Hallucinogens

Question 1

Hallucinogen MOA’s

Answer 1

\+Norepinephrine enhancement
– Peyote and mescaline
• Serotonin enhancement
– Sacred mushrooms & psilocybin/psilocin; South American
snuffs & drinks, lysergic acid derivatives, ergot, iboga
• Gamma-aminobutyric acid inhibition
– Fly agaric; the plant god
• Acetylcholine depression
– Tropane alkaloids of Solanaceae family
• Binding to central receptors
– marijuana

Question 2

Peyote

Answer 2

– Lophophora williamsii
• Cactaceae family
• Active: mescaline (protoalkaloid)
• MOA: enhances norepinephrine
centrally as a sympathomimetic
• Use: peyote (mescal) buttons
usually swallowed
• Effects: nausea, chills, vomiting,
anxiety, dislocation of visual
perception; then mental
stimulation begins: clarity of
thought & brilliant colored
visions & exaggerated sensitivity
to sensory cues

Question 3

Sacred mushrooms, “Flesh of the gods”

Answer 3

• Hallucinations due to alterations (often
enhancement) of overall function of serotonin
neurons
– Muscle relaxation, pupil dilation, then emotional
disturbance, sensory hallucinations
• Psilocybin & psilocin come from different
genera: Conocybe, Paneolus, Psilocybe,
Stropharia

Question 4

Virola snuff (yakee intoxication)

Answer 4

• Myristicaceae
• Inner bark of tree is scraped, material boiled in water
until evaporated, then toasted on fire & powdered
(other preparations involve mixing with Theobroma
spp.
• Stuffed into bird bones & blown into nose
• Effects: excitability then numbness of limbs & loss of
muscle coordination, nausea, visual hallucination, deep
sleep; objects appear larger than reality
• Actives: tryptamines (DMT, NMT) and beta-carboline
alkaloids (monoamine oxidase inhibitors/MAOIs)

Question 5

How to make ayahuasca

Answer 5

• Mixture of species to make ayahuasca
contains:
– Banisteropsis caapi (yajé) (Malphigiaceae)
• MAOIs (beta-carbolines harmine, harmaline and
others)
– Psychotria spp. (Rubiaceae)
• DMT source
– Other ingredients added depending on recipe

Question 6

Lysergic acid derivatives

Answer 6

• LSD, synthesized from ergometrine – an ergot
alkaloid from Claviceps purpurea
– Synthesis by Hoffman in 1938, hallucinogenic
properties discovered by accident is 1943
– Popularized in 1960s by Timothy Leary
• LSD is 4,000 x more powerful than mescaline

Question 7

Iboga

Answer 7

an African hallucinogen
• Taberanthe iboga (Apocynaceae)
• Ibogaine – most abundant alkaloid in plant
• MOA: altered serotonin neurotransmission
• Used as aphrodisiac, more popular than
yohimbe
• Used in religious and healing rites

Question 8

Fly Agaric

Answer 8

• CNS depressant & GABA agonist
• Tryptamine derivatives (isoxazoles)
• Amantia muscaria

Question 9

Tropane alkaloids of the Solanaceae family

Answer 9

• Acetylcholine depression
• Scopalamine and hyoscamine
• In high doses, scopalamine
produces hallucinations
• Datura & Brugmansia
• Tropane alkaloids are fat
soluble & absorbed through
skin