133 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
133 lines
7.2 KiB
Plaintext
From: lamontg@u.washington.edu
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Newsgroups: alt.drugs
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Subject: RUN FOR YOUR LIVES ITS STRYCHNINE!
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Date: 8 Apr 1993 04:59:04 GMT
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Message-ID: <1q0beoINNqve@shelley.u.washington.edu>
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On the issue of strychnine in LSD:
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The following text was written by Alexander T. Shulgin in response
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to the overwhelming misconception that strychnine is commonly
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found in street samples of LSD:
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"The observation of strychnine as being present in any street
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drug, as a by-product, or a contaminant, or an impurity has
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never been documented. It is a natural plant product, as are
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the ergots which are used in the synthesis of LSD. But they
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come from totally unrelated plants; there has never been a
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report of strychnine and an ergot alkaloid co-existing in a
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single species. So if the two materials are together in a drug
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sample, it could only be by the hand of man. I have personally
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looked a large number of illicit street offerings and have never
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detected the presence of strychnine. The few times that I have
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indeed found it present, have been in legal exhibits where it
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usually occurred in admixture with brucine (also from the plant
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Strychnos nux-vomica) in criminal cases involving attempted or
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successful poisoning.
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The same argument applies to the myth that occasionally surfaces,
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that strychnine occurs in the white tufts of peyote. This is
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equally fraudulent -- it has never been reported in that cactus
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or any other cactus."
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Furthermore, it should probably be spelled out that strychnine
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is not needed to bond LSD to blotter paper, nor is strychnine a
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breakdown product of LSD. these are probably the two most commonly
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repeated gross misconceptions.
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The source of the "strychnine is commonly found in LSD" myth may
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be somewhat grounded in truth. For example, in "LSD: My Problem Child"
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Albert Hoffman cites a case in the late sixties of Strychnine being
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found in an "LSD" sample that was a white powder. However, what is
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commonly claimed is that strychnine is found in a significant percentage
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of LSD, specifically blotter LSD, which is *not* true. Shulgin's note
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that he has analyzed many samples of LSD and never found strychnine
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is backed up by published analyses done by PharmChem and the LA
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County Street Drug Analysis program, which likewise never found
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any strychnine.
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This is intuitively backed up by the fact that a 5mm x
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5mm "standard" square of blotter LSD only weights about 2mg and if
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the paper itself was made completely out of pure strychnine it is
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still on the very low end of Strychnine's threshold of activity.
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Strychnine is not the cause of tracers, cramps, nausea, or
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amphetamine-like LSD-effects. Its possible that poorly synthesized
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LSD might have other ergot derivatives in it, which might contribute
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to the harsh body load that some get on taking LSD. Also, the
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very close chemical relatives 1-Methyl-LSD and 1-Acetyl-LSD (which break
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down into LSD in aqueous solution) might be present in some street
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samples and might contribute to the harsh body load. (Petter Stafford
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has claimed in his _Psychedelics Encyclopedia_ that 1-Acetyl-LSD is
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supposedly "smoother" than d-LSD -- thus "strychnine laced acid" may
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acutally be pure d-LSD, while "pure lsd" may be 1-Acetyl-LSD or some
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substitute). And the chemicals iso-LSD and lumi-LSD which are
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breakdown products of LSD might contribute to the body loading on
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some trips, particularly via a hypothetical synergistic effect. Given
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this plethora of possible chemicals in street "LSD", its not needed to
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look to a chemical which has hardly ever been found in analyzed
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samples to explain variations in the strength and "cleanliness" of
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street acid.
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Its also possible that LSD itself simply causes adverse physical
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effects, particularly muscle cramping, in persons suceptible to it.
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The reported side effects of LSD (the nausea and apparent CNS
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stimulant effects) are commonly reported side effects of seritonergic
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drugs such as fluoxetine (Prozac) and buspirone (Buspar), and also
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are commonly reported (and typically more severe) with other
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psychedelics like Mescaline.
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Or its quite likely that the "strychnine" reactions to LSD are
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entirely psychosomatic. Both Leary ("The Psychedelic Experience") and
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Lilly ("Programming and Metaprogramming...", "Center of the Cyclone")
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have each observed this reaction in people who cannot handle the
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surge of emotion associated with a trip.
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Further advice would be to avoid methylxanthines (caffiene,
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theophylline in tea, etc) prior to dosing. Some have noted a possible
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synergistic effect between them and LSD causing, or contributing, to
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a harsh body load during a trip. And prior use of dramamine may
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alleviate the nausea sometimes associated with LSD, and other
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psychedelic drugs (although it may also effect the quality of the
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trip -- Shulgin has noted in PiHKAL that he shuns the use of
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anti-nauseants in order to experience the effects of the psychedelic,
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both good and bad, with no possible interference).
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In summary, it can't be said that we know specifically why
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sometimes acid feels "cleaner" than other times. However, based on
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the availability of plausible explanations, and the evidence of
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drug analysis, and general implausiblity of the whole strychnine
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concept, we can conclude that it isn't due to any concentration of
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strychnine. Also, while it can't completely be ruled out, the
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presence of strychnine in LSD is so minimal that the majority of
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LSD users will never once come across it.
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Comments?
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--
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FTP: ftp.u.washington.edu:/pub/user-supported/alt.drugs
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READ: 000-README-ZIP
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=============================================================================
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From: palmer@tallis.enet.dec.com (Colonel Mode)
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Date: 6 Mar 92 17:32:01 GMT
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Newsgroups: alt.drugs
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Subject: There is no strychnine. None, none, none.
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To my knowledge, the only plants that contain strychnine are the Asian tree,
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Strychnos nux-vomica, and perhaps a few close relatives in the genus Strychnos.
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This is not to say that there are definitely no plants outside of the genus
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Strychnos that contain strychnine, but all of the posts to this newsgroup that
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claim strychnine is found in "X" that I have read have been false.
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Strychnine is not found in Hawaiian baby woodrose seeds, peyote, LSD, discount
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luncheon meats, Chilean grapes, or even modern-day rat poisons.
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The most likely place to find strychnine is in myths posted to alt.drugs based
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on hearsay and other unreliable sources.
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Read "The Botany and Chemistry of the Hallucinogens", by Richard Evans Shultes
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and Albert Hoffman. They are respected scientists who know what they are talking
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about. Don't take my word for it. Certainly don't take the word of authors of
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flakey pamphlets or usenet randoms who spout myths heard from their friends.
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*****
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Chris Palmer
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palmer@tallis.enet.dec.com "Colonel Mode"
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work:(508)486-6667 dtn:226-6667
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