Hallucinogens: Norepinehphrine and Gaba Enhancers

Question 1

What amino acid is norepinephrine derived from?

Answer 1

Tyrosine.

Question 2

What is norepinephrine?

Answer 2

An important neurotransmitter of the peripheral sympathetic nervous system.

Question 3

What are the major effects of norepinephrine?

Answer 3

Excitation, inhibition of smooth muscle, cardiac excitation , and general modulation of the CNS.

Question 4

What is the peyote cactus?

Answer 4

A small, spineless cactus native to Northeast Mexico and adjacent to southern Texas.

Question 5

Where is the name of the peyote derived from?

Answer 5

Peyotl, the Aztec term for this cactus.

Question 6

What was the peyote cactus used as by the Mayan, Aztec and earlier Central American civilizations for divination and shamanistic purposes?

Answer 6

Hallucinogenic entheogen.

Question 7

How does one induce the hallucinogenic effect of the peyote?

Answer 7

Dried pieces of the whole cactus, known as metal “buttons” are chewed and swallowed to induce the effect, they are very bitter tasting.
May also be steeped in hot water to produce a pungent tea.

Question 8

Who attempted to suppress the ethogenic use of peyote by the indigenous peoples?

Answer 8

The Spanish conquerors as with the ololiuqui and the sacred mushrooms.

Question 9

How is peyote used today?

Answer 9

Peyote is legally incorporated into communion services of the Native American Church of NA, which has over 1/4 of million members in NA.

Question 10

Who can legally possess peyote cactus, although restrictions apply?

Answer 10

Members of the Church, mescaline is otherwise illegal in North America and Europe.

Question 11

Where is mescaline a controlled substance but possession of the plant itself is not strictly legal?

Answer 11

Canada.

Question 12

When did the hallucinogenic properties of peyote first come to the attention of most westerners?

Answer 12

Following the publications of Aldous Huxley’s, “The Doors of Perception (1954), which detailed his experiences with this shamanistic drug.

Question 13

When did Carlos Castenada write a hugely popular series of books, The Teachings of Don Juan, that describe his training in Meso-American shamanism, including participation in traditionally peyote ceremonies.

Answer 13

1960s.

Question 14

What are the initial effects of peyote?

Answer 14

Unpleasant, nausea, chills, vomiting, anxiety and disorientation and frequently reported.

Question 15

What are the initial symptoms of peyote followed by?

Answer 15

Strong mental stimulation and visual-auditory hallucinations. During this stage, thoughts become clear and intense, and sensitivity to sight, sound and other senses are greatly enhanced and exaggerated.

Question 16

What is an example of the middle symptoms of peyote including thoughts becoming clear and intense, and sensitivity to sight, sound and other senses are greatly enhanced and exaggerated?

Answer 16

Sounds become visible. Visual hallucination, characterized by brilliantly-coloured, moving objects and motions, may persist for ten hours or more. Some users may even experience flashbacks for a few days, weeks, or later.

Question 17

What is the active principle of peyote cactus?

Answer 17

The simple protoalkaloid mescaline.

Question 18

What does protoalkaloid mescaline function as?

Answer 18

A CNS norepinephrine mimetic, but also blocks the release of acetylcholine and affects potassium conductance in the CNS.

Question 19

What is San Pedro cactus?

Answer 19

A large spiny cactus that is native to the desert regions of western Peru and adjacent areas of South America.

Question 20

Who was San Pedro cactus used by?

Answer 20

It was traditionally used by the Indigenous Peruvians for shamanistic purposes, particularly in the diagnosis of illness and cures.

Question 21

Where does the active principle, mescaline, of San Pedro cactus exist?

Answer 21

It is concentrated in the other tissue of the fleshy green stems.

Question 22

How are the stems of the San Pedro cactus processed?

Answer 22

The stems are harvested and processed by removing these spines and peeling way the outer tissue, which is then dried in the sun and powdered.

Question 23

How may the powdered material of San Pedro cactus be taken?

Answer 23

May be swallowed whole or taken as a bitter tasting tea. The effects are similar to those described for peyote.

