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What are hallucinogens?

Hallucinogens (such as magic mushrooms, shrooms, mushies, liberty caps, psychedelics, 'trips', LSD, acid) are found naturally occurring in trees, vines, seeds and fungi e.g. psilocybin in magic mushrooms or made in laboratories e.g. LSD or acid. They can be in the form of dried plant matter, tablets, powder, liquid and paper squares.

The most common hallucinogens include LSD, PCP (or angel dust), datura, ketamine and magic mushrooms. Ecstacy (MDMA) and cannabis also have hallucinogenic effects in high doses.

LSD or Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

LSD (acid, trips, microdots, dots) in its pure form is a white odourless powder. It comes from specific kinds of fungus and is highly potent so only small doses are usually taken.

Usually it is found in the form of soaked gelatine squares or blotting paper but it is also seen in liquid form, tablets and capsules. It can be swallowed, sniffed, injected or smoked.

PCP (phencyclidine)

Commonly used as an anaesthetic in veterinary medicine, PCP (angel dust, peace pill) was only trialed as a dissociative anaesthetic in humans. In its pure form, PCP is a white crystalline powder and can be found in the form of pill, capsule or coloured powders.

PCP can be swallowed, sniffed or injected and is sometimes sprinkled onto tobacco or cannabis and smoked.

Magic Mushrooms (psilocybin) 

Common magic mushrooms (mushies, shrooms) in Australia include “golden tops”, “blue meanies” and “liberty caps”. They look like ordinary dried mushrooms but can also come as powdered material in capsules. Magic mushrooms are usually eaten fresh, cooked or brewed into a tea or mixed with tobacco or cannabis and smoked.

Psilocybin is the active ingredient in magic mushrooms and in its pure form is a white crystalline powder. It may be found at tablets, capsules or dissolved into liquid.

Ketamine

Ketamine hydrochloride (Special K, K, ket, kit kat, super K), like PCP is a dissociative anaesthetic used in medical and veterinary procedures. Ketamine in its pure form is a white crystalline powder that can be found as tablets, pills or dissolved in liquids. It can be swallowed, snorted or injected and can be mixed with other substances and smoked.

Mescaline

In its pure state, mescaline sulphate is a white crystalline powder while synthesized mescaline may appear in coloured powder form. Mescaline is naturally occurring in the Peyote cactus Lophophora williamsii. Dried, ground peyote buttons are found in the form of capsules.

Mescaline (peyote, cactus) is usually swallowed. Peyote buttons are sometimes chewed, or ground and smoked.

Other hallucinogens

Some other naturally occurring hallucinogens include those that naturally occur in a range of plants such as Atropa belladonna or “deadly nightshade” and Datura stramonium. The seeds of some plants in the convolvulaceae family (morning glory seeds) are also naturally occurring hallucinogens.

LSD and magic mushrooms are the most commonly abused drugs specifically for their hallucinogenic properties, and so we will focus on them throughout this fact sheet. Many of the effects of hallucinogens are shared.

What’s in hallucinogens?

The key hallucinogenic chemical found in mushrooms is psilocybin. In its pure form, it is a white powder. LSD or 'acid' is from the same chemical family as psilocybin and so has similar effects.

Classification of hallucinogens

Hallucinogens incorporate some drugs from depressant and stimulant families including ecstasy and cannabis.

Hallucinogens work on the brain to distort the senses, causing you to experience sights, sounds, tastes and feelings that aren’t actually there. Not only do they distort all your senses but they can interfere with thought processes and the user’s sense of reality, time and emotion.

How are hallucinogens used?

Mushrooms

There are about a dozen varieties of hallucinogenic mushrooms found growing in the wild. After picking, mushrooms are usually eaten raw, cooked, made into a drink or dried for later consumption. They are found in different forms but most commonly, loose in bags or crushed into tablets.

LSD

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) is the most commonly used hallucinogen. When pure, LSD is a white odourless powder, this is quite concentrated and is therefore not used in this form. LSD can come in liquid form, tablets, capsules or squares of gelatine or blotting paper.

Short term effects

Hallucinogens alter your sense of reality. During this time you will probably experience visual and/or auditory hallucinations. You can’t predict whether these hallucinations will be enjoyable or very unpleasant and it’s not uncommon to experience anxiety, panic or paranoia during a hallucination. Predicting the length and frequency of hallucinations is also tough, effects may vary and are sometimes known to last longer than 24 hours.

Hallucinogens will begin to affect you within half an hour of taking the drug; the strongest effects will be found 3 - 5 hours after taking and can last up to 24 hours or longer in some users. The main effects tend to be changes in the way you perceive things with your senses. Some people find these sensations pleasant and interesting while others find them unpleasant and disturbing.

Always remember that hallucinogens alter your sense of reality. They can cause you to make decisions you would not normally make and take risks you would normally not take. Common injuries associated with hallucinogen use includes: burnt retina’s from staring at the sun for too long and injury from falling from heights. Injuries tend to be a result of false and/or unusual beliefs about one's abilities or consequences of one's actions.

Some other short term effects associated with taking hallucinogens are:

• Increase in blood pressure and heart rate, change in body temperature, sweating and rapid deep breathing.
• Intense sensory experience or mixing of senses
• Distorted sense of time and space
• Sense of well being
• Mood swings, anxiety, panic, paranoia, exhilaration, euphoria, confusion
• Numbness, muscles weakness and twitching, tremor, impaired coordination, dilated pupils, seizure
• Abdominal discomfort, nausea and vomiting

Hallucinogens, mental health, bad trips

Sometimes the effects of drug taking can be mostly negative; this is called a ‘bad trip’. A bad trip can include:

• extreme fear or anxiety
• frightening hallucinations
• panic
• feelings of ‘going mad’
• paranoia
• In rare cases violence and/or suicide

Other long term effects on mental health of taking hallucinogens include:

• Drug induced psychosis and general anxiety
• Memory impairment, loss of concentration, cognitive impairments

Effects from regular use of hallucinogens

There are few known regular effects from hallucinogens; however 'flashbacks' are present in some users. Days, weeks or even years after taking the drug you can again feel the effects, which can be disturbing and tend to happen without warning, lasting for a minute or two. They can be triggered by stress, other drug use, tiredness or physical exercise and regular users are more likely to experience flashbacks.

Are hallucinogens addictive?

Research to date has not indicated dependence or withdrawal syndromes exist for hallucinogens, however psychological dependence may develop.

Hallucinogens and the law

Hallucinogenic drugs are illegal; there are both Federal and State laws in place which provide penalties for possessing, using, making and selling hallucinogens. Although it is not illegal to grow some hallucinogenic plants themselves, the intent to ingest or distribute the plant is illegal,

The sensory changes you experience when taking hallucinogens make it very dangerous to drive while under the influence of these substances. It is illegal to drive under the influence of any drugs including hallucinogens and penalties include loss of license, fine and/or jail.

This fact sheet was prepared with assistance from the Australian Drug Foundation.