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Drug
Information: P
Paraldehyde
(Paral®) | Pentazocine
(Talwin®) | Peyote & Mescaline
| Phencyclidine (PCP) | Predatory Drugs | Psilocybin & Psilocyn & other
Tryptamines
Paraldehyde
Paraldehyde
(Paral®)
is a Schedule IV depressant used most frequently in hospital settings
to treat delirium tremens associated with alcohol withdrawal. Many
individuals who become addicted to paraldehyde have been initially
exposed during treatment for alcoholism and, despite the disagreeable
odor and taste, come to prefer it to alcohol. This drug is not used
by injection because of tissue damage, and taken orally, it can be
irritating to the throat and stomach. One of the signs of paraldehyde
use is a strong, characteristic smell to the breath.
Pentazocine
The
effort to find an effective analgesic with less dependence-producing
consequences
led to the development of pentazocine (Talwin®). Introduced as
an analgesic in 1967, it was frequently encountered in the illicit
trade, usually in combination with tripelennamine and placed into Schedule
IV of the CSA in 1979. An attempt at reducing the abuse of this drug
was made with the introduction of Talwin Nx®. This product contains
a quantity of antagonist (naloxone) sufficient to counteract the morphine-like
effects of pentazocine if the tablets are dissolved and injected.
Peyote & Mescaline
Peyote is a small,
spineless cactus, Lophophora williamsii, whose principal active ingredient
is the hallucinogen mescaline (3, 4, 5-trimethoxyphenethylamine). From
earliest recorded time, peyote has been used by natives in northern
Mexico and the southwestern United States as a part of their religious
rites.
The top of the cactus
above ground--also referred to as the crown--consists of disc-shaped
buttons that are cut from the roots and dried. These buttons are generally
chewed or soaked in water to produce an intoxicating liquid. The hallucinogenic
dose of mescaline is about 0.3 to 0.5 grams and lasts about 12 hours.
While peyote produced rich visual hallucinations that were important
to the native peyote cults, the full spectrum of effects served as
a chemically induced model of mental illness. Mescaline can be extracted
from peyote or produced synthetically. Both peyote and mescaline are
listed in the CSA as Schedule I hallucinogens.
Phencyclidine
(PCP)
Street terms for phencyclidine:
PCP, Angel Dust, Supergrass, Killer Weed, Embalming Fluid, Rocket Fuel i,
wack, ozone ii
What does phencyclidine
look like?
- In its pure form,
PCP is a white crystalline powder that readily dissolves in water;
however, most PCP on the street contains a number of contaminates causing
the color to range from tan to brown, with a consistency ranging from
powder to a gummy mass.
- PCP is most commonly
sold as a powder or liquid.
- PCP may also come
in tablet or capsule form.iii
How is phencyclidine
used?
- PCP may
be snorted, smoked, injected, or swallowed.iv
- PCP is most
commonly sold as a powder or liquid, and applied to a leafy material
such as oregano, parsley, mint, or marijuana and then smoked. v
What are
some consequences of phencyclidine use?
- Numbness,
slurred speech, loss of coordination, rapid and involuntary
eye movements
- Auditory
hallucinations, image distortion, severe mood disorders,
amnesia,
- In
some users PCP use may result in acute anxiety, a
feeling of impending doom, paranoia, violent hostility,
and in some it may produce a psychoses indistinguishable
from schizophrenia.
- PCP
use is associated with a number of risks and many
believe it to be one of the most dangerous drugs
of abuse. vi
How
does phencyclidine get to the United States?
- Originally
designed as a human anesthetic
and later produced only as
a veterinary anesthetic,
PCP is no longer produced
or used for legitimate purposes.
