Tryptamine Abuse and Addiction

Tryptamine is an alkaloid found in in plants, fungi and animals, and is chemically related to the amino acid tryptophan from which its name is derived.

Tryptamine is found in trace amounts in the brains of mammals and is believed to play a role as a neuromodulator or neurotransmitter.

Tryptamine is also the backbone for a group of compounds known collectively as tryptamines.  This group includes many biologically active compounds including neurotransmitters and psychedelic drugs.  The best-known tryptamines are serotonin, an important neurotransmitter, and melatonin, a hormone involved in regulating the sleep-wake cycle.

Tryptamine alkaloids found in fungi, plants and animals are commonly used by humans for their psychotropic effects.

Prominent examples of tryptamines include psilocybin (known as "magic mushrooms") and DMT (from numerous plant sources, e.g. chacruna, often used in ayahuasca brews).  Many synthetic tryptamines have also been made, including the migraine drug sumatriptan, bufotenine, DMT (dimethyl tryptamine), AMT (a-Methyl tryptamine), and others.

Synthetic tryptamines are psychoactive agents which mimic the naturally occurring neurotransmitter tryptamines, but which produce psychedelic effects similar to LSD.

Behavioral effects of synthetic tryptamines tend to be more bizarre than most hallucinogens, and include paranoia and psychosis.  Some tryptamines are also physically toxic, producing effects such as vomiting, sweating, and respiratory and cardiac difficulties.

Tryptamines have become a common "party drug" and should be suspected in any case of sudden, unexplained, bizarre behavior, especially in persons in the age range of 14-25 years.

Mescaline Abuse and Addiction

Mescaline is a natural alkaloid that occurs in the peyote cactus and the San Pedro cactus.  It is an hallucinogen that is mainly used as a psychoactive substance in religious or spiritual practices.  It is also used as a recreational drug.

Tolerance grows with repeated usage, lasting for a few days.  Use of mescaline also causes cross-tolerance with LSD and other psychedelics. About half the initial dosage is excreted after 6 hours, but some studies suggest that it is not metabolized at all before excretion.

Mescaline hallucinations are different from those of LSD. Hallucinations are consistent with actual experience, but are typically magnified by the stimulus properties of objects and sounds.

Mescaline elicits a pattern of sympathetic arousal, with the peripheral nervous system being a major target for this drug with effects lasting up to 12 hours.  Mescaline is, however, much less potent than similar hallucinogens, like LSD and psilocybin.

Mescaline can also cause users to become irrational in their thinking or the user may experience feelings of anxiety and waves of hatred.  Headaches, dizziness, and nausea are common side effects as well.  Mescaline use can also accelerate the users heart rate, sometimes to an unhealthy level that could be fatal.

Large doses of mescaline can lower the body's glucose level, possibly causing unconsciousness, or can induce convulsions, heart failure, and death due to respiratory failure.

Although mescaline does not create a physical dependency in users, the drug can be addictive due to the possibility of psychological dependency.  There are several dangers which are associated with mescaline, despite it's reputation as a relatively mild hallucinogen.  First, there is the risk of entering states of what amount to temporary mental illness.  Users can go through periods of intense fear and anxiety, leading them to do foolish things.  In extreme cases, tranquilizers might even need to be used to control the reaction.

Mescaline can produce intensely terrifying thoughts and fears, magnifying sensation to the point where they become unbearable.

Long-term effects of mescaline can include flashbacks, which is a re-occurrence of hallucinations long after the drugs have left the user's system.  These effects can occur after a single experience with the drug, and the scientific community is still puzzled as to why this happens.

LSD Abuse and Addiction

LSD (an abbreviation for "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide") is the drug most commonly identified with the term "hallucinogen" and the most widely used in this class of drugs.

Hallucinogens are a class of psychoactive drug that cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness.

Unlike other psychoactive drugs such as stimulants and opiods, hallucinogens do not just amplify familiar states of mind.  They induce experiences that are completely different from ordinary consciousness. These experiences are often compared to trances, deep meditation, religious experiences and dreams.

