., love, ie,
pair-bonding are for: humans take forever to raise, and its easier if
you have two helping.  Many animals share these features.

I've read that it was useful in smaller societies to have the ability to bond
to one's tribe and feel brotherhood; of course this has been exploited in
patriotism and is part of many modern religions.

So, an interesting question is: Are states of religious awe and
ecstacy artifacts or have they been selected for?

..."Think anyone will mind that I don't have a tie?" ---Cliff Stoll
..."Don't worry," Bob said.  "At your level of abstraction, it doesn't make
any difference"  ---Robert Morris, chief scientist, NSA


...............................

The following is a postscript stereo rendering of the LSD structure.


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******************************END OF FAQ******************************

Disclaimers

[Reminder: This is FYI only, consult your government-authorized shamans,
attorneys etc., you are self-responsible, regardless of what anyone
asserts.]

"Your Mileage May Vary. I don't recomend that you try *anything* at all
ever."

Misc Quotations

    "Now what I contend is that my body is my own, at least I have always
so regarded it.  If I do harm through my experimenting with it, it is I
who suffers, not the state."

-- Mark Twain


    "Prohibition... goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts
to control a man's appetite by legislation and makes a crime out of things
that are not crimes... A prohibition law strikes a blow at the very
principles upon which our government was founded."

-- Abraham Lincoln

    "Alcohol didn't cause the high crime rates of the '20s and '30s,
Prohibition did.  And drugs do not cause today's alarming crime rates, but
drug prohibition does."

-- US District Judge James C. Paine, addressing the Federal Bar Association
   in Miami, November, 1991

"I do not feel obliged to believe that same God who endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect had intended for us to forgo their use."  --Galileo


Hippies are easy to ignore, but hippies with computers are hard to ignore.
        ---Bruce Sterling 1992

   "Nobody gets to this place by ignoring reality in any way whatsoever"
    -Ayn Rand
--
               David A. Honig

"If Nicole Simpson owned a gun, she might be a wealthy widow instead..."
        -paraphrasing Jeff Cooper