50 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
50 lines
2.0 KiB
Plaintext
Newsgroups: alt.psychoactives
|
|
Subject: Calea zacatechichi
|
|
Message-ID: <o2Xw3B4w165w@qedbbs.com>
|
|
From: marsthom@qedbbs.com (Mark Thompson)
|
|
Date: 2 May 93 08:13:47 GMT
|
|
|
|
>Someone asked about Calea zacatechichi...
|
|
|
|
Beside Willam Bodens book "Narcotic Plants" and Richard Evan
|
|
Schultes/Albert Hofmann's book "Plants of the Gods", a good source of info
|
|
about psychoactive Mexican plants is the article:
|
|
|
|
"Ethnopharmacology and Taxonomy of Mexican Psychodysleptic Plants"
|
|
by Jose Luis Diaz, MD published in the Jan-Jun 1979 issue of
|
|
"Journal of Psychedelic Drugs"
|
|
|
|
Diaz lists Salvia divinorum, Calea zacatechichi and Cannabis sativa
|
|
as "cognodysleptics", and Calea zacatechichi is mentioned as being smoked
|
|
and taken as a tea by the Chontal Indians in Oaxaca for divination and
|
|
oneiromancy (dream induction).
|
|
|
|
"Its actions during wakefulness were tested in five subjects after
|
|
several inhalations and the administration of an infusion.
|
|
With high doses, effects included: sensations of well-being
|
|
and light-headedness, difficulty in bringing events to mind,
|
|
somnolence, and an intensification of visual imagery, but only
|
|
with the eyes closed."
|
|
|
|
It isn't clear from the paper whether the psychoactive substance(s) in
|
|
the plant have been conclusively identified:
|
|
|
|
"A germacranolid called caleicine, the p-hydroxycinnamide ester of
|
|
junenol, was isolated from a sample of C. zacatechichi taken from
|
|
the state of Veracruz."
|
|
|
|
"Other substances with the basic structure of caleicine have been
|
|
isolated from the active, as well as the inactive plants provided
|
|
by the Chontal curandero; they are now being screened for the
|
|
presence of psychoactive compounds. Independently Bohlmann and
|
|
Zdero(1977) have reported two new germacranolids in C. zacatechichi.
|
|
It should be mentioned that these molecules are terpenes as are the
|
|
cannabinols in marijuana."
|
|
|
|
Diaz also mentions that there appear to be two varieties (possibly
|
|
separate species) of this plant. One is psychoactive and the other
|
|
apparently is not.
|
|
|
|
------------
|
|
Hope that's useful to someone.
|