Hallucinogens are a large group of drugs, which produce changes in perception, thinking and emotion. They inhibit the user’s ability to restrict sensory input, resulting in a flood of sensation.
The user often experiences a decrease in logical thought and a slowing of time. Color can become enhanced, imagery can develop within the most mundane objects and perceptions can take on profound significance. Hallucinogens are actually less likely to produce hallucinations (misperceptions which are conceived as real) than they are to produce “psuedohallucinations”, where misperceptions are recognized as misperceptions by the user.
Pupils tend to dilate during use.
Paranoid thoughts, feelings of omnipotence and fragmented thinking are more likely to occur at higher doses. Because hallucinogens tend to aid in the loss of internal control, loosen the sense of reality, increase suggestibility and weaken the ability to make sense of what is perceived, some individuals can have a “bad trip”. This usually involves feelings of high anxiety, panic, and can have some psychotic features. A “bad trip” usually lasts from few hours to one day. In some cases there is a prolonged psychotic reaction which takes the user a longer period to recover from. In some rare cases, the user never fully recovers. Hallucinogens can trigger pre-existing underlying psychoses, though they do not cause them.
Hallucinogens do not cause physical dependence. Tolerance develops quickly, however.
Some users can report “flashbacks”. These are temporary and sudden occurrences of some aspect of the hallucinogen’s effect, which occurs after recovering from the intoxication and a period of feeling normal again. The causes of flashbacks are not understood.
The three most commonly known hallucinogens are LCD, mescaline and psilocybin.
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is a synthetic drug, which is the best known of the hallucinogens. True “acid” is made from LSD, although it is frequently cut with other chemicals as well. LSD is usually available in liquid tablet or on blotter paper (recently with cartoon characters displayed). LSD trips usually last 4 to 10 hours.
Mescaline is derived from the peyote cactus of Northern Mexico and southwestern United States. It is usually sold in tablet or powder form. Users can also eat the dried cactus tops of the plant, called peyote “buttons”.
Psilocybin is a mushroom species available in parts of the United States and Mexico. It produces 3-6 hours of effect.
It is important to realize that because these are illicit street drugs, there is no quality control and these drugs are frequently misrepresented to users. Genuine mescaline, peyote and psilocybin are rarely sold on the street. When hallucinogens are available, they are frequently cut with adulterants.