Non-Alkaloid Hallucinogens Flashcards
What is wormwood (absinthe) and where is it native to?
A weedy annual composite, native to Eurasia and has been used medicinally for at least 2000 years.
What family does wormwood belong to?
Aster or Asteraceae family.
Where was wormwood mentioned and by whom was it recommended for reating intestinal worms and gastrointestinal complaints?
In the Ebers Papyrus, and both Dioscorides and Pliny recommended it for treating intestinal worms and gastrointestinal complaints.
Also promoted as an effective insecticide.
What does Pliny describe?
A mixture of wine and wormwood known as absinthes.
When did Pliny become more common?
Europe in 1500s following steam distillation invention.
What is “purl”, a substance common in Britain in 1700s and how was it produced?
A medicinal fortified ale, and was produced from distilled grain alcohol and wormwood essence.
When and where was absinthe first developed?
Switzerland in the late 1700s.
What was absinthe used as?
As an expensive medicinal alcoholic liqueur containing leaf extracts of Artemisia absinthium and other herbs.
When did Pernod Fils open a factory for the commercial production of absinthe?
1800s.
What was Pernod Fils’ version of absinthe?
A distillation of alcohol containing wormwood and numerous other herbs.
How is absinthe manufactured?
By steeping the herbal mixture in strong alcohol, followed by distillation to concentrate the alcohol and various volatile herbal secondary products. Green clear liquid.
What did the French soldiers stationed in Algeria during the 1840s do with wormwood?
They added wormwood to wine to prevent fevers.
Who was absinthe popular among?
French soldiers returning, the wealthy and intelligentsia of Europe and was said to evoke new views, different experiences, and unique feelings.
How did unscrupulous producers concoct cheap imitations?
Based it on distilled grain alcohol with cupric acetate or antimony chloride added to produce the green coordinations.
How were the cheap imitations of absinthe dangerous?
Cupric acetate and antimony chloride are neurotoxins.
How did the wormwood terpenes stay in solution?
Because of the high alcohol content.
How does one produce turbidity (louche)?
Cold water poured over sugar cube on sieve over absinthe, dilutes the alcohol, terpene precipitate out turning mixture yellow.
What is the active principle of absinthe?
The monoterpene thujone, a psychoactive neurotoxin.
What is the mechanism of action of thujone?
Thought to interact with THC however now we know that thujone is a GABA blockers.
Explain what happens when GABA is blocked?
The blocking of the neurotransmitter GABA, which moderates the firing of neural synapses, results in tremors and convulsions.
What are the symptoms of thujone poisoning noted in 1850, although dangers recored in 1708?
1) Dazed condition.
2) Convulsions.
3) Enfeebled mind.
4) Terrifying hallucinations.
Based on experiments in 1864, what was thujone produce at high concentrations?
1) Convulsions.
2) Abnormal Respiration.
3) Foaming at the mouth.
What did medical reports from the mid 1800s claim?
Heavy absinthe consumption caused auditory and visual hallucinations as well as convulsions similar to epilepsy.
Despite these claims, what happened with absinthe?
Absinthe consumptions increased 15 fold after successful campaigning. At WW1 outbreak, Pernod company was producing over 10 mil gallons annually.
Where in France were the effects most relevant due to high consumption of absinthe?
Arles in which neurological disorders and stillbirths and psychoses.
When was absinthe banned from Belgium, Switz, Italy, US and then France respectively?
Belgium, Switz, Italy, US: 1905-1913
France: 1915, not implemented until after WW1.
What are the two styles of absinthe that are produced?
True and bohemian.
What famous painter drank absinthe?
Vincent Van Gogh.
Where is true absinthe produced?
France and Spain, similar to original.
What is bohemian absinthe and where is it produced?
Not absinthe at all. Blue in coordinations and does not louche, produced in Eastern Europe.
According to European law, what is the maximum thujone content?
10ppm compared to traditional Penod absinthe which was 60-90ppm and competing brands has as high as 260-350ppm.
How would you describe nutmeg and where is it indigenous to?
A large tree, indigenous to the Banda Islands, a small archipelago west of New Guinea in present-day eastern Indonesia.
What are the two important spices obtained from the tree?
Nutmeg from the seed and mace from the fleshy aril surrounding the seed, both containing psychoactive principles.
Where is nutmeg added to betel but preparation and to chewing and snuffing tobacco?
Asia.
What is nutmeg considered in Yemen?
An aphrodisiac.
What was the nutmeg fruit known as in Indian Ayurvedic medicine?
Madashaunda (narcotic fruit).
Where is nutmeg listed along with opium, hashish and henbane as an intoxicating drug?
Medieval Muslim writings (800-600 yrs ago).
Where was nutmeg used as a stimulant after hashish and other narcotics were banned?
Egypt.
Who in North America first used nutmeg as a psychoactive drug?
New Orleans jazz musicians in the 1920s.
Who in North America used nutmeg as a psychoactive drug in the 1950s?
Prisoners in American jails from kitchens.
What the effects of consuming nutmeg?
