What Is Mescaline? A Guide to this Cactus-Derived Psychedelic

Additionally, definitivesafety profiles that include the assessments of vital signs, blood pressure, andelectrocardiography (ECG) need to be established in laboratory studies of mescalineadministration. Most respondents with prior psychiatric conditions (i.e. depression, anxiety,post-traumatic stress disorder, and drug and alcohol misuse) reported improvementsin these conditions following their most memorable experience with mescaline. Onecan speculate whether the experience was memorable due to the improvement in suchhealth functioning. Analyses were conductedusing the IBM SPSS Statistics v.25 and v.26 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA).

What Are the Risks of Mescaline?

• Edmund has an extensive background in addiction research and medical writing, working collaboratively with doctors, substance use disorder specialists, and clinical experts across all content on Recovered.
• Mescaline is also known for fostering compassion and gratitude, while also alleviating psychological disorders such as anxiety, depression, PTSD and addiction.
• In the 1890s, aesthetes and poets such as Havelock Ellis and WB Yeats experimented with it, looking at art objects and listening to music under the influence.
• A 2013 study also found that lifetime mescaline or peyote use was significantly linked to a lower rate of agoraphobia, an anxiety disorder where subjects perceive their surrounding environment to be threatening.
• In traditional and ritualistic practices of Indigenous communities, mescaline is derived from fast-growing San Pedro cacti and slow-growing peyote cacti.
• Some researchers have looked at the benefits of mescaline through the lens of the scientific method, especially as interest in psychedelics as psychiatric medications piqued in the 1950s.
• Although more studies are needed to understand the long-term effects of mescaline use, one study published in 2005 found no evidence to suggest that regular ceremonial use of peyote led to psychological or cognitive deficits in Native American participants.

Its use has been traced back 6,000 years, to prehistoric psychonauts tripping in caves near the Rio Grande in Texas. DoubleBlind is a trusted resource for news, evidence-based education, and reporting on psychedelics. We work with leading medical professionals, scientific researchers, journalists, mycologists, indigenous stewards, and cultural pioneers. The legality of mescaline varies depending on a few different factors, including where you live and the form of the mescaline; for example, in some countries like Canada, there is a legal distinction between mescaline and peyote. Also note that dosing mescaline requires some consideration of its form due to differences in molecular weight (for example, 200mg of mescaline sulfate is comparable in effect to about 178mg of mescaline hydrochloride).

Research on Therapeutic Use

(Huxley thought thespelling should be ‘psychodelic’ and persisted with it, to little avail.) Hisessay on the experience, The Doors ofPerception (1954), kickstarted the psychedelic era. The terms in vogue forthese drugs at that time, such as ‘psychotomimetic’ and ‘hallucinogen’, hademerged from psychiatry and connected their effects to mental disorders. The mescalineexperience, Huxley argued, was not a psychotic episode but a transcendentstate, a communion with the ‘Mind-at-Large’.

In one mid-century study, some of the most significant transformations or breakthroughs came about months after the experience itself, even if the initial psychedelic therapy session seemed to be a failure. In the context of psychotherapy, mescaline may also be useful for re-living or recalling repressed memories. Due to its status as an internationally controlled substance, research into the harm potential of mescaline—especially long-term—has been limited. A lethal dose has never been identified, probably because it’s too high to be taken accidentally.9 In other words, to the best of our knowledge, nobody has ever died from a mescaline overdose. Mescaline has long been considered a powerful agent for healing and change, making it a central component of the shamanic ceremonies of many indigenous groups in the Americas.

Is Microdosing Mescaline Legal?

For men who had been brought mesclun psychedelic up as warriors, the peyote meeting became a microcosm of their vanished world. Peyote worship preserved their culture and identity, and nurtured an ethos of self-respect, particularly abstinence from the alcohol that was destroying their societies. Mescaline experiences begin with intense physical symptoms that may cause discomfort to users. Let’s dive more into the legal status of these plants, and the ongoing discussions regarding the rights to use peyote outside of the Native American Church.

The effects of taking mescaline with other drugs – including over-the-counter or prescribed medications – can be predictable and dangerous. Variables may not equal 100% due to rounding error.N is varied due to participants choosing“prefer not to answer” on specific items. Scores of themystical-type, challenging, insight, and ego-dissolution effects canrange from 0 to 5. Ratings of personal meaning, spiritualsignificance, psychological challenge, and psychological insight canrange from 0 to 7. Characteristics of the “most memorable” mescaline experience in the fullsample and comparisons of characteristics across mescalinesubgroups.

Psychedelics for Depression and Anxiety

As a secondary aim, we examined whether there werechanges in medical and psychological functioning following mescaline use. The finalaim involved examining differences in the subjective effects and the patterns andmotivations of use as a function of the type of mescaline consumed (i.e. synthetic,extracted, Peyote, or San Pedro). This diverse group of substances all share the same chemical backbone and have a similar overall molecular structure. Although chemically related to dopamine and norepinephrine, psychedelic phenethylamines also interact with the serotonin pathway by stimulating serotonin receptors and increasing the release of serotonin. Mescaline has unique effects compared to serotonin 2A receptor agonists like psilocybin and, in many ways, can induce effects similar to adrenaline, such as nausea and increased heart rate. The experience and side effects of mescaline are a cross between the classical psychedelics and amphetamines1,2.

Peyote: History and Culture

Mescaline is known to provide spiritual insights, psychological healing, and deep contemplative states22. However, the current research on psychotherapeutic applications is quite limited compared to other psychedelic substances. More clinical trials are needed to investigate the potential use of mescaline for various psychiatric conditions. To reduce prosecution for consuming naturally occurring psychedelic plants and fungi, a movement initiated by the nonprofit Decriminalize Nature started in 2019 in Oakland, California. Some say the therapeutic benefits of this sacred medicine should be accessible to everyone who needs it; however, others from Indigenous communities see peyote as a sacred element of their culture and religion. They object to the inclusion of peyote in local and state decriminalization measures because of the growing scarcity of wild peyote and the potential negative impacts on native communities that use peyote in religious ceremonies.

• Mescaline has a bitter taste so some people grind peyote buttons into an off-white powder that is put into capsules.
• There is some interest in mescaline’s potential for treating alcoholism and addiction within indigenous communities, based on research and observations of increased rates of sobriety among Native American Church members who use peyote.
• While the controversy around microdosing continues, it seems that clinical research is the only way to determine whether this process is beneficial and to what extent.
• Mescaline is a substituted phenethylamine, a molecule based on the basic phenethylamine structure.
• Likewise, largerproportions of respondents in the San Pedro (27%) and Peyote (31%) subgroupsreported that their mescaline was administered by a shamanic practitionercompared to those in the synthetic or extracted subgroups.
• The present study was the first to accurately determine the pharmacokinetics of mescaline in humans in a large study using validated analytical methods.

In another study, researchers found that mescaline helped goldfish learn to avoid a shock more quickly. These findings support the prevailing view that mescaline and other psychedelics can enhance creativity. As the psychologist Stanley Krippner put it, “to invent something new, one cannot be completely conditioned or imprinted.”23 Psychedelics like mescaline tend to dissolve preconceptions and elicit fresh perspectives on reality.