What are hallucinogens?
Hallucinogens (also known as ‘psychedelics’) are a class of drugs that cause hallucinations. They can make a person see, hear, smell, feel or taste things that are not there or are different from how they are in reality, causing profound distortions in a person’s perception of reality.
These drugs are either manufactured synthetically or derived from plants. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), PCP (phencyclidine, or ‘angel dust’), ketamine and ‘magic mushrooms’ are all hallucinogenic drugs.
Under the influence of either type of drug, people often report rapid, intense emotional swings and seeing images, hearing sounds and feeling sensations that seem real but are not.
Some depressant and stimulant drugs, including cannabis and ecstasy, also have hallucinogenic effects in high doses. A person’s sense of distance, time and objective reality is warped under the influence of hallucinogens, so serious injury and accidental death are real risks.
How hallucinogens work
Hallucinogens target specific centres of the brain and alter how it interprets sensory input. A person may be looking at a blank wall, for example, but their brain may interpret it as moving and swirling, or covered in insects.
The effects depend on the type of drug, the strength of the dose, the person taking it and their state of mind. Common effects include:
- hallucinations of sight, sound, taste and touch
- a blurring of the senses, such as sounds being ‘felt’ or colours being ‘heard’
- feeling detached from the body
- distortions of time, direction and distance
- relaxation
- accelerated heart rate
- dilated pupils
- nausea and loss of appetite.
How hallucinogens are abused
The effects of hallucinogens are highly variable and unreliable, and differ between people and between occasions. This is mainly due to significant variations in the amount and composition of the active compounds, particularly in hallucinogens derived from plants and mushrooms. Because of this unpredictability, using hallucinogens can be particularly dangerous.
LSD is sold in tablets, capsules and, occasionally, liquid form, so it is usually taken orally. It is often added to absorbent paper, which is divided into decorated pieces, each equivalent to one dose. The experiences, often called ‘trips’, are long and typically end after about 12 hours.
Peyote is a cactus. The top of the plant, known as the crown, consists of disc-shaped buttons that are cut from the roots and dried. The buttons are generally chewed or soaked in water to produce an intoxicating liquid. The hallucinogenic dose of mescaline is about 0.3 to 0.5 grams, and its effects last about 12 hours. Because the extract is so bitter, some people prepare a tea by boiling the cacti for several hours.
Mushrooms containing psilocybin are available fresh or dried and are typically taken orally. Psilocybin and its biologically active form, psilocin, cannot be inactivated by cooking or freezing, so the mushrooms may also be brewed as a tea or added to other foods to mask their bitter flavour. The effects appear within 20 minutes of ingestion and last approximately 6 hours.
PCP is a white crystalline powder that dissolves readily in water or alcohol and has a distinctive bitter chemical taste. It mixes easily with dyes and is often sold illicitly as tablets, capsules and coloured powders that are normally snorted, smoked or swallowed. For smoking, PCP is often applied to a leafy material such as mint, parsley, oregano or marijuana. Depending on how much is taken and by what route, its effects can last approximately 4 to 6 hours.