Chemical Hallucinogens

These are drugs capable of producing mood changes which are frequently of a bizarre character. This includes a disturbance of sensation, thought, emotion, and self-awareness. It also includes an illusionary change in time and space. But, with the passing of time, the illusions and delusions brought on by the hallucinogens threaten to dominate and destroy the mental fabric.

Hallucinogens are also known as "psychedelics." The most important hallucinogen has a long name: lysergic acid diethylamide. The common term for it is LSD. Some other hallucinogens are mescaline, psilocybin, certain plant extracts, and a number of synthetic substances.

None of the hallucinogens are legally available, so all of it must be obtained through the illicit drug trade. People who take these things will go on a spree and load on them, taking them several times in a week. Then they will try to avoid them for awhile, simply because the aftereffects were so terrible.

While an actual physical dependence does not develop, the psychic drive that is aroused to keep repeating the experience can be just as gripping. The effects may often seem immediately pleasurable and rewarding, yet they will at unpredictable times yield the stark terror of a "bad trip"-that drives some to suicide.

In general, the psychological effects of taking any of the hallucinogens is highly variable and unpredictable. Ideas, feelings, pictures, and various other sensory impressions will be perceived within the mind. Changes in sensation, perception, and touch may be experienced.

It is of deep significance, that when these individuals later relate their experiences-which at the time seemed so profound, marvelous, and sensational-they are obviously little more than the kinds of things you experience in dreams of the night, only more intensified. A "profound, very creative new thought" will be grasped while under the drug; but, when later related, it is seen to be of no particular consequence.

In other words, while under the hallucinogen, everything perceived is thought to be very great and wonderful-when it really isn't after all.

But, let me assure you: The physical and mental damage, the bad trips, and the freak-outs are simply not worth the fun of imagining that nothing special is something great.

In the bad trips and freak-outs, there is an intense experience of horrible terror, a nightmarish fear that grips to the point of utter panic. Other undesirable effects of taking hallucinogens are these: complete loss of emotional control, paranoid delusions, hallucinations, profound depression, tension, and anxiety.

Although first experienced while under the influence of the drug, the severe problems described in the above paragraph begin cropping up in the daily life. If the taking of hallucinogens is not terminated, the passing of time will soon make all of life something of a bad trip. And that isn't what you want for your future, is it? You want a better life than that.

Disordered social behavior may also occur. Because of the delusions and disordered sensations, the user may think he is immune from harm-and begin to try to do very dangerous things. Perhaps he may decide to fly out a nearby window and land on some distant building. Instead he falls to his death on the street below. This is how Dianne Linkletter, Art Linkletter's attractive and talented daughter, died. Suddenly one day, particles of a hallucinogen that she had taken some time earlier threw her into an instantaneous trip; and, thinking she could fly, she jumped through the nearby window of a high building.

What happened to Dianne Linkletter was a "flashback," or sensory replay of a previous drug trip. These can take place months after taking a hallucinogenic drug, such as LSD. These flashbacks maybe severe, simply a feeling of dizziness, or a temporary blackout. But if you are driving a car down the road when it happens, you do not even want to experience a dizziness flashback, much less a worse kind.

If you meet a person on a hallucinogenic trip, good or bad, give him careful attention, reassurance, and protection from bodily harm. Talk him down from his disturbing experience in quiet and safe surroundings. Get him to someone qualified to help him. Preferably, two persons should accompany him in going there.

1 - LSD- LSD is the abbreviation for d-Iysergic acid diathylamide

(lysergic acid diethylamide) . But it is better known in the trade as "acid." Because of the unpredictable and terrible things that it brings into people's lives, it has become one of the most written and discussed of all the synthetic hallucinogens.

A powerful man-made chemical, LSD, was first developed in 1938 as a research drug. It turned out to be an unusual one. A single ounce of the substance is enough to yield three hundred thousand doses. A dose as low as 25 micrograms can actively affect the mind. And that amount is equal to one-twenty-five thousandth of a single gram!