- Today,
virtually all PCP encountered
in the U.S. is produced in
clandestine laboratories. vii
- PCP
production is centered in
the greater Los Angeles metropolitan
area. viii
i "Drugs
of Abuse," Drug Enforcement
Administration, 1997
ii "District
of Columbia Drug Threat Assessment," National
Drug Intelligence Center,
January 2002
iii"Drugs
of Abuse," Drug Enforcement
Administration, 1997
iv"District of Columbia Drug Threat Assessment," National
Drug Intelligence Center, January 2002
v "Drugs of Abuse," Drug Enforcement Administration,
1997
vi "Drugs of Abuse," Drug Enforcement Administration,
1997
vii "Drugs of Abuse," Drug Enforcement
Administration, 1997
viii Drug Descriptions, Drug Enforcement Administration,
www.dea.gov
What
are Predatory Drugs?
Rohypnol, Ketamine,
and GHB and its analogues GBL,
and BD 1,4 have gained notoriety as drugs used to facilitate sexual
assault, adding an urgency to law enforcement efforts to pursue traffickers
of these drugs.
The Dangers of
Predatory Drugs
- These drugs render
the victim incapable of resisting sexual advances.
- Sexual Assaults
facilitated by these drugs can be difficult to prosecute or even recognize
because:
- Victims may not
be aware that they ingested a drug at all. The drugs are invisible
and odorless when dissolved in water. They are somewhat salty tasting,
but are indiscernible when dissolved in beverages such as sodas, juice,
liquor, or beer.
- Due to memory problems
induced by these drugs, the victim may not be aware of the attack until
8-12 hours after it occurred.
- The drugs are metabolized
quickly, so there may be little physical evidence to support the claim
that the drugs were used to facilitate an assault.
- Memory impairment
caused by the drugs also eliminates evidence about the attack.
Learn more about what
you can do to protect yourself and those you care about from predatory
drugs at www.rainn.org or www.911rape.org
Psilocybin & Psilocyn
and other Tryptamines
A
number of Schedule I hallucinogenic substances are classified chemically
as tryptamines.
Most of these are found in nature but many, if not all, can be produced
synthetically. Psilocybin (O-phosphoryl-4-hydroxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine)
and psilocyn (4-hydroxy-N, N-dimethyltryptamine) are obtained from certain
mushrooms indigenous to tropical and subtropical regions of South America,
Mexico, and the United States. As pure chemicals at doses of 10 to 20
mg, these hallucinogens produce muscle relaxation, dilation of pupils,
vivid visual and auditory distortions, and emotional disturbances. However,
the effects produced by consuming preparations of dried or brewed mushrooms
are far less predictable and largely depend on the particular mushrooms
used and the age and preservation of the extract. There are many species
of "magic" mushrooms that contain varying amounts of these
tryptamines, as well as uncertain amounts of other chemicals. As a consequence,
the hallucinogenic activity, as well as the extent of toxicity produced
by various plant samples, are often unknown.
Dimethyltryptamin
(DMT) has a long history of use and is found in a variety of plants and
seeds. It can also be produced synthetically. It is ineffective when
taken orally, unless combined with another drug that inhibits its metabolism.
Generally it is sniffed, smoked, or injected. The effective hallucinogenic
dose in humans is about 50 to 100 mg and lasts for about 45 to 60 minutes.
Because the effects last only about an hour; the experience has been
referred to as a "businessmans trip."
A number of other
hallucinogens have very similar structures and properties to those of
DMT. Diethyltryptamine (DET), for example, is an analogue of DMT and
produces the same pharmacological effects but is somewhat less potent
than DMT. Alpha-ethyltryptamine (AET) is another tryptamine hallucinogen
added to the list of Schedule I hallucinogens in 1994. Bufotenine (5-hydroxy-N-N-dimethyltryptamine)
is a Schedule I substance found in certain mushrooms, seeds, and skin
glands of Bufo toads. In general, most bufotenine preparations from natural
sources are extremely toxic. N,N-Diisopropyl-5-methoxytryptamine (referred
to as Foxy-Methoxy) is an orally active tryptamine recently encountered
in the United States. |