At a California rock art site called Pinwheel Cave, fibrous quids found in the ceiling alongside a painting possibly depicting Datura flowers were analyzed. Chemical tests detected hallucinogenic alkaloids scopolamine and atropine in the quids, and microscopic analysis identified most as Datura wrightii. Three-dimensional analysis showed the quids were chewed, indicating consumption of the plant in the cave beneath the paintings. Archaeological evidence and dating show the site was used from the Late Prehistoric through Colonial periods for various activities. The findings suggest the rock painting represents the plant and codified communal rituals involving this powerful entheogen, providing the first unambiguous evidence of hallucinogen consumption at a rock art site and challenging prior assumptions about trance and rock art imagery.
Regulations intended to prevent harm and addiction from substances like cannabis, MDMA, LSD, and psilocybin also create major barriers for scientists trying to study these drugs. The authors argue that modifying current drug scheduling to reclassify illicit substances would allow extensive testing in research settings, potentially advancing life-saving research.
This chapter reviews psychoactive illicit substances of fungal origin, focusing on psilocybin, the hallucinogenic compound in 'magic mushrooms' from genera such as Conocybe, Gymnopilus, Panaeolus, Pluteus, and Psilocybe. It describes neurological and related adverse events that can result from pharmacokinetic interactions between these fungal substances and clinical drugs in humans. The chapter also outlines directions for future research to better understand the underlying mechanisms of these adverse events.