COHEN, SIDNEY
The witches' brews.
Drug Abuse and Alcoholism Newsletter; 1978 Feb Vol 7(2) 1-3
Since antiquity, 4 plants and related members of the nightshade family (components of the witches' brews of ancient times) have caused numerous instances of deliberate or accidental poisoning: belladonna, strammonium, henbane, and Angel's Trumpet. These plants contain related alkaloids--atropine, scopolamine, and hyocyamine--that are powerful inhibitors of acetylcholine. The pharmacology, physical effects, diagnosis of poisoning, mental symptoms, and treatments of choice (most importantly, the cholinergic drug physostigmine) are described.
GRINSPOON, LESTER; BAKALAR, JAMES B
Purity of street LSD
'Psychedelic Drugs Reconsidered'; 1979
According to data compiled by the PharmChem Research Foundation, a California organization, the only psychedelic drugs now generally available on the street are LSD, PCP, and to a lesser extent MDA. Almost no one takes the trouble to manufacture mescaline or psilocybin, because their effects resemble those of LSD and the much larger amounts required make the expense too great. Mescaline is available only in the form of peyote buttons and psilocybin only in the form of psychedelic mushrooms, which have been discovered growing all over the United States; they are increasingly sought after in the wild (see Pollock 1975 a; Weil 1977 a) and, with difficulty, can also be cultivated (see Oss and Oeric 1976). (Many 'psilocybin mushrooms,' incidentally, are just commercial mushrooms laced with LSD.) Anything labeled as pure or synthetic mescaline, psilocybin, or THC is almost certainly either LSD or PCP, or else contains no drug. Some chemicals closely related to LSD have been synthesized to sidestep the law; the one most often available is the acetylated variant, ALD-52, which is almost as potent as LSD itself. As for the quality of illicit LSD, adulterants and substitutes must be distinguished from products of improper synthesis. Since the variable physical and psychological effects of LSD sometimes resemble those of strychnine, belladonna, or amphetamine, there are rumors that illicit LSD often contains these substances. But laboratory analysis, especially the work of PharmChem Research Foundation, shows that illicit LSD rarely contains adulterants, although the advertised dose is usually two to five times the actual one. The major problem is imputities that are by-products of careless or inadequate synthesis. In the manufacturing process, ergotamine or other ergot alkaloids are reduced to lysergic acid (d-lysergic acid monohydrate), which is then converted to LSD. The whole procedure, and especially the last stage, in which LSD is separated from iso-LSD by chromatography, is rather delicate; it requires skill and good equipment. The government has tried to cut off the supply of chemical precursors; but illicit chemists are usually able to obtain enough, because several ergot derivatives are used as medicines and the quantities needed are small: by on estimate, 70 kg of ergotamine tartrate is enough to supply the American LSD market for a year (McGlothlin 1974 b). The only impurity regularly found by the PharmChem Laboratory, aside from occasional traces of ergotamine, is iso-LSD: it is very similar to LSD in chemical structure (the same atoms in a slightly different arrangement) but pharmacologically inactive. It is rarely present in a proportion of more than 15 percent and appears to have no effect on the drug action. So street LSD seems to be reasonably pure.
HARPER, CLIVE
The witches' flying-ointment.
Folklore; 1977 Jul Vol 88(1) 105-106
The components of the 'flying-ointment' allegedly used by the European witches were examined for possible psychotropic effects. Similarities between the reported effects of the ointment and the findings of modern investigations of the belladonna alkaloids are cited. It is concluded that the ointment would act as a powerful hallucinogen due to the presence of tetra-MA, TMA-2, aconitine, and belladonna alkaloids.