LSD is odorless, colorless, has a slightly bitter taste, and is usually taken by mouth. Often LSD is added to absorbent paper, such as blotter paper, and divided into small decorated squares, with each square representing one dose.

The effects of LSD are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken; the user's personality, mood, and expectations; and the surroundings in which the drug is used. Usually, the user feels the first effects of the drug 30 to 90 minutes after taking it. The physical effects include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors.

Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than the physical signs. The user may feel several different emotions at once or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user's sense of time and self changes. Sensations may seem to "cross over," giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.

It is impossible to obtain LSD legally, so all of it is obtained from illicit drug pushers. Some people decide that all they want is the unreal world of LSD. Known as "acid heads" by the drug trade, these people are searching for some way to abandon the world of logic, reason, and common sense. LSD is the perfect answer. Yet the trouble that it brings with it should stand as a warning to the rest of us: Don't recklessly throw your life away on dangerous chemicals. That is a poor way to live and a miserable way to die.

And then there are the "bad trips." This is one of the gifts that LSD can bestow upon you. As mentioned earlier, weeks after taking d-Iysergic acid, a person can suddenly find himself in the midst of a "bad trip." He may decide he is a bird and leap out the nearest window, intent on flying off into the clouds, or he may jump in front of a passing car because he is instantly convinced he is armor-plated and can no longer be injured by anything.

A five-year-old girl accidentally swallowed some food soaked in LSD. She was still suffering "bad trips" nine months later. It was five months before her IQ returned back up to normal.

Bad trips and flashbacks are only part of the risks of LSD use. LSD users may manifest relatively long-lasting psychoses, such as schizophrenia

or severe depression. It is difficult to determine the extent and mechanism of the LSD involvement in these illnesses.

There are stories in the news about LSD: There are the women who use "acid" so much they imagine they can "see music and hear pictures." How delightful, they think-until they later give birth to damaged babies with grotesque physical characteristics.

The problem is that LSD damages and breaks chromosomes in the unborn. Disfigured children are the result. The experts tell us this chromosome damage may then pass on to the children's children as well. This is because heredity passes the chromosome separation along to the next generation. Chromosomes, and the genes strung out on them, contain the blueprint for the entire body. You are doing something very serious when you injure chromosomes.

LSD is one of the most dangerous drugs to be found anywhere. And yet all the "marvelous" things that it does in the mind-are nothing more than this: Experiments with LSD reveal that it blocks out the brain's normal screening-out process, so that the mind becomes flooded with random sights and sounds.

Really now, is a bunch of random sights and sounds in your mind-worth all the terrible results that LSD will bring into your life if you take it?

2 - PHENCYCLIDINE (PCP or ANGEL DUST)

This is one of the strangest of the drugs. Variously known by many names (such as "angel dust, killer weed, supergrass, crystal cyclone, elephant tranquilizer, hog, Pea-cee pill, or PCP), it is not only different, but also dangerous.

Phencyclidine first appeared in San Francisco in 1967, but was soon rejected by many street dusters because of its unpredictably miserable effects. Yet it is coming back again, this time as an additive to other drugs or a substitute for them.

Because it is so inexpensive to make, it is often sold as LSD or THC. (THC is the active ingredient in marijuana, but is rarely available by itself.) Many drug takers swallow PCP without really knowing what it is they are taking.

Available as a tablet, powder, or varied-colored capsule, PCP is most frequently smoked in a "joint" along with some parsley or marijuana. When taken in tablet, capsule, or powder form, a stronger dose is absorbed into the body. But even in smoking it, one takes in an unpredictable amount of a very unpredictable chemical.

Phencyclidine (PCP or angel dust) takes one into a temporary fantasy world that may be pleasant-or a nightmare. Immediately afterward, a mood depression, irritability with others, and a sense of alienation from life is felt.

