MDMA (or 3, 4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine) was first manufactured in the 1920s and found to have structural similarities to both mescaline and amphetamines. Used briefly by some therapists in the 1970s and early 1980s as an adjunct to psychotherapy, it is now primarily abused by teenagers and young adults as an illicit recreational drug known as "ecstasy." As its popularity has increased, so...
Drug and substance abuse is a major problem in North America. Health care providers who care for patients who abuse drugs and other substances need to have a clear understanding of the health, societal, and economic impact of this problem and an intimate knowledge of the agents of abuse to ensure adequate treatment. Pagliaros' Comprehensive Guide to Drugs and Substances of Abuse was written to...
Back to table of contents Previous article Next article Clinical & Research NewsFull AccessFDA Approves Study of Ecstasy In Some Terminally Ill PatientsEve BenderEve BenderPublished Online:21 Jan 2005https://doi.org/10.1176/pn.40.2.00400046a Can the same drug that in the past decade has found a niche among young people during rave parties at crowded dance clubs also help terminally ill patients...
Abstract The term synesthesia (Greek; syn = together, aesthesia = sensation) has been used to describe a wide variety of phenomena. Most commonly, it is used to denote a condition in which stimulation in one sensory modality also gives rise to an experience in a different modality. However, conditions involving different qualities within one modality (e.g., when the sight of letter shapes...
The role of 5-HT2 receptors in the regulation of acetylcholine (ACh) release was examined in the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsal hippocampus using in vivo microdialysis. The 5-HT(2A/2C) agonist +/-1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl) -2- aminopropane hydrochloride (DOI) (1 and 2 mg/kg, i.p.) significantly increased the extracellular concentration of ACh in both brain regions, and this response...
Distributed by Human Relations Media, 41 Kensico Drive, Mt. Kisco, NY 10549; 800-431-2050Produced by John O'NeilDirected by John O'Neil2003, VHS, color, 18 min. LSD, mushrooms, mescalin, psilocybin – classic auditory and visual hallucinogens, and probably the best known of hallucinogenic drugs due to the 1960s counterculture. These and newer, more potent hallucinogens are profiled in this HRM...
It is usually believed that drugs of abuse are smuggled into the United States or are clandestinely produced for illicit distribution. Less well known is that many hallucinogens and dissociative agents can be obtained from plants and fungi growing wild or in gardens. Some of these botanical sources can be located throughout the United States; others have a more narrow distribution. This article...
A nondescript rock shelter in Texas provides unexpected evidence for shamanism in Leslie Marmon Silko’s Ceremony. There, archaeologists found clearly identifiable images of antlered human figures and entheogenic plant substances, including datura (jimson weed), peyote, and ephedra (Indian or Mormon tea), items associated with shamanistic practices. From a more recent site in Bandolier, New...
The effect of 5-HT(2) receptor activation on brain glycogen and the extracellular concentration of glucose was investigated in the present study. An injection of 1-(2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodophenyl)-2-aminopropane (DOI) (2 mg/kg, i.p.) or mescaline (10 mg/kg, i.p.) at an ambient temperature of 29 degrees C produced a 35-45% decrease in brain glycogen that persisted for at least 2 h. DOI also...
INTRODUCTION: A wide range of fungi and medicinal herbs, rich in hallucinogenic substances and widely used for mystic and medicinal purposes, can give rise to neurotoxic symptoms. DEVELOPMENT: We review the toxic syndromes that can arise from the ingestion of hallucinogenic fungi, cacti and plants, together with descriptions of cases of acute poisoning resulting from the use of medicinal herbs...