1) Initial effects are gagging and vomiting.
2) Headache, dizziness, nausea.
3) General giddiness, both visual and auditory hallucinations.
What is the nutmeg effect similar to and why (2)?
Deliriant tropane alkaloid.
1) There is a sense of detachment from reality, sensations of floating/flying, and apparent separation of limbs from body.
2) Deep, coma sleep, severe body aches and depression are experienced upon awakening.
When does nutmeg become lethal?
5x the effective dose.
What are the active principles of nutmeg?
The related phenolics myristicin and elemicin.
How are the active principles of nutmeg, myristicin and elemicin, metabolized?
Metabolized into amphetamine-like compounds, myristicin into MMDA, and elemicin into TMA (similar to mescaline).
What is unique about myristicin?
It is a mild inhibitor of the monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme.
What is diviner’s sage or salvia, whose family is it a member to, and where is it native to?
A herbaceous member of the Mint family and is known only to the Oaxaca region of Mexico.
Does diviner’s sage or salvia occur naturally in the wild?
No, it is a cultigen of uncertain origin.
Why is diviner’s sage or salvia of uncertain origin?
Plants rarely produce seed and when the do the seeds are often not viable-the species is therefore propagated vegetatively.
Who used the diviner’s sage as a shamanistic inebriant?
The Mazatec peoples of Oaxaca.
What was diviner’s sage used in conjunction with or as a substitute for shamanistic purposes?
Sacred mushrooms and morning glory seeds.
Who summarized the entheogenic use of diviner’s sage in 1962 including the ritulalistic ingestion of leaves and perception of shamanistic drink by Yerba de Maria?
Gordon Wasson.
Where was diviner’s sage growing according to Richard Shultes?
Oaxaca.
What is the process of the leaf chewing method?
1) 10 fresh leaves chewed and held in mouth.
2) Hallucinations begins after 10 min.
3) Last for 10-60 min.
What is the experience or results of the diviner’s sage?
The experience is overwhelming and unpleasant. Bizarre out of body sensation and visual distortions are characteristic.
What are the active principles of diviner’s sage
Two diterpenoids: Salvinorin A and B.
What is unique about the salvinorin’s?
They are the most potent natural source hallucinogens known -0.2-1 mg is required to produce a strong effect. `
What semi-synthetic drug is more potent and more powerful only requiring 0.05-0.2?
LSD.
What is the mode of action of the salvinorins?
They are potent and highly selective kappa opioid receptor (KOR) agonists (three classed of opioid receptors).
What is marijuana and where is it native to?
A rapidly-growing annual plant (3m in height) and is native to East and Central Asia.
What is an uncommon phenomenon about marijuana?
It produces separate males and female plants.
Where is potent resin from?
The unfertilized female flowering heads and male plants are generally removed to prevent fertilization.
Leaves of male and female plant equally potent in resin.
What are the three overlapping species of marijuana?
1) Cannabis sativa.
2) C. indica.
3) C. ruderalis.
What do botanists now recognize the three overlapping “chemotypes” of C. stavia to be?
1) A drug type.
2) An intermediate type.
3) A hemp fiber type.
What was the first plant species to be domesticated?
Marijuana or hemp, evidence of cultivation dating back 8000 years in Eastern Asia.
What was marijuana originally grown for?
As an important plant fibre for making ropes, clothing, and canvas like cloth.
The nutritious seeds were also eaten, and seed oil was burned in lamps for light and heat.
Where was there evidence for the earliest used of cannabis as a psychoactive drug and what book contains indicating passage?
Ancient China, Shen Nog’s Materia Medica (written 2000 years ago).
Who used marijuna as incense 2800 years ago and what what is known as in the Athara Veda?
Assyrians, known as “sacred grass”.
Who burned hemp “seed” (the flowering head of the female plants) in steam baths to produce narcotic smoke as reported by the Greek Herodotus (490-425 BCE)?
The Scythians of Central Asia.
Where did the scynthians likely introduce cannabis?
Europe and North Africa.
What did the Greeks and Romans emphasize cannabis use as rather than promote psychoactive effects?
A fiber crop and in medicinal preparations-Glen only hinted at psychoactive effects.
In which culture does the plant have powerful spiritual and mythological associations and is considered a holy plant in the Vedas?
Hindu of India.
What major Hindu diety is cannabis associated with worshiping?
The worship of Shiva.
What are the three cannabis preparations used in India?
1) Bhang.
2) Ganja.
3) Charas.
What is the Bhang cannabis preparation?
The cheapest and least potent, consisting of dried leaves and flower shoots, mixed with milk, herbs and spices and consumed as a tea like beverage, or in candy and cakes.
How is Bhang commonly used in Hindu?
In Hindu religious festivals an offering to images of Shiva. Also consumed for Holi Hindu festival (cleansing of sins).
What other religion (other than Hindu) is bhang used in?
Sikh religion.
What is the second preparation of cannabis in India and where is it obtained from?
Ganja, and is obtained from the resinous flowering tops of female plants.
What is the potentcy of Ganja in comparison to Bhang?
