What are hallucinogens ?
Hallucinogens are a group of drugs that work on the brain to affect the senses and cause ‘hallucinations’ – seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting or touching things that do not exist. Hallucinogens are sometimes called ‘psychedelic drugs’, ‘trips’, ‘magic mushrooms’, ‘LSD’, ‘acid’.

Forms of hallucinogens
Some hallucinogens occur naturally in trees, vines, seeds, fungi (eg psilocybin or ‘magic mushrooms’) and leaves. Others are made in laboratories by mixing different chemical substances (‘trips’, LSD,‘acid’). Some drugs, such as cannabis and ecstasy, can cause hallucinogen-like effects when used in high doses or in certain ways. Using hallucinogens is often called ‘tripping’.

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide LSD
LSD (‘acid, ‘trips’) is the most often used form of hallucinogen. In its pure form LSD is a white, odourless powder.

This pure form is very strong, so LSD is usually mixed with other things to make the dose large enough to take. It comes in liquid form, tablets, capsules or squares of gelatine or blotting paper.

Psilocybin
Psilocybin (‘magic mushrooms’) is the hallucinogenic chemical that occurs in some mushrooms. In its pure form, psilocybin is also a white powder, but it is usually sold as dried mushrooms or in substances made from mushrooms.

Psilocybin is from the same chemical family as LSD so its effects are similar.
Some people eat poisonous mushrooms thinking they are mushrooms containing psilocybin. This can be very dangerous as some poisonous mushrooms can cause death or permanent liver damage.

Effects of hallucinogens
What hallucinogens do to you depends on:

• how much you take
• your height and weight
• your general health
• your mood
• your past experience with hallucinogens
• whether you use hallucinogens on their own or with other drugs
• whether you use alone or with others, at home or at a party, etc.

The effects of hallucinogens are not easy to predict.
The effects are different for different people and at different times.
The main effects of hallucinogens are changes in the way you perceive things with your senses.
They can include strange sensations such as floating or your body becoming part of another object.

Some people find such unusual sensations interesting and pleasant, while to others these same effects are unpleasant and disturbing.