Yet if somewhat larger doses are taken (which can easily happen by accident), the takers become confused and agitated, with a blank, startled look on their faces. They can become so uncoordinated that they seem to be drunk. Both their thinking and remembering depart. Some may become

violent and aggressive while others will appear silent, withdrawn, and unwilling to talk.

If the dose is higher still, the victim may lapse into a stupor or coma which could last for days or weeks. Still more and they die.

Unpredictable doses can bring unpredictable results. More PCP users die from accidents that were brought on by the strange behavior produced by the drug than by the chemical effects of the drug. PCP users have been known to drown in shallow water-because they could not figure out which way was up. Others have died in auto accidents, fallen off roofs and out of windows. Some have died in fires because they could not feel the fire or know how to move away from the flames.

PCP can bring murder or suicide, when its users become violent. Last but not least, the effects of PCP can reappear for months and years afterward. Regular disturbances in memory, judgment, concentration, and perception can face them for years to come. And with these, recurring bouts of anxiety and depression may occur. Sporadic outbreaks of violent behavior are commonplace. PCP-induced psychosis (insanity) is sometimes the result.

Which nightmare do you want? You have just read about phencyclidine, otherwise known as PCP or angel dust. The other sections in this book are full of additional nightmares.

Why not, instead, just leave all the narcotics and street drugs totally alone. You will have a much happier life.

3 - EMBALMING FLUID

Since the 1970s, PCP has often been called "embalming fluid," but the real thing is now being used on the street.

By 1998, druggies began stealing the stuff from funeral homes. It is a mixture of formaldehyde, methanol, ethanol, and other solvents. Users, generally in their teens or 20s, spend about $20 for joints or regular cigarettes that were soaked in it, then dried. The product is called "wet," "fry," and "illy" and is sometimes mixed with TCP. Somehow, the idea of real embalming fluid appeals to people on the fast track toward a quicker death.

Hydrol Chemical, an embalming fluid supplier, has warned funeral homes to store their product more securely. But we live in an age when anything goes-literally.

The chemical mixture is gaining popularity despite often violent and psychotic side effects. According to a 1998 study by a Texas commission, users report a host of miseries from the high, which may last from six hours to three days. These include hallucinations, euphoria, a feeling of invincibility, increased pain tolerance, anger, forgetfulness, and paranoia. Experts say more dangerous reactions may include coma, seizures, renal failure, and stroke.

4 - KETAMINE

Ketamine hydrochloride , or "Special K," is a powerful hallucinogen widely used as an animal tranquilizer by veterinarians.

Ketamine is a powder. The drug is usually snorted, but is sometimes sprinkled on tobacco or marijuana and smoked. Special K is frequently used in combination with other drugs, such as ecstasy, heroin, or cocaine.

Liquid ketamine was developed in the early 1960s as an anesthetic for surgeries, and was used on the battlefields of Vietnam as an anesthetic. Powdered ketamine emerged as a recreational drug in the 1970s and was known as "Vitamin K" in the 1980s. It resurfaced in the 1990s' rave scene as "Special K."

Users sometimes call ketamine "K hole," because it feels like helplessly falling into one. They describe profound hallucinations that include visual distortions and a lost sense of time and identity. The high can last from a half-hour to 2 hours. The Drug Enforcement Administration reports that overt effects can last an hour, but the drug can still affect the body for up to 24 hours.

Use of Special K can result in profound physical and mental problems-including delirium, amnesia, impaired motor function, and potentially fatal respiratory problems.

Damage to the mind can continue. Do you want your mind weakened for years to come?

5 - OTHER HALLUCINOGENS (MMDA, DET Psilocin, 68, and STP)

There are several other hallucinogens ("psychedelics") which are similar to LDS in effects and dangers: These include MMDA, DET, psilocin, 68, and STP. (This "STP" is not the additive put in auto crankcases.) Like all other hallucinogens, the consumption of these substances is dangerous and can result in suicidal reactions as well as certain physical discomforts.