sweatersdotc

@EverCurious... I infer from your post that it is against the rules to insult members. However, you did request it. "LSD research on the mind is done in extremely controlled environments, so controlled that they can fluctuate temperatures by a single degree." Right, except for when they were conducting studies in college libraries (Source: http://www.psychedelic-library.org/staf5.htm"), or when the CIA was doing research in broken-down rowhouses (Source: Google search Project MKULTRA). LSD research isn't even being conducted anymore, except on rats, not even in countries outside the USA, and when it was it was done by psychologists, not physicists in a sterile vacuum chamber, so I don't know where you are getting your information. "LSD is lysergic acid diethylamide, it is aquired from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. Which means that hallucination induced through smoking cactus is probably acheived through some chemical equivalent to LSD." Wrong. The active chemical in cactus (peyote) is mescaline (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine). It is not an alkaloid of lysergic acid. It is a phenethylamine, where LSD is a tryptamine. It is depressing that on a website called SCIENCEforums.net, I am reading posts that are pure conjecture, without an attempt at finding supporting information, and use words like "probably" in a blatant admission of the fact that the poster really doesn't know what they are talking about. LSA, a compound which is also derived from ergot, produces markedly different effects from LSD (it is a psychedelic sedative, where LSD is usually characterized by an energized euphoric feeling). Explaining away all hallucinogenic substances as "equivalent" is as foolish, and indeed as dangerous, as assuming that Tylenol and sleeping pills are "equivalent." And as a side note, to the person who wondered what the point of hallucinations was, where do you think the Native Americans came up with their religion? (Native Americans were the first to use morning glory seeds, which contain LSA, for hallucinogenic purposes, and when MacDougall published his study in 1960, he referred to the Native Americans' use of morning glory seeds as a "sacrament") Why do you think that sweat tents, ritual drums, and "mystic" herbs are such an integral part of shamanic religions? What about the prevalence of fruit as symbols of enlightenment in religion? The forbidden apple on the tree in the Garden of Eden and Buddha's awakening beneath the fig tree are two good examples. Of course, apples and figs are not hallucinogenic, but I'm not convinced that there is no significance to the archetype of "eat this fruit and you will gain enlightenment." I'm not condoning or recommending the use of drugs. I'll be the first to say they are not for everyone, maybe not even for most people. But I'll also be the first to laugh at someone who is uneducated enough to believe the propaganda they've been fed, or worse, someone who believes himself to be smart because he saw through the first wave of propaganda, only to eat up a second, equally false set of myths and lies. You know who you are... all you people who make statements like "LSD doesn't really make you go crazy, but it does stay in your spine forever..." or "LSD doesn't really stay in your spine, but 25% of the people who use it have flashbacks." Speaking of the flashbacks, think about the studies conducted... the sample group was LSD users who volunteered for the study because they had HPPD (hallucinogen persisting perception disorder) and wanted help. Does nobody besides me see that this is an obviously skewed study? Of course a lot of people who seek help for LSD flashbacks will report that they have LSD flashbacks. What about all the other people who have taken LSD... do you think that there is a database with all their names, how often they took it, how much they took, and whether they experienced flashbacks? Don't be so quick to believe numbers... if you look, you can find scientific studies to both prove and disprove just about anything you want. For example, I read an article just two days ago that "proved" that vitamins are actually bad for your health. Weird, I thought that some other scientific study "proved" the opposite. Use your brain, and the part of it that thinks on its own, not just the part that memorizes what other people tell it.