Sentinel Digital Desk
The beautiful opium poppy is native to Turkey and is a common garden plant in the United States. When the unripe seed capsules are cut, they exude a milky latex that is the source of raw opium and can be processed into morphine, codeine, and heroin. Known as opiates, these drugs exert their main effects on the brain and spinal cord
Peyote is a small cactus found only in the Chihuahuan Desert of southern Texas and northern Mexico. The tops of the cactus can be dried to form “mescal buttons,” which are well known for their hallucinogenic effects and contain the alkaloid mescaline, among others.
Native to Mexico, the plant is hallucinogenic and has historically been used by shamans to achieve altered states of consciousness. Currently legal in both the U.K. and the U.S., the leaves can be eaten or smoked and feature an active ingredient known as salvinorin A, which activates specific nerve cell receptors. The effects are intense but short-lived and include changes in mood and body sensations, visions, feelings of detachment, and altered perceptions of self.
Grown all over the world, cannabis (marijuana) is probably the most-widespread plant with psychoactive properties. The active ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), is present in all parts of both the male and female plants but is most concentrated in the flowering tops of the female. These buds are usually dried and crushed and put into pipes or formed into cigarettes (joints) for smoking but can also be added to foods and beverages.
Ayahuasca is a South American vine used as the primary ingredient for a psychoactive drink of the same name. Culturally important to a number of Amazonian peoples, the brew has grown in popularity among tourists seeking a spiritual awakening, particularly in Peru. Ayahuasca is said to generate intense spiritual revelations, with users often reporting a sensation of “rebirth” and a deeper understanding of themselves and the universe.
Although not well known in the West, betel chewing is a habit of an estimated one-tenth of the world’s population, and betel is considered to be the fourth most-common psychoactive drug in the world. Betel chewing releases a number of addictive alkaloids that cause sensations of mild euphoria, and regular users often have red-stained teeth and lips
Native to the Americas, the tobacco plant bears distinctive large leaves that are a particularly concentrated source of nicotine. Nicotine is the chief active ingredient in the tobacco used in cigarettes, cigars, and snuff and is an addictive drug. The drug has a unique biphasic psychoactive effect: when inhaled in short puffs it acts as a stimulant, but when smoked in deep drags it can have a tranquilizing effect.
Jimsonweed grows throughout much of North and South America. It is a weedy annual plant with striking white tubular flowers and spiky seed pods. The leaves and seeds contain potent alkaloids (hyoscamine and hyoscine) that cause hallucinations. Used ceremonially by a number of indigenous peoples, jimsonweed acts as a deliriant and can produce intense spiritual visions.
Coca is a tropical shrub native to certain regions of Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Its leaves contain the alkaloid cocaine and have been chewed for centuries by the Indians of Peru and Bolivia for pleasure or in order to withstand strenuous working conditions, hunger, and thirst. However, the leaves can also be processed into a potent white crystalline powder that is injected, smoked, or otherwise consumed. When ingested in small amounts, cocaine produces feelings of well-being and euphoria along with decreased appetite, relief from fatigue, and increased mental alertness