Hallucinogens

1. Hallucinogens

2. What is a hallucinogen? • Psychoactive drugs • mostly made from mushrooms and plants • changes in: • perception • thought • emotion • consciousness • DOES NOT purely amplify other states of mind • creates experiences outside of normal consciousness

3. Vocabulary • Synesthesia: mixing of the sensory systems • ex. hearing colors or tasting sounds • 'Trip': the experience of the high from the drug • Flashback: user re-experiences a visual or emotional hallucination previously seen or felt during a 'trip' AFTER the drug has worn off

4. LSD: "Acid" • potent mood-changing chemical • made from a fungus that grows on rye bread • FORM: tablet, capsules and occasionally liquid • often sold added to absorbent paper tabs • 'trips' or experience of high lasts 12 hours

5. LSD : Effects • strong emotions or emotional swings • sense of time and self is altered • synesthesia • strong feelings of panic • 'bad trip' • severe, terrifying thoughts & feelings of despair • fear of losing control • fear of insanity and death • self-harm due to panic • flashbacks within days or a year of use • may create a permanent social disorder

6. LSD: Health Effects • dilated pupils • increase in body temperature • increase heart rate & blood pressure • profuse sweating • loss of appetite • sleeplessness • dry mouth • tremors

7. Peyote: "buttons," "mesc," "peyote" • made from small, spineless cactus • active chemical is 'mescaline' • used by natives in Northern Mexico & South West US as part of religious ceremonies • chewed or soaked in water to create liquid • high lasts about 12 hours • may lead to flashbacks • Effects: similar to LSD • increased body temperature and heart rate, uncoordinated movements, heavy sweating, and flushing

8. Psilocybin: "magic mushrooms," "'shrooms" • made from mushrooms native to South America, Mexico, & the US • consumed orally • effects appear within 20 minutes and last for about 6 hours

9. Psilocybin ('shrooms): Effects • hallucinations • altered perception of time • inability to discern fantasy from reality • panic reactions and psychosis • Long-term Effects • flashbacks • risk of psychiatric illness • impaired memory

10. Psilocybin ('shrooms) Effects • muscle relaxation or weakness • loss of coordination • excessive pupil dilation • nausea • vomiting • drowsiness

11. PCP: "Angel Dust," "Supergrass," "Killer Weed," "Embalming Fluid," "Rocket Fuel" • developed in 1950's as an anesthetic • banned because of effects • Form: crystal, white powder • easily dissolved in water • sold in tablet, capsule, and powder forms • Effects last 4-6 hours

12. PCP: Effects • reputation of not being worth the risk • common for users to experience 'bad trips' • very dangerous to self & others when high • feelings of strength, power, and invulnerability as well as a numbing effect on the mind that PCP can induce

13. PCP: Health Effects • Symptoms:delusions, hallucinations, paranoia, disordered thinking, and a sensation of distance from one’s environment • Mood Disturbances: Approximately 50 percent of individuals brought to emergency rooms because of PCP-induced problems report significant elevations in anxiety symptoms • Long Term:memory loss, difficulties with speech & thinking, depression, & weight loss • can occur for up to a year AFTER use • very addictive drug

14. PCP: more health effects • At low-to-moderate doses, • physiological effects of PCP • slight increase in breathing rate • pronounced rise in blood pressure • breathing becomes shallow • flushing and profuse sweating • generalized numbness of the extremities • loss of muscular coordination • At high doses, • blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration drop • nausea, vomiting, blurred vision, flicking up and down of the eyes, drooling, loss of balance, and dizziness • seizures, coma, & death • (though death more often results from accidental injury or suicide during PCP intoxication) • Abusers are often brought to ERs • overdose or drug’s severe untoward psychological effects. • violent or suicidal (dangerous to themselves and others) • Because PCP can also have sedative effects, interactions with other central nervous system depressants, such as alcohol, can also lead to coma

15. Opiates and Opiods

16. What are opiate drugs? • extracted from 'opium' in poppy plants grown in the Middle East and Southeast Asia • typically used to kill pain • codeine, morphine & other prescription drugs are used for medicinal purposes • HIGH potential for addiction

17. Opiates:Effects of use • depress the central nervous system • overdose can lead to coma or death • drowsiness • small pupils • scratching the face

18. Heroin: smack, H, skag, junk, brown sugar, horse, and black tar • derived from morphine • 2-3x stronger • Heroin was first manufactured in 1898 by the Bayer pharmaceutical company of Germany and marketed as a treatment for tuberculosis as well as a remedy for morphine addiction. • very addictive • In pure form: white powder • Most illicit (illegal) heroin in brownish in color • cut with other substances • never know strength • high risk for overdose • typically injected, may also be smoked, snorted or swallowed

19. Heroin: Effects on Health • surge of euphoria (“rush”) • accompanied by dry mouth • warm flushing of the skin • heaviness of the extremities • clouded mental functioning Following this initial euphoria, the user goes “on the nod,” an alternately wakeful and drowsy state

20. Activity Sort the effects of hallucinogenic drugs into the graphic organizer in partner pairs

21. Exit Ticket Question: What is synesthesia? Journal: What do you think is the most alarming effect of hallucinogenic drugs?