What is a psychedelic drug?
Psychedelics are a category of drug whose main activity is to spark hallucinatory feelings via serotonin sensory receptor agonism, forcing thought/visible changes that can modify the state of consciousness of a person.
The word psychedelic was formed by Humphry Osmond an English psychologist and researcher. Huxley, a friend of Osmond first used the word phanerothymes which was taken from Greek and Latin word which means, mind and soul. He integrated the word in a duet he sent to Osmond: “To make this trivial world sublime/Take half a Gramme of phanerothyme.” But Osmond felt the word was stupid and will never catch on, so he replied to Huxley couplet with words of his own which were“To fathom hell or soar angelic/Just take a pinch of psychedelic.”and that was how the word was formed.
Basically, there are two ways to know if a drug is psychedelic or not. One is based on its receptor binding, The second is to compare if the drug has psychedelic effects. If a drug falls under any one of the above conditions then it is a psychedelic drug.
In terms of receptors, researchers sort out drug as psychedelic if it binds to serotonin 5-HT2A receptors (these are usually tryptamine compounds which are synthetically like serotonin). THC and other cannabis compounds have been tested to bind to agonist or partial agonist on the CB1 and CB2 cannabinoid receptor. according to these research "Cannabinoid receptors (CB) receptors are G-protein coupled receptors and belong to the rhodopsin-like subfamily."
When it comes to 5-HT2AR, recent research has suggested that “long-term use of potent cannabis during adolescence increases the risk of developing schizophrenia” in teenagers. The research found that in pinkies (baby mice), prolonged exposure to THC “…induced a pro-hallucinogenic molecular conformation of the 5-HT2AR.” The scientist also discovered “…exacerbated schizophrenia-like responses…” in the baby mice. This discovery (based on receptor binding)of the alteration of 5-HT2AR by THC is evidence of cannabis being a psychedelic drug.
Psychedelic VS Cannabis EFFECTS:
Timothy Leary, a contentious 1960’s psychologist of psychedelic drugs developed a five-tier system of ranking the strength of top-ranking trips. According to Tim ranking, cannabis being the mildest of psychedelic will be at the first level.
Level 1-Cannabis
Level 2- high doses of cannabis or low doses of psilocybin
Level 3- regular doses of psilocybin or LSD
Level 4- Strong doses of LSD, psilocybin, Peyote, and other entheogens
Level 5- DMT or considerably high doses of psilocybin.
Since cannabis taken in low or high dosage can produce changes in our thoughts and perception Which include; the way it makes music sound better, munchies and better food taste, weird/creative thinking, out of body experience, ego dissolution and giggling or panic attack Many of which are effects common to psychedelics users then it can be a categorized under psychedelic substance.
Sumarry
Cannabis can be regarded as a psychedelic drug based on its effects and possibly it's binding to 5-HT2AR. Overall, both cannabis and magic mushrooms contain numerous compounds, many of which have not yet been defined due to regulation and all. Maybe further research could reveal similar receptor and effects in both psychotropic plants.
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