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This class of psychoactive drugs boasts a longer
history; a greater mystique; and
more botanical, chemical, cultural, and historical diversity than almost any other. The use of hallucinogens is
evident in plant remains from
cultures on every continent. Each
student of hallucinogens has his
favorite "oldest story." One of ours explains how Siberian hunters
discovered the fly agaric mushroom (Amanita
muscaria). Apparently the hunters noticed the abnormal behavior of reindeer
grazing on these mushrooms, and
decided to experiment with them. They found that not only did the mushrooms have a profound
hallucinatory effect, but they were
so potent that the urine of those who had ingested the drug still contained active drug, so the drug could be recycled among tribe members. It has
been suggested that the same mushroom provides the drug Soma described in the Rig-Veda, the book of religious
writings from India that has been
dated to at least 3,500 years ago. Hallucinogens were used in
early Greece, and the plant riches of the New World
provided a wealth of hallucinogenic
agents that were known to the
earliest migrants into South America
from Eurasia. Archeological evidence suggests that the use of the peyote cactus goes back thousands of years.
Who uses hallucinogens today and why do they use them? Even the most commonly used drug, LSD, is only used by a small percentage of the population. Use has fallen from about 5 percent of high school
seniors in 1999 to about 2.2 percent in 2013. There are
probably several reasons for these
low numbers. First and foremost, the use of this drug produces a powerful
experience that is not typically "fun." Second, increased law
enforcement pressure has decreased the availability of LSD. The typical LSD user is a white teenage male. We don't really have accurate statistics about the use of other hallucinogens, but the
primary age group is the same for
most. Finally, Native Americans and others also use hallucinogens for
religious purposes.