Hallucinations, strictly speaking, are perceptions that have no basis in reality, but appear completely realistic.

Psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants have been found within medicinal and religious traditions around the world.  When used in religious practice, psychedelic drugs, as well as other substances like tobacco, are referred to as entheogens.

The most popular, and at the same time most stigmatized, use of psychedelics in Western culture has been associated with the search for direct religious experience, enhanced creativity, personal development and "mind expansion."

While hallucinogens are not addictive in the same way that drugs like heroin or amphetamine are addictive, they are considered drugs of abuse and dependence if users continue to use the drug despite recurring problems associated with its use.

LSD users will develop a high degree of tolerance for the drug's effects after repeated use.  They will need increasingly larger doses to produce similar effects.

LSD use also produces tolerance for other hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin and mescaline, but not to drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines, and PCP, which do not act directly on the serotonin receptors affected by LSD.

Tolerance for LSD is short-lived it is lost if the user stops taking the drug for several days. There is no evidence that LSD produces physical withdrawal symptoms when chronic use is stopped.

Two long-term effects, persistent psychosis and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), more commonly referred to as "flashbacks", have been associated with use of LSD. The causes of these effects, which in some users occur after a single experience with the drug, are not known.

Hallucinogen Abuse and Addiction

Hallucinogens are a class of psychoactive drug that cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness.

Unlike other psychoactive drugs such as stimulants and opiods, hallucinogens do not just amplify familiar states of mind.  They induce experiences that are completely different from ordinary consciousness. These experiences are often compared to trances, deep meditation, religious experiences and dreams.

Hallucinations, strictly speaking, are perceptions that have no basis in reality, but appear completely realistic.

Psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants have been found within medicinal and religious traditions around the world.  When used in religious practice, psychedelic drugs, as well as other substances like tobacco, are referred to as entheogens.

The most popular, and at the same time most stigmatized, use of psychedelics in Western culture has been associated with the search for direct religious experience, enhanced creativity, personal development and "mind expansion."

While hallucinogens are not addictive in the same way that drugs like heroin or amphetamine are addictive, they are considered drugs of abuse and dependence if users continue to use the drug despite recurring problems associated with its use.

LSD (an abbreviation for "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide") is the drug most commonly identified with the term "hallucinogen" and the most widely used in this class of drugs.

LSD users will develop a high degree of tolerance for the drug's effects after repeated use.  They will need increasingly larger doses to produce similar effects.

LSD use also produces tolerance for other hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin and mescaline, but not to drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines, and PCP, which do not act directly on the serotonin receptors affected by LSD.

Tolerance for LSD is short-lived it is lost if the user stops taking the drug for several days. There is no evidence that LSD produces physical withdrawal symptoms when chronic use is stopped.

Two long-term effects, persistent psychosis and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), more commonly referred to as "flashbacks", have been associated with use of LSD. The causes of these effects, which in some users occur after a single experience with the drug, are not known.

DOM (STP) Abuse and Addiction

DOM (STP) is a synthetic derivative of mescaline that was first synthesized by Alexander Shulgin, a researcher and professor at the University of California.  The street name STP allegedly stands for "Serenity, Tranquility, and Peace" but also refers to the gasoline additive STP.

At high doses DOM produces an effect described as being on LSD and amphetamine at the same time, with a duration of more than 16 hours, with effects fading and recurring in waves.

Effects of DOM include substantial perceptual changes such as blurred vision, multiple images, vibration of objects, visual hallucinations, distorted shapes, enhancement of details, slowed passage of time, and increased contrasts.  Physical effects include pupillary dilation and a rise in systolic blood pressure.

DOM is an illegal drug that is classified as a Schedule I substance under the International Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

As with all hallucinogens, DOM is not addictive in the same way that drugs like heroin or amphetamine are addictive.  Even so, hallucinogens are considered drugs of abuse and dependence if users continue to use the drug despite recurring problems associated with their use.

DOM users will develop a high degree of tolerance for the drug's effects after repeated use.  They will need increasingly larger doses to produce similar effects.

