When ergotism first infects the flowering head of a grain, it spews out a yellow-colored mucus containing fungal spores that spread the disease. The fungus eventually invades the developing kernels of grain, turning it into purplish-black sclerotia. Within the sclerotia are potent ergot alkaloids, including lysergic acid, from which LSD is derived, and ergotamine, which is now used to treat migraine headaches, demonstrating its psychoactive uses. The alkaloids affect the central nervous system and contract the muscles making up the walls of veins, arteries, and internal organs (PBS secrets of the dead). These disturbances to the central nervous system explain the previously unexplained maladies that plagued Salem such as temporary paralysis and fits.
Cannabis was first introduced to the new world during European conquest and colonial expansion during the sixteenth century. According to Campos, cannabis was not native to the land of Mexico when many indigenous thought it was. Its original name, pipiltzintzintlis, was first introduced to Mexico in the 1530s by conquistador Pedro Quadardo and it was to be cultivated and commercialized as a source of fiber for clothing, rope and sails for ships. However, during the 1770s a new purpose for cannabis arose and it involved smoking it. The indigenous people began smoking cannabis during this time for religious and ceremonial practices.
Methadone Maintenance Treatment The Methadone Maintenance Treatment (Camh) helps patients overcome an addiction of opioid dependence. The treatment uses methadone as a replacement for the opioid. Methadone is a narcotic drug that helps suppress opioid withdrawal symptoms, reduce cravings for opioids, not induce intoxication (e.g., sedation or euphoria) and reduce the euphoric effects of other opioids, such as heroin (Camh). MMT is beneficial to the patient in many reasons.
A hospital patient is suffering a terrible infection. There is only one diagnosis and that is to take a poop or roach pill. Some people in this world today think that is very disgusting and they wouldn 't dare take something like that. But what if it was one of your loved ones wouldn 't you want them to take the pill? They should treat the patient with the pill because it leads to better health.
Chapter 6 stated that everybody must get stoned. I agree to a certain extent since it heightens the state of consciousness and it gives individuals clarity that leads to coming up with better solutions. However, not all psychedelic drugs provide a good trip, which can be scary because it can cause horrifying thoughts. Although, different types of animals seek ways to intoxicate themselves because it lets them break free from the norm, I don’t agree that drug-seeking and drug-taking are naturally normal behaviors.
Given that people can and do freely ingest alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine (which are all more toxic and addictive than psilocybin), largely for counterproductive and unhealthy purposes, administering psilocybin in a controlled setting for integrative and productive aims doesn’t sound like an especially bad idea. As far as I’m concerned, the largest obstacle preventing psychedelics from being considering a viable treatment is not that the effects are ambiguous or hazardous, but that the societal connotation of these drugs in the Western world is almost irredeemably negative. It’s been shown repeatedly that the common consensus regarding drugs and medicine is fallible, such as in the examples pf humorism, animal magnetism, and bloodletting. That isn’t to say that modern medicine can’t be trusted, but advancement only comes when researchers and doctors are willing to accept that the truth they know is not absolute, and they’re willing to explore new territory or revisit old practices to come to a greater understanding of how to heal and how to understand human
During the Iron Age, millions of women and children were burned at the stake, hanged, or tortured because they were accused of being witches. Many of the accused confessed to flying during the night to have meetings with the Devil and to cast hexes on their enemies. While many confessed after severe torture, other accused “witches" sincerely believed that they had been on a magical adventure. It is now believed by historians that one of the widely used "potions" of the witches was an alkaloid, a compound with hallucinogenic properties. We may never know that there are molecules with antitumor properties, that are active against HIV, or that could be wonder drugs for schizophrenia, for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease in the tropical plants
In Salem, young girls threw things, uttered strange sounds, vomited, contorted themselves into strange positions and began to have spasms. In the early 1970’s, a scientist named Linda Caporael had been studying the Salem witch trials. Studies of hers linked symptoms and strange behaviors of the afflicted girls to the hallucinogenic effects of drugs like lysergic acid diethylamide. LSD is a derivative of ergot. Ergot is a fungus that grew on the rye grain in Salem during the 1690’s.
Do we Really Know Everything About Psychedelic “Microdosing”? A less known but increasingly popular phenomenon is fascinating “psychonauts” and puzzling psychologists: microdosing. This new way of taking psychedelic drugs involves routinely taking a small fraction of a normal dose of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) or magic mushrooms, LiveScience (http://www.livescience.com/51482-more-people-microdosing-psychedelic-drugs.html) explained.
LSD is physically harmless; there can be behavioral consequences for taking LSD, but taking LSD doesn’t affect your physical health (Anders). Regardless of this fact, LSD was harshly targeted by law enforcement. Counterculture (defined as the norms that may challenge or contradict the existing mainstream) was feared by politicians because they didn’t understand the nature of peoples’ affiliation with the drug (Kramer 9). This fear of drug use and harsh prosecution that followed triggered the ‘War on Drugs’; the term was coined in a 1971 speech by Richard Nixon that began a series of policies to criminalize drug use (Baum). John Ehrlichman, an assistant to Nixon in the white house, explained to a reporter from Harpers Magazine that “the Nixon campaign in 1968, and the
In the 60’s, marijuana and heroin can be strongly connected to Timothy Leary, a radical Harvard professor, urging the world to try LSD. The 60’s were the heyday of illegal drug usage. The 60’s were a time of discrimination, extreme drug usage and violence. Although, many people today would argue that the 60’s were a safer time of unification.
It seems like Opium is starting over. Matteo Alacran had become the new leader of Opium, after the death of El Patron, former drug leader, had perished. Before Matteo became the new leader there was a lockdown in Opium, which caused many confusions for the people. Celia, his care taker, had asked him what it was like when, his clone, El Patron had died, and this was his response, “I have gotten over it, he was a bad man and it seemed like he was trying break up this country.” said Matteo Alacran.
Humans have used drugs of one sort or another for thousands of years. Wine was used at least from the time of the early Egyptians; narcotics from 4000 B.C.; and medicinal use of marijuana has been dated to 2737 B.C. in China. But not until the 19th cent. A.D. were the active substances in drugs extracted. There followed a time when some of these newly discovered substances—morphine, laudanum, cocaine—were completely unregulated and prescribed freely by physicians for a wide variety of ailments.
We are still not entirely sure how psychoactive drugs work on the brain. As Angell notes, the very first drugs used to treat psychosis were in fact discovered completely by accident. Early anti-psychotics were originally designed to treat infections but were soon discovered to also alter patients' mental states. Further research revealed that these drugs worked on neurotransmitters in the brain, a discovery that represented an important leap in the field of psychiatry.
Psychedelic drugs are a type of psychoactive drug which causes hallucinations and alters a person’s perceptions of reality. Some examples include LSD, ayahuasca, DXM, ecstasy, and LSD. It is most common for psychedelic drugs to be taken orally, but it is also possible for some of them to be taken via injections or snorted. These types of drugs have been used throughout history for a number of reasons. Along with being used for religious rituals, they have been used for medical purposes as well.
