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Drug Information – Hallucinogens

LSD
LSD is manufactured from ergot, a fungus that grows on rye. LSD is odorless, colorless, and tasteless. A dose the size of a grain of salt can cause serious effects. LSD is sold on artwork-covered blotter paper cut into tiny stamps, in small tablets called “microdots,” in thin squares of gelatin called “window panes”, or on sugar cubes or hard candy. Some of the common street names of LSD are Acid, Blotter, Cid, Doses, Microdot, or Trips. It may be named for the designs on the paper, like Black Star, Orange Sunshine, Ying-Yang, and so on.

Psilocybin/Psilocyn Mushrooms
Psilocybin and psilocin are small, brown or tan mushrooms found in the Americas and parts of Europe. Hallucinogenic mushrooms often grow in piles of manure. They are usually sold dried and eaten in a variety of ways. Street names are Magic Mushrooms, Shrooms, or simply mushrooms.

Mescaline and Peyote
Mescaline comes from the cactus plant, peyote. The heads or buttons of the cactus are chewed, ground up, or soaked before being eaten. Powdered buttons may be sold in gelatin capsules. Peyote grows in northern Mexico and the southwestern United States

PCP
Phencyclidine, or PCP, was tested in the 1950s as an anesthetic, but it was too upsetting to patients. Today it has no legitimate uses. PCP is a hallucinogen and a stimulant, causing an intense, speeded-up feeling. PCP may be a white, tan, or brown powder or a gummy blob. It is sold in capsules, powder, or liquid. Abusers add it to tobacco or marijuana and smoke it. PCP is also known as Angel Dust, Killer Weed, Embalming Fluid, and Rocket Fuel.

Mental and Physical Effects of LSD, Mushrooms, and Peyote/Mescaline
LSD, mushrooms, and mescaline cause similar psychological effects. Light, colors, and shapes are altered, and imaginary objects appear. Walls “melt.” Abusers feel like they are floating, being pressed down, or moving in slow motion. Users focus on tiny details for hours, and lose track of time. Hallucinogens cause extreme mood swings and thoughts jump wildly. Users feel their bodies changing shape, or they feel as if they no longer exist. Hallucinogens cause dilated pupils, heavy perspiration, body odor, goose bumps, nausea, muscle weakness, trembling, and poor coordination. They affect body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, and may cause seizures.

Long-term Effects
Psychological dependence, “cross-tolerance,” depression, and anxiety are common. Abusers may develop schizophrenia or have psychotic episodes. Hallucinogens can cause miscarriages and birth defects. “Magic” mushrooms can cause fatal liver damage if the wrong plant is eaten. LSD causes flashbacks- random recurrences of the drug experience- months or years after use. Some users develop Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder with ongoing trailers, spots, and auras in their vision, plus depression or panic attacks.

Physical Effects of Phencyclidine/PCP
PCP is the most hazardous of the hallucinogens. Users may injure themselves or others, cause property damage, or become dangerously ill. Effects include: Auditory and visual hallucinations, slurred speech, lost coordination, blank stare; rapidly jerking eyes, sense of indestructibility, lack of pain, extreme anxiety; paranoia, hostility; violence to self or others, coma, lost fine motor skills, seizures and convulsions, cardiac problems, permanent memory loss, mood disorders, disrupted hormone levels; limited growth.

A hallucinogenic trip usually lasts up to 12 hours, but it could last for several days. A bad trip can come back to visit you months later.

Contact our defense lawyers, at Law Office of Anthony B. Cantrell, to discuss your hallucinogens (LSD, PCP, Shrooms) drug charges today.