It is 3x more potent.
How is Ganja taken?
Often smoked with tobacco or datura.
What is the third preparation of cannabis in India and what is it known as?
Charas, or pure brown cannabis resin and is known more commonly by its Middle Eastern name, hashish.
What is the potentcy of Charas in comparison to Bhang?
It is 4-8x more potent than bhang and smoked in pipes, specifically clay popes known as chills.
Both ganja and charas are used by ____ devotees as a gift or offering.
Shiva.
Who are the Sadhu?
A sect of wandering Hindu ascetics who are prodigious smokers of ganja and charas.
Why do the Sadhu empty cannabis?
To achieve unit with and show their devotion to Shiva.
What do the Tibetan Tantric Buddhism consider cannabis to be?
A holy plant and have used it for religious purposes for over 2000 years.
Where was cannabis use widely as a medicaments and intoxicant and where it was commonly known as kif or dagga?
Africa.
What is cannabis a central sacrament to?
The Rastafarian religious movement, founded in Jamaica in 1930s.
When and by whom was marijuana introduced to the US?
Mexican immigrant labourers in 1920s.
Who was marijuana initially confined to?
The poor and some minority groups in the southern US.
Though whom did cannabis come to the attention of Canadians?
Emily F. Murphy, an early feminist and first female judge in the British Empire.
What book did Murphy write that was racist and dealt with opium and cocaine trafficking and abuse in Canada, along with marijuana?
The Black Candle.
What did Murphy’s writing of marijuana result in?
Contributed to marijuanan being added to the list of regulated substances in the 1929 opium and narcotics drug act.
Until when could marijuana be grown without a permit?
1938.
When was cannabis introduced into prescription medications?
1954.
What was the timeline of marijuana in the Narcotics Control Act?
1) 1961: Introduced strong penalties for cannabis possession.
2) 1970: Criminal Code of Canada revisions led to a reduction of these penalties
When did alcohol prohibition in the US end and what was the result of that?
1932, and then the Federal Bureau of Narcotics was established to enforce existing laws controlling opium and cocaine.
Who was passionate about hating cannabis?
Harry Anslinger.
What did Anslinger claim about those who smoked marijuana despite the fact that hemp was grown (non-drug) to provide fibre crop?
Made racially based notions of marijuana abuse.
Claimed that the drug led to criminal acts, debauchery, lechery, and violent behaviour.
When was marijuana made illegal in the US bu the Marijuana Stamp Act?
1937.
What is the active psychoactive principle of marijuana?
The phenolic THC.
What is a second related compound of marijuana?
Cannabidiol (CBD)-which is not psychoactive but appears to play a role in inhibiting anxiety symptoms associated with high THC intake.
How do the cannabinoids work?
They bind to one or two THC receptors of the CNS, these receptors alter and modulate levels of neurotransmitters dopamine and GABA.
What has been done to develop potent high-THC marijuana?
The anti-psychotic CBD is bred out.
How has the potency of marijuana in NA increased?
1960: 0.4% THC
1970: 4% THC
Today: 14%
To whom are these potent strains of marijuana particularly dangerous?
To younger persons predisposed to schizophrenia and related neurological disorders.
What leads to the variability in the effects of marijuana?
1) Dosage.
2) Plant Chemotype.
3) Method of administration.
4) Personality/physiology/socioeconomic factors.
What are the characteristic affects of marijuana?
Feelings of lassitude, dream like state, euphoria, hunger pangs, and altered perceptions of time.
What may some marijuana users experience?
Panic attacks, bouts of paranoia, loss of coordination.
What is the results of taking larger doses of marijuana?
Produce visual and auditory hallucinations, varying from person to person.
What are long term effects of taking marijuana?
Impairment of short term morn, respiratory problems, and chronic psychosis.
How was marijuana used medically in Ayurvedic medicine?
For treating ailments and was likely introduced into Africa as a medical plant (analgesic, antiseptic and appetite promoter).
What did Dioscorides and Galen recommend marijuana use for medically?
They recommended it as an analgesic, and anti-flatulent, and to diminish sexual potency.
What does contemporary clinical evidence indicate about marijuana?
That is relives nausea, vomiting and other unpleasant side-effects associated with chemotherapy.
Also used to treat glaucoma.
What is CBD (cannabidiol) used for?
In alleviating the pain and muscle spasms associated with multiple sclerosis and persons suffering from spinal cord injuries.
Where was cannabidioil recently granted “orphan status” as an anti-convulsant for treating Dravet syndrome (severe infant epilepsy), and other treatment resistant epilepsies?
US.
When was marijuana made legal in Canada?
Oct. 17/2018.
What is cannabis classified as in the US?
A schedule 1 drug (defined as a high potential for abuse and no accepted medical use), at the federal level although it is legal in some states (Colorado).
What is the name of the schedule 2 drug (prescription required, accepted medical used, high potential for abuse)?
Tetradrocannabinol (dronabinol).
What is the market name for dronabinol?
Marinol.
What is Marinol used to treat?
Nausea and to stimulate the appetite.
