Mescaline

Mescaline, also known in chemical terms as 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is a naturally occurring psychedelic drug and alkaloid of the phenethylamine and scaline families found in certain cacti like peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and the San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi, others). The drug is used recreationally, spiritually, and medically, with psychedelic effects occurring at doses of 100 to 800 mg (as its hydrochloride salt) orally and it can be used in pure form or in the form of mescaline-containing cacti. Mescaline induces a psychedelic experience characterized by visual changes, altered perception of time, space, and self, synesthesia, and spiritual experiences, with an onset of 30 to 60 minutes, a time to peak of 2 to 4 hours, and a duration that increases with dose and ranges from 6 to 14 hours. Mescaline primarily acts as a partial agonist at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, with varying affinity and efficacy across multiple other receptors and targets. The serotonin 5-HT2A receptor antagonist ketanserin blocks mescaline's psychoactive effects. Mescaline is a relatively hydrophilic compound structurally related to dopamine, first synthesized in 1919, with numerous synthetic methods and potent analogues developed since. It occurs naturally in various cacti species, with concentrations varying widely, and is biosynthesized in plants from amino acids like phenylalanine and tyrosine. The practice of humans consuming mescaline-containing cacti dates back over 6,000 years. Peyote cacti were studied scientifically in the 1800s, culminating in the isolation of mescaline as the active psychedelic constituent in cacti, legal recognition of religious use, and ongoing exploration of the therapeutic potential of mescaline and other analogues. Mescaline was the first psychedelic compound to be characterized by the Western world and has been referred to as the "first psychedelic". Mescaline and the cacti that produce it are largely illegal worldwide, though exceptions exist for religious, scientific, or ornamental use, and the...