Hallucinogens

[Nicky]

Hi there

Does anyone know of any plants that can grow in British woodland which, when trampled upon, can emit hallucinogenic properties? And, indeed, can ellicit hallucinations in humans through inhaling (rather than ingesting) the emitted scent/properties?

Thanks in advance folks

N

(Oh - and DrB - join Facebook)

[huw-l]

Not that I know of. The two most famous natural hallucinogens Ergot and Psilocybin (both fungi) usually exhibit their effects after ingestion.

Some plants do produce poisons that can have an effect purely after skin contact but I can't think of one that produces hallucinations.

[Nicky]

Thanks huw-l ... :smiley:

Ach ... must be a time slip then ... :cheesy:

[bobdezon]

what happened to you that made you assume you had a psychadellic experience? There is natural phenomena which can replicate various drug effects. Most of it is biological in nature.

[Nicky]

Not me, a case someone brought to me ...

There's an area of woodland which a group of friends frequent and each time they visit it, a building within it looks different .. Either run down and delapidated, on verge of ruin .. Or brand new, sparkling, with lots of livestock ..

They seem a reliable source and are adamant that they hadn't been, and don't, use drugs, and brought it to us due to how bizarre it seems .. I've visited the site without them and it was ruined, run down .. Not had chance to visit it with them yet tho ..

[Allo Allo]

Sounds like Brigadoon! ;D

[brianp]

Sounds like Brigadoon! ;D

Sounds more like they'd seen different buildings at different times - one in ruins and the other still in use. Perhaps they'd inadvertently visited two different woods with superficial similarities - or two noted different buildings in the same wood.

[Admin]

Can't they take a photo of it in each condition?

[Nicky]

BrianP .. They're local to area and it is a small private woodland (which they shouldn't be in, anyway - I had to trace the landowner to gain access) with nothing else in it and enclosed by crop fields .. So I'm confident they're visiting the same place each time ..

JohnJ: You'd hope so, wouldn't you .. I'm trying that with them at the moment ..

[Admin]

Interesting. Are there any theories/claims behind it. A time slip perhaps?

Then again, what about something like a strong personality persuading others that they saw what he saw. Group memory reconstruction - something like that.

Keep us informed if you find anything. O0

[Nicky]

Time slips have been floated .. but not something I'm entertaining at the moment.

Some social psychology could well be at play - as you've said strong suggestion, maybe some form of group hallucination ..

I posted in this section as I was musing the possibility of them having trampled plants on their way through woodland and the possibility of plants emitting hallucinogenic properties, but with psychpharmacology not being one of my strongest points, wondered if anyone had any thoughts ..

[median]

Nicky.

Hello

Yes it is a possibility that an hallucinogenic drug could have entered via the respiratory system; the most likely scenario being spores that have been absorbed via the capillaries of nasal cavity. The probabilities, however, would be small.

Firstly, the amount of active substance would need to be of a high enough concentration for an experience inducing event and this would be dependent on local conditions such as humidity or convection currents etc (unless your group is in the habit of crawling on all fours?)

Secondly, the chances of all individuals having a collective hallucination at exactly the same time would be dependent on their stage of the 'trip'; the mental state of each person would be dependent on a number of factors such as metabolism (weight, activity).
Adding to this, a group of hallucinating individuals may not always form a collective interpretation of the experience. Many common drugs have a large introspective effect in which the individual may form his/her own interpretation of events independent of another version of events.

It might be an advice though to create a catalogue of the local flora just for reference.

It might sound boring but hey, I'm just a fun guy! (sorry couldn't resist...snigger):cheesy:

BTW is it just this particular group that to your knowledge have experienced the events and are the group units the same each time?

Regards

Median

[Nicky]

Hey Median - long time :)

I don't know of anyone else accessing the woodland since bollards were erected at the end of the bridleway and no one wanting to walk the distance down there. There is also a big padlocked gate guarding the entrance to the woodland, with a stream and barbed wire fencing protecting the perimeter. Once I tracked down the landowner, he wasn't aware of anyone ever accessing the site.

In terms of group dynamic .. information is still sketchy so at the moment I don't know.

I'm really after individual interviews with each of them, going down there with them, trying different combinations of individuals in the group etc., but until they re-engage I'm a bit stuffed .. ::)

Hope you're well :)

N
x

[bobdezon]

Well Its superficial description sounds like what is reported for the timeslip experience. As someone already pointed out there is no guarantee that if two people both ingested a pharmocological agent they would share the same experience as it effects people differently.

A more logical and rational explaination would be simply that the building is used infrequently to house livestock, maybe for transit purposes. A building can look cleaner and newer after a rain etc. If there was photographic evidence of the building in multiple states of repair/disrepair that would go a long way in showing there was an odd phenomena at work here.

Before anyone can acurately formulate a theory as to the possible nature of such an occurance it might be better to establish such a phenomena was actually taking place.

[Admin]

I was going to make the point about a group dynamic and a hallucinogen but I think Median's post probably refutes that idea.

Bob's point is interesting however. The place may be used every now and then (say to store animals ready for slaughter for a day or so) and it may look quite different when it's being used to when it's standing empty.

So the place actually might look different but not quite as different as they have imagined.

Then, of course, it could be a time slip!! My preferred theory. :cheesy:

I have an Open-Mind you know. ;D

[bobdezon]

Surely you means Open-Minded™ ;)

[Matt]

Then, of course, it could be a time slip!! My preferred theory. :cheesy:

I have an Open-Mind you know. ;D

It'd have to be two time slips. Strange how they always seem to happen in pairs. It'd be much easier to prove that they were real if they weren't so often immediately followed by another one of these rare events that happened to exactly cancel the effects of the first.
>:D