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