Lecture 27- Cannabis and Hallucinogens Flashcards
Cannabis medical use history
- historically used to treat many ailments
- marijuana is a schedule 1 drug- prohibited from medical use
- spurred by use of marijuana in AIDS patients (reduces vomiting and stimulates appetite)- cannabis clubs were organizations that purchase bulk marijuna and sell/give away to patients
cannabis medical uses- cancer
- nausea/vomiting, pain
- downside is the mental effects- disorienting/uncomfortable
cannabis medical uses- glaucoma (intra-ocular pressure)
- weed reduces pressure but…
- weed may reduce blood flow to optic nerve and has side-effects
- developing synthetics and/or topical application to reduce side-effects
- experts believe that non-THC meds may have greater benefits
cannabis medical uses- cachexia (wasting away syndrome)
stimulates appetite
cannabis medical uses-other
- potential treatment of numerous disorders/diseases
- chronic pain, epilepsy, hypertension, asthma, anxiety, Alzheimer’s depression, etc
legalization
debate over medical legalization likely will continue for some time, synthetics may be the solution
what schedule are synthetic cannabinoids?
3 (medical use allowed)
Marinol (dronabinol) and Cesamet
synthetic weed used for anti-nausea (for cancer patients)
synthetics
sativex
oral spray, painkiller for MS and rheumatoid arthritis
synthetics
rimonabant
- inverse agonist
- obesity and alzheimers
What are the benefits of synthetics?
- they target specific receptors (CB1 or CB2)
- so, they only produce the wated effect without side effects
What is the downside of synthetics
effects are slow because of formulation (oral)
Dose CBD make THC safer?
- PANSS- positive and negative syndrome scale measures severity of psychotic symptoms (adverse effects of thc)
- least score with largest cbd to thc ratio
What are hallucinogens?
- drugs that radically change a person’s mental state by distorting the perception of reality, in some cases to the point of hallucinations
- illusionogenic, psychomimetic, psychedelic, and mind expanding
Serotonergic hallucinogens list
LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin
Methylated amphetamines list
MDA and MDMA (esctasy)
anticholinergic hallucinogens list
mandrake, henbane, belladonna, and jimsonweed
dissociative anesthetics list
angel dust and ketamine
Serotonergic hallucinogens estimated origins
- vary
- mainly found in religious ceremonies (visions/oracles)
- mushroom (psilocybin) before 1000 BC, still used today in rituals in parts of mexico
Discovery of LSD (first synthetic 5-HT hallucinogen)
- began in Basel, Switzerland (chemist Dr. Albert Hoffman, 1938)-derivative of fungus, ergot
- Stumbled on LSD accidentally
- initially distributed for psychotherapy by Sandoz Labs to break patients ego so psychotherapy would work better
Serotonergic hallucinogens -60s
- no impact on US/europe until psychedelic movement of 60s- took over much of western culture
- became most controversial drugs
How many people tried LSD in the US in the ’60s
- 2 million
- lead to claims of helath risks including insanity, suicide and violence
LSD trends in history
- declined in 70s
- ressurgence in 90s
- some decline in 00s
- new resurgence now
LSD potency
- LSD street dose is 50-150 micrograms w effective dose as low as 10 ug
- hoffman took 250 ug on his 1st experiment
for reference, an aspirin tablet is 325,000 ug
Why are serotonergic drugs associated w serotonin
all contain a chemical group that serotonin has
How many classes of serotonin receptors?
- 7 classes
- 14 known subtypes
- most metabotropic but some ionotropic
Where is serotonin produced and then sent
produced in the raphe nucleus then sent through the CNS
found in the brain, blood and GI tract
What does serotonin regulate
- sleep, mood, impusivity, and cognition
can cause analgesia, sleepiness and appetite changes
LSD mechanism of action
- alters serotonin NT system
- mah mimic natural serotonin
- higher affinity for certain serotonin receptors (5HT2A)
- partial agonist
Mescaline mechanism of action
- psychoactive compound in peyote cactus
- mescaline’s chemical structure differs from LSD but still acts primarily on 5-HT receptors
- cross-tolerance occurs between mescaline and LSD
Pharmacogynamics of serotonin hallucinogens
- LSD most potent- effects after 20 mins that last 8-12 hours
- Morning glory seeds (lysergic acid amide) is 10% as potent as LSD
- Psilocybin is variable in mushrooms, but around 1% as potent as LSD
- Mecaline is 1/3000 as potent but lasts 10-14 hours
- DMT (plant used to make tea) effects start 1 minute after taking but only last 1 hour
5-HT hallucinogens past psychotherapeutic use
- used to produce model psychosis, induced hallucinations analogous to schizophrenia in psychotherapists
visual vs. auditory
What is chlorpromazine
an anti-psychotic that is an effective antagonist of LSD
Psychotherapeutic use
- gain important info from psychotic pateints when under influence
- breaks down ego defenses
- risks outweighed benefits
Physiological effects
- similar to cocaine/amphetamine
- sympathomimetic: pupil dilation, increased HR and BP and body temp, sweating
Psychological effects hallucinations
- visual, vivid, and dream-like hallucinations
- synesthesia: perception of stimulus other than how it is presented, seeing music
Other psychological effects
- labile mood (easily altered): magical thinking, cosmic significance
- altered cognitive experiences, enduring effects (therapeutic potential)
“bad trips”
- acute paranoia and psychotic state, usually if unknowingly taken
advice for handling someone on a bad trip
calm, reassure, decrease noise and light, allow movement, seek medical attention
flashbacks
- months and/or years later, usually not too severe but some cases are
psychiatric disorders
- manson family?
- generally involves individuals w prepsychotic symptoms before drug use
