Henbane Research Paper

The mushrooms are most commonly known to be ingested during nightly ceremonies held by shamans in order to experience spiritual journeys and are thought to heal those with ailments (Rothenberg, 492). Though not always mentioned by the common observer in history, these hallucinogens have been a major part of the culture of these people, even before the first conquerors settled in the Sierra Mazateca, and have become even more of a predominant piece of tradition within the Mazatec people upon the emergence of the Huatescan shaman, María Sabina (Feinberg, 127).

Hallucinogenic drugs were not very common at the time, and were fairly hard to study. There were a few brave scientist that were trying to study different plants

Hallucinogens are a class of drugs that share a vast history, and were used for spiritual and religious practices since the prime of early civilization. They are referenced in the Hindu holy book, Rig Veda, the healing rituals of the Aztecs of Pre-Columbian Mexico, and are often attributed to the illicit practices of those prosecuted during the Salem Witch Trials. The first synthetic hallucinogens were discovered by a Swiss chemist named Albert Hoffman in 1938, and were originally manufactured to psychiatrists to help their patients access repressed emotions. Other uses considered for early hallucinogens included ingestion by doctors to better understand schizophrenic patients, and as an antibiotic. Their recreational use peaked in the

This drug, coffee, is favored in the nation as a “tool” to concentrate and function in our highly productive society to the best of our ability. Despite caffeine being a psychoactive substance it is accepted and popular among teen and young adults with no stigma, but what about other drugs like

This concoction was brewed to create what the indigenous people of the amazon call ayahuasca. Ayahuasca is a hallucinogenic beverage used by indigenous communities in South America for spiritual, religious, as well as medicinal purposes (Grob et al., 1996). This beverage is prepared by brewing the bark of the caapi plant and leaves of the Psychotria viridis plants. It is the leaves of the Psychotria viridis plants that contain the psychoactive DMT. The caapi plant contains beta-carboline alkaloids that act as a monoamine oxidase, thus inhibiting the rapid breakdown of DMT. As a result, the hallucinogenic effects of the DMT are experienced at a longer duration and hallucinations tend to be more intense (McKenna, 2004). It is these hallucinogenic effects that link this drug to religious and spiritual experiences, which is why the beverage has been used in plenty customs of the Amazonian and Mestizo people. They viewed this drug as a gateway to

Hallucinogens are substances that when ingested in non-lethal amounts that can incite altered states of consciousness and encourage illusory perceptions or alterations of the user’s surroundings. During the course of history, numerous societies have isolated plants, animals, and other materials with hallucinogenic properties. The New World particularly the Maya region of Mesoamerica contains an abundant diversity of hallucinogenic substances that provide excellent opportunities for studying a wide range of natural hallucinogens. The various civilizations that prospered in Mesoamerica exhibited great knowledge and proficiency in their use of numerous hallucinogens. Ethnographic, historical, and archaeological evidence show that during the progression of time, pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures like the Maya used hallucinogenic substances.

This is “hen-key” hall. This was originally the agriculture building, named after Professor Louis Albert Henke who was revolutionary in his experiments with sugar cane and pineapple waste. During this time, 1/3 of the undergraduate majors were in agriculture. Therefore, the entire area from Varney circle to here was farm land! Though he retired in 1954, he was so passionate about his work that he continued to remain active on the campus into his nineties! However, Henke Hall is no longer used for agriculture. It did house the school of social work; however, now it is used as temporary offices for the school of education. There are some labs here and in front of one of them is a cage of chameleons, just chilling like a villain in the sun.

Once again, eyes burning from exhaustion, fingers near whittled to the bone, heart pumping with caffeine and nicotine, I find myself ensnared in the vast tangles of the inter-web, each title ever more enticing than the last. Peculiarly, this time it was a Time article entitled-“Do LSD and Magic Mushrooms Have a Place In Medicine,” by Alexandra Sifferlan. Again, my natural instinctual wonder takes control and I click. I was surprised to see how many experts in disarray by its schedule-I illegality. The article briefly notes multiple records of scientific research to support their articles main idea. Due to the metaphysical sense of inadequacy the article and its’ references left with me, I dug harder. I checked their sources to find only dead-end paths of knowledge. Beginning to feel like a chameleon in a mirrored box, I stepped towards my final gleam of hope.

