Nitrous oxide (N2O), a long-standing anesthetic, is known for its recreational use, and its consumption is on the rise. Several case studies have reported neurological and psychiatric complications of N2O use. To date, however, there has not been a study using standardized diagnostic procedures to assess psychiatric comorbidities in a patient consuming N2O. Here, we report about a 35-year-old...
Despite reports of apparent benefits, social and political pressure beginning in the late 1960s effectively banned scientific inquiry into psychedelic substances. Covert examination of psychedelics persisted through the 1990s; the turn of the century and especially the past 10 years, however, has seen a resurgent interest in psychedelic substances (eg, LSD, ayahuasca, psilocybin). This chapter...
This PhD work consists of an in vitro and in vivo part. In the in vivo part, we investigated the role of dopamine in the acute clinical effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, “ecstasy”) in healthy human subjects. The role of dopamine in the addictive effects of drug of abuse is well established, but whether it contributes to the acute psychotropic effects of MDMA is unclear. \nIn...
N-2-methoxybenzyl-phenethylamines (NBOMe drugs) are newly used psychoactive substances with poorly defined pharmacological properties. The aim of the present study was to characterize the receptor binding profiles of a series of NBOMe drugs compared with their 2,5-dimethoxy-phenethylamine analogs (2C drugs) and lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in vitro. We investigated the binding affinities of...
Over the last few years, NBOMe substances have been used either as a legal alternative to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or sold surreptitiously as LSD to unknown users. These NBOMe substances have been detected in blotter papers, powders, capsules and liquids. We report the deaths of two teenage male subjects that were related to 25B-NBOMe and 25I-NBOMe in Indiana during 2014. Samples were...
September 7, 2015Karolina Dydak, Mariola Śliwińska‐mossoń, Halina Milnerowicz5 citations
Substances of plant origin have been used to induce hallucinations for a long time, in religious ceremonies and rituals as well as in pain relief. Psilocybin and psilocin naturally occur in the fungal genus Psilocybe. Due to the psychedelic effects and relative harmlessness of these substances and the fact that they do not cause physical addiction, psilocybin and psilocin recently have been...
Background: In recent years, there has been an increase in emergence and use of novel psychoactive substances (NPS) in the US and worldwide. However, there is little published epidemiological survey data estimating the prevalence of use in the US. Method: Data on self-reported NPS use came from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health (2009-2013), a national representative sample of...
Figure: Phenethylamine, top left; 2C-I, top right; and 25I-NBOMe, below.FigureAt least 19 young people died between March 2012 and November 2013 from the so-called N-BOMB drugs, synthetic hallucinogens that can be deadlier than LSD, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Chemist Alexander Shulgin developed a series of hallucinogenic 2C drugs in the early 1970s by adding...
Hendricks et al. (2015) found that having ever used any classic psychedelic substance—namely, dimethyltryptamine (DMT), ayahuasca, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), mescaline, peyote or San Pedro, or psilocybin—was associated with a significantly reduced likelihood of past month psychological distress (weighted OR = . 81 (. 72–. 91)), past year suicidal thinking (weighted OR = . 86 (. 78–....
Hallucinogens, also referred to as psychedelics, are a broad range of agents that alter perception in different ways. An estimated 1.3 million Americans are current (past month) users of hallucinogens. Hallucinogen use is highest among young adults; 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) is the most commonly used agent, followed by lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and phencyclidine (PCP)....