Discover the Unbelievable: Top 12 Fun Facts About Hallucinogens You Won't Believe!

1. Catnip: The Feline Hallucinogen

Whoever said "curiosity killed the cat" clearly hasn't met the feline trippers of the catnip kingdom: The psychoactive chemical nepetalactone in catnip induces a euphoric high in our feline friends, similar to marijuana or LSD, with sniffing leading to a stimulant effect and ingestion resulting in sedation. Just like us humans, not all cats are affected, as sensitivity to catnip is an inherited trait, but for those feline free spirits, it's a groovy way to chill in stressful situations.
Source => royalpetsmarket.com

2. Magic Mushrooms: Psilocybin Therapy Potential

Who needs a magic carpet when you've got magical mushrooms?: While no psilocybin-based therapies are currently approved in Canada or globally, the mystical substance found in hallucinogenic fungi shows potential for treating mental health conditions including anxiety, depression, and OCD, as well as substance use problems. In fact, psilocybin can be accessed for therapeutic purposes through clinical trials, the Health Canada Special Access Program, and individual exemptions from the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, ensuring patients' health and safety along with a sprinkle of psychedelic healing.
Source => canada.ca

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=> Fun Facts about The-Brain

3. Mystical Toad Venom: 5-MeO-DMT Trip

When life gets toad-ally overwhelming, there's a slippery critter that might just help with your woes: The Bufo alvarius toad secretes a substance called 5-MeO-DMT, which can produce powerful mystical experiences lasting from 7 to 90 minutes and has shown potential in improving life satisfaction, easing anxiety, depression, and PTSD, although it is currently not legal for use in the US.
Source => forbes.com

4. When Life Hands You Lemons: DMT Everywhere

When life hands you lemons, your brain might just serve up hallucinogens: DMT, a hallucinogenic compound, is found in low concentrations in human brains, synthesized from the essential amino acid tryptophan, and can also be traced back to a wide variety of global plants, including those zesty citrus leaves, though not enough to actually cause hallucinations.
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

5. CIA's Groovy Mind-Control Fail: MK-ULTRA

When the CIA went trippin' on the mind-bending shrooms of deception, things got groovy in a not-so-cosmic way: Unbeknownst to many, Project MK-ULTRA, led by chemist Sidney Gottlieb, conducted unethical experiments on human subjects, including administering large doses of LSD and other forms of psychological torture in an attempt to develop mind control techniques—ultimately failing and causing severe harm to the unwitting participants.
Source => npr.org

6. Hofmann's Accidental LSD Discovery

Talk about a mind-blowing career move: Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann first synthesized LSD-25 in 1938, but it wasn't until 1943 that he intentionally ingested a small dose to experience its "remarkably restless" and hallucinatory effects, forever changing the course of pharmacology and pop culture.
Source => theatlantic.com

7. Native American Spiritual Peyote Use

Ever wonder what the Hogwarts sorting hat might feel like on the head of a Native American? Say hello to spiritual peyote use: Since the 1994 amendment to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act, it's been perfectly legal for Native Americans to use peyote for spiritual and cultural reasons, with 66% of the AI youth who partake doing so for those very purposes!
Source => ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

8. Wild Party: Not All Hallucinogenic Shrooms Grow in Poop

Don't poo-poo the fungi party: Not all hallucinogenic mushrooms grow in dung, like Psilocybe cubensis, but many other species like snowy inkcap mushrooms, dung bird's nest mushrooms, petticoat mottlegill mushrooms, Cheilymenia stercorea, Conocybe rickenii, and Coprinopsis radiata find fertile ground in animal poop, although not all of them have mind-bending powers.
Source => a-z-animals.com

9. Synesthesia: Psychedelic Sensory Overlap

Feeling the vibes from a psychedelic paint party in your noggin': Research suggests that synesthesia, where senses such as seeing colors during music, may be caused by increased serotonin and neurotransmitter activity leading to over-stimulation of serotonin and glutamate receptors.
Source => frontiersin.org

10. Psilocybin Shrooms: A Headache Solution?

Mushrooms: they're not just for pizza toppings anymore! In a trip to headache-heaven, researchers explored the potential of psilocybin mushrooms to treat the torturous experience of cluster headaches: While the study didn't reach a concrete conclusion, preliminary results suggest that psilocybin could provide relief for sufferers, while also taking a step further into the fantastic world of fungi-based science. More research is needed, so don't go popping 'shrooms for a sore noggin just yet!
Source => americanmigrainefoundation.org

11. Ginsberg, Kesey, and the CIA's LSD Connection

Little did Allen Ginsberg and Ken Kesey know they were getting high on Uncle Sam's dime, well, sort of: While they willingly took or pilfered LSD from veterans' hospitals, the CIA did dabble in mind-manipulating experiments with the psychedelic drug during Project MKUltra in the 1950s, but there's no solid evidence suggesting that the Agency directly bankrolled rock bands in the swinging '60s to spread trippy vibes worldwide.
Source => medium.com

12. Hallucinogenic Reindeer Pee: Fly Agaric Mushrooms

Don't let Rudolph hog all the holiday attention, stoned reindeer have a tale to tell: Among the Tungusic indigenous people in Siberia, the Amanita muscaria mushroom, or fly agaric, is consumed for its hallucinogenic properties and even distilled in reindeer urine as part of their religious practices, although the reindeer are likely just seeking out the nutrients and not the mind-bending experiences.
Source => reed.edu