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GENERAL INFORMATION:
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MESCALINE OR PEYOTEWhat Is Mescaline? It is a dark-brown powder ground from "buttons" of the Mexican cactus peyote, one of the psychotropic plants. Because of its mind-fogging and mind-boggling effects, the peyote has been known among Mexico's Yaqui Indians as: the bruja's brew. It may well be that: a witch's potion. The active chemical of peyote, the alkaloid mescaline, was isolated in 1896 from the peyote cactus, lophophora wWiamsii. The drug was named after the Mescalero Apaches of the American great plains. Mescaline is variously known in Drugs talk as: Mesc, Peyoto, Buttons, Devil's Weed, Plants. How is Mescaline Taken? Mescaline is generally taken orally. But like, LSD, it may be injected. The average dose is: 350 to 500 miligrams. This yields a "high" lasting 5 to 12 hours. Because of its bitter taste, mescaline is often taken with tea, coffee, milk, orange juice, soda, or soft drink. The peyote button itself has a vile, fibrous taste. What are Mescaline's Mental Effects? Mescaline is not as potent as LSD, but it similarl causes hallucinogenic effects. A mescanile or petote "trip" can last up to 12 hours. It can be, as in LSD, a "good trip" or a "bad trip." The user, as in LSD again, also suffers sensation and per- ception impairment, loss of a sense of time, disorganization of thought and psychotic reactions. It is, therefore, a peril to the mind. In his bestselling Journey to Ixtian, Carlos Castafleda gives the most celebrated record of a peyote experience. It was, he sums it: one frightful or ecstatic confrontation after another. He details: "In a matter of instants, a tunnel formed around me, very low and narrow, hard and strangely cold. It felt to the touch like a wall of solid tinfoil. I remem- ber having to crawl towards a sort of round point where the tunnel ended; when I finally arrived, if I did, I had forgotten all." And he took off "like a bird." Adds he, "I flew in my imagination. Where was my body?" In other "trips," Castafieda saw "the guardian of the world" rise before him as a hundred foot-high gnat with spiky hair and droolingiaws; met "Mescalito," a powerful teacher, successively as a black dog, a column of singing light, and a cricket-like being with a green warty head; talked with a bilingual coyote. He was, he writes, "terrified". Like LSD, mescaline acts on the central nervous system. In plain words, it acts on the brain. What Are Mescaline's Physical Effects? Apart from its cardiovascular effects, which speed up the heartbeat and increase the blood pressure, it also: dilates the eyes' pupils, increases the blood sugar level, heightens the body temperature, causes heavy perspiration and nausea. In large doses, mescaline lowers the blood glucose. In such cases, the user may suffer bloody diarrhea and fall into unconsciousness. Lethal doses produce convulsions, breath-arrests and heart failures. Death is due to respiratory failure. Is Mescaline Habit-Forming? Yes. It can cause body tolerance and psychological dependence. That is, it can be a habit. It does not cause physical addiction, however. Does Mescaline Have Medical Uses? Mescaline has no known medical use. But, like LSD, it has been used as a laboratory research tool in studies of schizophrenia, other psychotic states and visual hallucinations.
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