Snake venom - An unconventional recreational substance for psychonauts in India.
Devendra Jadav, Rutwik Shedge, Vikas P Meshram, Tanuj Kanchan, Raghvendra Singh Shekhawat
Journal of Forensic and Legal Medicine October 1, 2022 DOI: 10.1016/j.jflm.2022.102398 (opens in new tab)
Study at a glance
AI-extracted from the abstract| Characteristics | Review Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Topics | Addiction |
| Keywords | Psychoactive fauna Psychoactive substance Snake venom Substance abuse |
| Key findings | The recreational effects of snake venom may be due to its constituents or self-induced effects, requiring careful review. |
Abstract
Psychoactive substances have been used by humankind for recreational purposes since time immemorial. The psychoactive properties of these substances are known to alter the consciousness, mood, and perception of people taking them. While the use of alcohol, opioids, and cannabinoids for recreational purposes has been researched thoroughly, cases of using psychoactive fauna or animal body parts for getting a 'high' are seldom reported. One such psychoactive substance used in India is snake venom. Snake venom has been reported to cause mood alteration, nociception, lethargy, and blurring of vision, and hence requires a careful review to delve into whether the recreational effects felt by the users can be attributed to constituents of snake venom or are solely due to self-induced effects.
Comparable studies
Other narrative reviews on addiction, most cited first.
| Study | Year | Design | Participants |
|---|---|---|---|
| Classic psychedelics: An integrative review of epidemiology, therapeutics, mystical experience, and brain network function. General population | 2019 | Integrative review | |
| Mindfulness meditation–based pain relief: a mechanistic account | 2016 | Review | |
| Psychedelics as anti-inflammatory agents Animal models and cellular studies | 2018 | Review | |
| A narrative review of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction. | 2013 | Review | |
| The neuropsychopharmacology of cannabis: A review of human imaging studies | 2018 | Review |
Citations in the library
Cites 3
- Psychedelic Fauna for Psychonaut Hunters: A Mini-Review Frontiers in Psychiatry May 22, 2018
- Psychonauts’ psychedelics: A systematic, multilingual, web-crawling exercise European Neuropsychopharmacology April 13, 2021
- The e-Psychonauts' 'Spiced' World; Assessment of the Synthetic Cannabinoids' Information Available Online. Current Neuropharmacology 2020