Clinical Textbook of Addictive Disorders 3rd ed - R. Frances, S. Miller, A. Mack (Guilford, 2005) WW

8. Marijuana, Hallucinogens, and Club Drugs 175rine. This suggests that, like most psychoactive substances, hallucinogensmimic the action of naturally occurring biological entities (McDowell & Spitz,1999).LSDLysergic acid diethylamide is an alkaloid synthesized from lysergic acid, which isfound in the fungus ergot (Claviceps purpurea). It is perhaps the most famousand well known hallucinogenic drug that intensifies sense perceptions and produceshallucinations, mood changes, and changes in the sense of time. It alsocan cause restlessness, acute anxiety, and, occasionally, depression. Althoughlysergic acid itself is without hallucinogenic effects, LSD, one of the most powerfuldrugs known, is weight for weight 5,000 times as potent as the hallucinogenicdrug mescaline and 200 times as potent as psilocybin. LSD is usuallytaken orally from little squares of blotter paper, gelatin “windowpanes,” or tinytablets called “microdots.” The period of its effects, or “trip,” is usually 8 to 12hours. Unexpected reappearances of the hallucinations, called “flashbacks,” canoccur months after taking the drug. The drug does not appear to cause psychologicalor physical dependence. It can cause psychological dependence in someindividuals (Koesters, Rogers, & Rajasingham, 2002). The danger of LSD isthat its effects are unpredictable, even in experienced users. These individualsmay act in dangerous ways. This is termed behavioral toxicity.HistoryLSD was developed in 1938 by Arthur Stoll and Albert Hofmann, Swiss chemistshoping to create a headache cure. Hofmann accidentally ingested some ofthe drug and discovered its hallucinogenic effect. On his ride home by bicycle,he began to experience the beginnings of what would be a 2-day-long nightmarish“bad trip.”In the 1960s and 1970s, LSD was used by millions of young people inAmerica; its popularity waned as its reputation for bad trips and resulting accidentsand suicides became known. In 1967, the federal government classified itas a Schedule I drug (i.e., having a high abuse potential and no accepted medicaluse), along with heroin and marijuana. In the early 1990s, it again becamepopular, presumably because of its low cost. It is produced in clandestine laboratories(Graeme, 2000).InhalantsInhalants are substances whose chemical vapors can be intentionally inhaled toproduce psychoactive effects. These are used by a variety of individuals, usuallyadolescents. According to the 2002 National Survey on Drug Use and Health,