Lecture 20 Hallucinogens Flashcards
HALLUCINOGENS
- cannabis sativa
- psilocybin mushrooms
- Diviner’s sage
- deadly night shades
HALLUCINOGENS
Deliriants : causing stupor, confusion, confabulation, “phantom” behaviors.
* Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), various Brugmansia species (Angel’s Trumpets),
Datura stramonium (Jimson weed), Hyoscyamus niger (henbane), and Mandragora officinarum
(mandrake) - tropane alkaloids
Psychedelics: (psyche, “soul, mind”) (delein, “to manifest”),
* Ayahuasca (Banisteriopsis caapi), psilocybin mushrooms, peyote cactus, Marijuana (Cannabis sativa)
Disassociatives: distort perceptions of sight and sound, disassociating from the
environment and self
* Diviner`s Sage (Salvia divinorum), facilitates shamanic visions for curing or divination.
SHAMANISM & HALLUCINOGENS
Entheogen: psychoactive substance used in sacred contexts and/or to engender spiritual development.
Plant hallucinogens and stimulants utilized in religious ritualism
Connected with shamanism and
divination (documented worldwide)
Religious practitioners initiate trance states (altered states of consciousness - ASC), for the purpose of communing with spirits
Personal ecstasy as means (shawman) of contact with the supernatural
* Healing, finding game animals, procuring rain
BELLADONNA & ATROPINE
Known as: deadly nightshade, dwale,
devil’s herb, wolf’s berry, black cherry
and toad flower.
Wild range Central and Eastern Europe, Near East
Psychotropic alkaloids:
* Atropine, Hyoscyamine and Scopolamine.
Difficult to cultivate and produce the
desired alkaloids
USES OF BELLADONNA
Medicinal & Psychoactive:
* Anesthetic, sedative, anti-nausea, anti- inflammatory
* Recreational drug – hallucinogen; cosmetics
Religious & Ritual:
* Witchcraft (flying potions)
* Induce trances and visions
* Prepare for the hunt
Malicious & Illicit:
* Roots, leaves and berries extremely
toxic
* Poison & murder
Evidence largely from literature/historical records; Belladonna is rare in the archaeological record
2200 BC
* First confirmed seeds found out of
natural context
200 BC
First reference clearly attributed to A. belladonna, by Greek pharmacologist
Dioscorides.
754 AD
Sporadic mentions of ‘nightshades’ as
drugs in monastic gardens. Appears in
the arch record.
1578 AD
Plant becomes a wild ‘relic’ after dissolution of the monasteries. Still grown in Europe though.
1600s AD
Arch record & historical sources
show it becomes unpopular
IS IT REALLY DOMESTICATED?
Few typical ‘domestication syndrome’
characteristics
Since1830s it has been bred to
produce more atropine and mature more quickly.
As an important economic plant to the pharmaceutical industry (“…predictable supply of a resource of interest”)
HOPS
Hops (Humulus lupulus) – member of the Cannabaceae family
Female plants propagated vegetally
Stability agent: anti-microbial properties, beer preservation
Flavouring: balance sweetness of malt; floral, fruity, citrus flavours
Sedative
VILCA
Anadenanthera colubrina: Vilca, Huilca, Cebil
Hallucinogenic, Stimulant
* Alkaloids Bufotenin (5-OH-DMT),
Dimethylthrytamine (DMT)
Snuffed, Smoked, Chewed, Drunk
* Roasted, ground, mixed with lime
2130 BCE Smoking pipes in Argentina
* Chemical Residue Analysis found DMT
STIMULANTS
Increase activity in the brain, temporarily elevating alertness, mood, and awareness.
- coffe,cacao,betel,cocain
COCA-COLA
Coca-cola was originally developed by Colonel John Pemberton in his attempt to find a substitute for morphine. He developed a coca wine, flavoured with
caffeine-rich extracts of the kola nut
DRUGS AS FOOD
Confers energy
Imparts sense of wellbeing
Sources of oils, amino acids, vitamins and minerals
CAFFEINE
Alkaloid affecting stimulating central nervous system
Cognitive or arousal effects, as well as autonomic effects
(elevated heart rate, muscle twitching)
Pesticide: paralyzes & kills insects feeding on the plant
Sources: coffee, tea, kola, cacao, yerba mate, guarana berries!!
“Dependence can develop with chronic use
consume caffeine
- take caffeine,peak abd goes down
BETEL & ARECA
Betel quid (pan, paan) composed of leaves from betel vine (Piper betle),
areca palm nuts (Areca catechu), slaked lime (and tobacco)
Arecoline is the primary active stimulant
Betel leaves are used as an antiseptic and breath- freshener.
HISTORY OF CULTIVATION
Areca nut remains from Spirit Cave, NW Thailand (7,600BP) –cultivated?
Linguistics and wild progenitors suggest Malaysian origin
Important cultigen in SE Asia and India by 700-900AD
Betel symbolism and language – related to love, marriage, wellbeing
WHAT CLASS OF DRUGS DOES TOBACCO FALL
UNDER?
- stimulus,depressant?,
- chronic use have showned notches indicate pipe use
CACAO
Cacao previously thought to be domesticated in Mesoamerica
Greatest genetic diversity of Theobroma cacao is in the upper Amazon region
Combined analysis of cacao starch grains, theobromine residues and ancient DNA show the earliest evidence of cacao use in the upper Amazon region (5,300 BP, Ecuador)
PSYCHOTROPIC WRAP-UP
Psychotropics have been cultivated since the Neolithic
Plant species can be cultivated as foods and drugs
* Barley/beer; poppy seed/opium, etc.
Residue analysis can be a powerful method for detecting preparation and
use of psychotropics
* Wine; cacao; tobacco; alkaloids, etc.
Multiple lines of evidence needed to document domestication process
