CHROMOSOMAL DAMAGE

CHROMOSOMAL DAMAGE

We have one final myth to discuss: the idea that LSD will break chromo somes. This concern, based on scanty research, was raised during the 1960s. While women who used LSD during pregnancy have given birth to children with birth defects, this rate is not higher than that of the general population. Furthermore, most of these women also used other drugs during pregnancy. Most animal research has not shown remarkable effects of LSD on the developing fetus. Some concern about the effects of LSD goes back historically to the widespread use of related ergot alkaloids to induce abortion. However, LSD itself does not have this effect. Never‑

theless, women who are pregnant, or who might be, should avoid drugs in general.

DEATH

Conventional LSD-like hallucinogens are fairly unlikely to produce seri­ous physical effects. However, some newer and fortunately rare designer hallucinogens have blurred the lines between stimulants and hallucinogens. For example, one of these-25I-NBOMe, 4-lodo-2,5-dimethoxy-N-(2- methoxybenzyl) phenethylamine—has been reported to cause deaths. This drug and some like it sometimes are marketed as bath salts, and sometimes as LSD. 'The particular problem with this drug is its extraordi­nary potency: like LSD, it has big effects at very small doses. This drug and several close relatives may represent serious risks to human users, but almost nothing is known about them.

lhe belladonna alkaloids represent a particular danger. These drugs prevent the action of one of the major neurotransmitters in the body (ace­tylcholine) at many of its synapses. At doses that cause hallucinations, they increase heart rate and body temperature to dangerous levels: death can result. It is important to understand that there is not a dose that pro­duces significant behavioral effects that is not toxic: the behavioral effects, like delirium, are signs of overdose. These effects are easily treated by medical personnel if they know what the intoxicating drug is. Therefore, it is extremely important to seek medical attention.

PCP also can cause dangerous side effects or death from overdose (two to five times a single recreational dose). As the user increases the dose, general anesthesia can result (remember, this was the reason the drug was invented). However, a number of dangerous effects occur after high doses, any one of which can be lethal. Body temperature can rise to 108 degrees Fahrenheit, blood pressure can rise so much that a stroke occurs, breathing can cease, or a prolonged period of seizure activity can result. PCP can also cause a prolonged state resembling paranoid schizo h enia. This most often happens in people who use PCP for a long time; however, an abnormal psychiatric state that persists for days can result from a single use. The acute delirium caused by PCP or ketamine can be alleviated with benzodiazepine drugs, such as Valium.