Hallucinogens: a general group of pharmacological agents that can be divided into three broad categories: psychedelics, dissociatives, and deliriants. Hallucinogenic drugs have played a role in civilization for thousands of year. It began with naturally occurring hallucinogens, such as the peyote cactus plant and wild mushrooms. Now there are man made drugs that have the same or more intense affects. These include lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), MDMA (ecstasy), and dextromethorphan (DMX, often found in cough syrup). Within this essay, I will cover the history, production, and affects of hallucinogenic drugs.

Government institutions, such as the United States of America, have indoctrinated in its citizens the idea that psychedelic hallucinogens such as LSD have had a detrimental effect on society. These government organizations have sanctioned access even for research purposes inhibiting further intellectual and ethical development on theoretical uses, albeit psychotherapeutic applications, spiritual entheogens, addiction suppression, etc. While the State claims the use of LSD is hedonistic and promotes violent tendencies, it fails to acknowledge that legislation regarding the prohibition of psychoactive substances has been historically deficient, promoting the criminal distribution, manufacturing,

Hennery skidded into the snow. HOLT! Hennery couldn’t believe his eyes. He saw a sleigh with the initials S.C. in gold. With nine reindeer. One with a red nose. Then Santa Claus popped out from behind the sleigh. Frost air was coming from the reindeer’s noses. Santa chuckled “Hu hey, Hennery!” Santa grabbed his bag and walked toward Hennery. Hennery’s dream came true. To help Santa Claus.

In the Amazon Basin, an amazing plant called Ayahuasca, which is an entheogenic brew made out of Banisteriopsis caapi vine, and often in combination with various other plants. The word "Ayahuasca", from the Quechua language, means "vine of the souls". [1] For centuries, Amazonian shamans have used Ayahuasca as a window into the soul. The main reason it can change human brain and consciousness is that the plant contains a substance called DMT. N,N-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) is an illegal, psychedelic tryptamine compound found in the human body and at least 60 species of plants worldwide. [2] Rick Strassman described it as “the first endogenous human psychedelic” in his book DMT: The Spirit Molecule. [3] And in an interview in 2011, he said

Both coffee and tea’s discovery occurred before the discovery of the chemical responsible for their effects; caffeine. Both of their discoveries can be traced to legends speaking of their accidental consumption; coffee in 850 by goats owned by the Ethiopian farmer Kaldi, and tea in 2737 BCE by the Chinese emperor Shen Nung. Caffeine was later isolated in 1819 by Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge. Although it was Runge that isolated the compound, it was Emil Fischer that first determined its structure in the 1890’s and was later able to synthesize the compound in 1895 (organicchem). Today, it is the most used stimulant in the world (Toxicology).

Psychedelic substances are an extremely controversial subject in Western science. They are most likely the first psychoactive substances encountered by human ancestors and their impact on our culture is often underestimated. Although they are full of scientific insight into the fields of anthropology and neuroscience, psychedelics are usually met with apprehension due to political motives and unprofessional research conducted during the 1960s counterculture. Although there are certain risks involved when using psychedelics, they are in no way to be classified as having “zero medical properties”, which is exactly how they are represented in current drug scheduling. In fact, there is an enormous body of literature suggesting that psychedelics

Psychedelics are widely believed by the scientific community to be the oldest substances to be used by human ancestors. Ancient cultures from almost every corner of the world have some form of history with psychedelic drugs. Associate Professor Emeritus at Harvard Medical School Dr. Lester Grinspoon has claimed that there is overwhelming archeological evidence supporting the notion that humans have used psychedelics for thousands of years as part of religious ceremonies (Grinspoon and Bakalar 1983: 16-23). Mescaline-containing cacti found in 2005 by archeologists and carbon dated to 3780 BC (El-Seedi et al. 238-242) suggest that Native Americans valued peyote’s naturally produced psychedelic, mescaline. There is also an abundance of literature