Natural Hallucinogens LSD by Andrew Johnson History of

Natural Hallucinogens & LSD by Andrew Johnson

History of Magic Mushrooms • 1000 -500 Bce - Central American cultures build temples to mushroom gods and carve "mushroom stones" found in Mexico & Guatemala. • 290 ce - Chang Hua's "Record of the Investigation of Things“ describes what may be hallucinogenic mushrooms in Chin Dynasty China. • 1521 CE - The use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and peyote are driven underground as use of "nonalcohol" intoxicants is forbidden by Europeans in Mexico. • 1914 - First hand experience report of intentional psilocybin-containing mushroom ingestion published in Science magazine, including detailed descriptions of visual effects, uncontrollable joking and laughter, and a rough timeline. https: //www. erowid. org/plants/mushrooms_timeline. php

History of Magic Mushrooms cont. • 1957 - R. Gordon Wasson publishes an article about psychoactive mushrooms in Life Magazine, the first popular media coverage of their existence. • 1960 & 61 - Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert begin a series of experiments with Harvard graduate students, using pure psilocybin. • 1968 - Possession of Psilocybin & Psilocin are banned federally in the U. S. after the passage of the Staggers-Dodd Bill (Public Law 90 -639) which amended the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. • 1970 - The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act is passed. It places most of the known hallucinogens (LSD, psilocybin, psilocin, mescaline, peyote, cannabis, & MDA) in Schedule I.

History of LSD • 1938 - Albert Hofmann, a chemist working for Sandoz Pharmaceutical in Basel, Switzerland, is the first to synthesize LSD-25. He discovered LSD, a semi-synthetic derivative of ergot alkaloids, while looking for a blood stimulant. • 1962 - Congress passes new drug safety regulations and the FDA designates LSD an experimental drug and restricts research. The first LSD related arrests are made by the FDA. • 1966 – lsd becomes illegal in California • 1970 – an estimated 1 -2 million americans have used lsd • Later that year - The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act is passed. It places lsd in schedule I https: //www. erowid. org/chemicals/lsd_timeline. php

USAGE According to a Healthline News report an estimated 32 million Americans have used LSD, magic mushrooms, or mescaline at some point in their lives.

What Makes Mushrooms magical? • The main ingredients in mushrooms is psilocybin (a hallucinogenic alkaloid) and the related compound psilocin (a metabolite of psilocybin and the actual psychoactive agent) • After ingestion, the psilocybin is enzymatically convert into psilocin

Wow. Such magic. So altered.