DOM use also produces tolerance for other hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin and LSD, but not to drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines, and PCP, which do not act directly on the serotonin receptors affected by DOM.

Two long-term effects, persistent psychosis and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), more commonly referred to as "flashbacks", have been associated with use of DOM.  The causes of these effects, which in some users occur after a single experience with the drug, are not known.

Ecstasy Abuse and Addiction

Ecstasy, also known by MDMA,  is an psychoactive drug that acts primarily on the central nervous system where it alters brain function that results in changes in mood, perception, consciousness and behavior.

Ecstasy is valued as a recreational drug for its tendency to induce a sense of intimacy with others along with diminished feelings of fear, anxiety, and depression.

MDMA is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in the world and is taken in a variety of contexts far removed from its roots in psychotherapeutic settings.  It's most common association is with large electronic music dance parties known as "raves."  MDMA is criminalized in most countries in the world and its possession, manufacture and sale is subject to arrest and prosecution.

There is some controversy within scientific, health care, and drug policy circles about the risks of MDMA, specifically regarding possible neurotoxic damage to the brain.

Before it was made a controlled substance, MDMA was used as an augmentation to psychotherapy, often couples therapy, and to help treat clinical depression and anxiety disorders.  Clinical trials are now testing the therapeutic potential of MDMA for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety associated with terminal cancer.

MDMA is occasionally known for being taken in conjunction with a number of substances including psychedelic drugs, such as LSD ("candy flipping") or psilocybin mushrooms ("hippy flipping"), or even common drugs such as marijuana.  It has also been combined with ketamine ("kitty flipping") and some even take mentholated products such as menthol cigarettes and lozenges after taking Ecstasy for their cooling sensation while experiencing the drug's effects . This can have a harmful result on the upper respiratory tract.

A number of treatment options are available to treat Ecstasy dependence, usually involving detoxification, counseling, and behavior modification.

While abstinence may be a suitable management plan for those who have only used MDMA for the short term, it is not recommended  or long-term users.  Those who have used Ecstasy for a prolonged period can experience severe withdrawal symptoms, which can lead to serious medical complications including cardiovascular problems.

Acid Abuse and Addiction

Acid is the common "street name" of LSD.  LSD (an abbreviation for "Lysergic Acid Diethylamide") is the drug most commonly identified with the term "hallucinogen" and the most widely used in this class of drugs.

Hallucinogens are a class of psychoactive drug that cause subjective changes in perception, thought, emotion and consciousness.

Unlike other psychoactive drugs such as stimulants and opiods, hallucinogens do not just amplify familiar states of mind.  They induce experiences that are completely different from ordinary consciousness. These experiences are often compared to trances, deep meditation, religious experiences and dreams.

Hallucinations, strictly speaking, are perceptions that have no basis in reality, but appear completely realistic.

Psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants have been found within medicinal and religious traditions around the world.  When used in religious practice, psychedelic drugs, as well as other substances like tobacco, are referred to as entheogens.

The most popular, and at the same time most stigmatized, use of psychedelics in Western culture has been associated with the search for direct religious experience, enhanced creativity, personal development and "mind expansion."

While hallucinogens are not addictive in the same way that drugs like heroin or amphetamine are addictive, they are considered drugs of abuse and dependence if users continue to use the drug despite recurring problems associated with its use.

LSD users will develop a high degree of tolerance for the drug's effects after repeated use.  They will need increasingly larger doses to produce similar effects.

LSD use also produces tolerance for other hallucinogenic drugs such as psilocybin and mescaline, but not to drugs such as marijuana, amphetamines, and PCP, which do not act directly on the serotonin receptors affected by LSD.

Tolerance for LSD is short-lived it is lost if the user stops taking the drug for several days. There is no evidence that LSD produces physical withdrawal symptoms when chronic use is stopped.

Two long-term effects, persistent psychosis and hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD), more commonly referred to as "flashbacks", have been associated with use of LSD. The causes of these effects, which in some users occur after a single experience with the drug, are not known.