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Hallucinogenic Mushrooms? Mushrooms, a kind of fungus, come in many varieties. From those on a pizza to those in spaghetti sauce, mushrooms enhance our cuisine and flavor our lives. But not all mushrooms are so harmless. Some contain toxic and/or hallucinogenic compounds. Hallucinogens are substances that alter or produce false perceptions of sight, sound, taste, smell or touch. Some toxic substances in mushrooms can cause severe illness and even death. Most hallucinogenic substances, including synthetic ones such as LSD, are illegal. Historical Background The hallucinogenic properties of certain mushrooms have been known for centuries. The discovery of mushroom sculptures in ancient Central and South American ruins suggests that hallucinogenic mushrooms were used by native people during religious ceremonies. The Aztecs used the term "teonanacatl" meaning "flesh of the gods" to describe hallucinogenic mushrooms. Historians have proposed that Aztec spiritual leaders used these hallucinogens to induce an altered state of consciousness that they believed would allow them to communicate with their gods and other spirits.Marijuana is usually smoked as a cigarette (joint) or in a pipe. It is also smoked in blunts, which are cigars that have been emptied of tobacco and refilled with marijuana. Since the blunt retains the tobacco leaf used to wrap the cigar, this mode of delivery combines marijuana's active ingredients with nicotine and other harmful chemicals. Marijuana can also be mixed in food or brewed as a tea. As a more concentrated, resinous form it is called hashish, and as a sticky black liquid, hash oil.* Marijuana smoke has a pungent and distinctive, usually sweet-and-sour odor.How Does Marijuana Affect the Brain? Scientists have learned a great deal about how THC acts in the brain to produce its many effects. When someone smokes marijuana, THC rapidly passes from the lungs into the bloodstream, which carries the chemical to the brain and other organs throughout the body.THC acts upon specific sites in the brain, called cannabinoid receptors, kicking off a series of cellular reactions that ultimately lead to the “high†that users experience when they smoke marijuana. Some brain areas have many cannabinoid receptors; others have few or none. The highest density of cannabinoid receptors are found in parts of the brain that influence pleasure, memory, thoughts, concentration, sensory and time perception, and coordinated movement.1Not surprisingly, marijuana intoxication can cause distorted perceptions, impaired coordination, difficulty in thinking and problem solving, and problems with learning and memory. Research has shown that marijuana’s adverse impact on learning and memory can last for days or weeks after the acute effects of the drug wear off.2 As a result, someone who smokes marijuana every day may be functioning at a suboptimal intellectual level all of the time.Research on the long-term effects of marijuana abuse indicates some changes in the brain similar to those seen after long-term abuse of other major drugs. For example, cannabinoid withdrawal in chronically exposed animals leads to an increase in the activation of the stress-response system3 and changes in the activity of nerve cells containing dopamine.4 Dopamine neurons are involved in the regulation of motivation and reward, and are directly or indirectly affected by all drugs of abuse.LSDD-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the most potent hallucinogenic substance known to man. Dosages of LSD are measured in micrograms, or millionths of a gram. By comparison, dosages of cocaine and heroin are measured in milligrams, or thousandths of a gram. Compared to other hallucinogenic substances, LSD is 100 times more potent than psilocybin and psilocin and 4,000 times more potent than mescaline.The dosage level that will produce an hallucinogenic effect in humans generally is considered to be 25 micrograms. Over the past several years, the potency of LSD obtained during drug law enforcement operations has ranged between 20 and 80 micrograms per dosage unit. The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) recognizes 50 micrograms as the standard dosage unit equivalency.