Question 24

Which other members of the Cactus (cactaceae) family contain mescaline?

Answer 24

1) Epithelantha micromeris
2) Pelecyphora aselliformis
3) Aricarpus fissuratus
4) A. retusus.

This family is exclusive to the Americas.

Question 25

Where is GABA derived from?

Answer 25

Decarboxylation of glutamic acid.

Question 26

What does GABA inhibit/depress?

Answer 26

Synaptic transmission in the CNS.

Question 27

Where does the hallucinogenic mushroom Fly Agaric exist?

Answer 27

In the Boreal north-temperate regions of Eurasia and NA.

Question 28

What is unique about the hallucinogenic mushroom, Fly Agaric?

Answer 28

It is one of the world’s most widely distributed natural hallucinogen.

Question 29

What type of associations does Fly Agaric form with coniferous and hardwood tree species?

Answer 29

Mycorrhizal.

Question 30

Where does the fly agaric mushroom have a long history of use as a hallucinogen?

Answer 30

Asia, and northern Scandinavia.

Question 31

Who was the fly agaric used by?

Answer 31

Indigenous tribal groups in Northern Siberia for shamanistic purposes, particularly in divination rites and to contact the spirit world.

Question 32

What was fly agaric used for?

Answer 32

For shamanistic purposes, particularly in divination rites and to contact the spirit world and to diagnose illnesses and for recreational purposes.

Question 33

The ceremonial drinking of the _____ of mushroom eaters was also practiced, the active hallucinogenic principles are excreted intact.

Answer 33

Urine.

Question 34

Who used fly agaric as a hallucinogen in NA?

Answer 34

Athabascans of northern Alberta and the Ojibway of northern Michigan.

Question 35

What are the two active principles of fly agaric?

Answer 35

Muscimol and ibotenic acid.

Question 36

What are the effects of muscimol acid?

Answer 36

A GABA receptor agonist, has a mildy sedating effect.

Question 37

What are the effects of ibotenic acid?

Answer 37

Stimulates receptors of glutamate, produces an agitated state of delirium.

Question 38

What is the affects of ingestion of the fly agaric mushroom?

Answer 38

Effects similar to alcohol intoxication, with additional powerful hallucinations.

Question 39

What are common symptoms of ingestion of the fly agaric mushroom?

Answer 39

Reddening of the skin, slurred and inherent speech, seizures, nausea, vomiting, deep-coma sleep, and persistent severe headache pain -hallucinogenic effect commences pithing 30 minutes of ingestion and peaks at 2-3 hours.

Question 40

Who and when did this individual propose that flu agaric is the soma- a god, plant and juice of the plant, described in the Ayurvedic vedas of ancient India?

Answer 40

Wasson, 1968.

Question 41

What was the name of the people with a hereditary priesthood associated with elaborate rituals and sacrifices, of whom colonized the India-Afghanistan region from the northwest about 4000 years ago?

Answer 41

Aryans.

Question 42

What did the Aryan call god?

Answer 42

Soma.

Question 43

What did the Aryan call hymn?

Answer 43

Vedas.

Question 44

What did Wasson and his translators claim that the vedas described the soma as?

Answer 44

Vedas described soma as being without leaves, seeds, or branches with a head and stem and a dazzling red skin.
Dressed like a sheep with wooly fragments remaining when the envelope bursts.

Question 45

What else did Wasson claim?

Answer 45

That the vedas contain descriptions of ritual urine drinking, similar to Siberian practice. He proposed that the Aryans has used fly agaric prior ti their migration south to the Indian subcontinent, but that over time, and with no source of fly agaric in India, the identity of soma was lost.

Question 46

What do recent monographs question in regard to Wasson’s claims?

Answer 46

They provide evidence that soma is wild rue, a common weedy plant o f the central Asian steppes.

Question 47

What were the alkaloids, inhibitors of GABA, that were isolated from wild rue?

Answer 47

B-carboline harmine and harmaline, (same monoamine oxidase (MAO) found in ayahuasca vine).