NCJ Number
7922
Journal
JOURNAL OF CRIMINAL LAW, CRIMINOLOGY AND POLICE SCIENCE Volume: 63 Issue: 3 Dated: (SEPTEMBER 1972) Pages: 416-426
Date Published
1972
Length
11 pages
Annotation
TECHNICAL COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF HALLUCINOGENS AND THE INTOXICATING INHALANTS, FROM A PREDOMINANTLY PHARMACOLOGICAL POINT OF VIEW.
Abstract
THE MEANING OF VARIOUS TERMS USED TO DESCRIBE PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGICAL DRUGS WERE COMPARED WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO THE TERM PSYCHEDELIC. TERMS SUCH AS PSYCHOTROPIC, PSYCHOTOXIC, PSYCHOTOGENIC, PSYCHOACTIVE, PSYCHOTOMIMETIC, AND HALLUCINOGENIC HAVE BEEN USED INTERCHANGEABLY TO DESCRIBE THE SAME GROUP OF DRUGS AFFECTING THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM. PSYCHEDELIC WAS INTRODUCED IN PREFERENCE TO PSYCHOTOMIMETIC, A TERM WHICH CONNOTES DRUGS WHICH MIMIC THE ILL-EFFECTS OF PSYCHOSIS. PSYCHOTROPIC AND PSYCHOACTIVE ARE NEUTRAL DESIGNATIONS. COMPARISONS WERE MADE OF THE EFFECTS OF GLUE SOLVENT SNIFFING AND LSD EXPERIENCE BASED ON AVAILABLE LITERATURES. MARKED DIFFERENCES IN ACTIONS WERE DESCRIBED THE FORMER APPEAR TO CAUSE GENERALIZED CNS DEPRESSION. A TRANSIENT PERIOD OF INTOXICATION IS FOLLOWED BY DELIRIA, COMA, AND, IN SOME INSTANCES, DEATH WHILE THE LATTER EVOKES A LONGER PERIOD OF INTENSITY, ALERTNESS, AND KEEN SENSORY PERCEPTION. THE EFFECTS OF LSD-TYPE DRUGS, ARE INDUCED BY A COMPARATIVELY SMALL DOSAGE, SOME OF THE PSYCHIC EFFECTS ARE ALSO A RESULT OF SIDE EFFECTS OF TOXIC DOSES OF OTHER CHEMICAIS AND DRUG COMPOUNDS, RANGING FROM BROMIDES TO GASOLINE TO GLUE SOLVENTS. THESE EXPERIENCES DIFFER FROM THOSE OBTAINED FROM LSD IN THE LOSS OF COGNITIVE FUNCTION BECAUSE OF THEIR INTOXICATING ACTION AND DELIRIUM. IN THIS CRITICAL CONFINE, LSD AND LSD-TYPE DRUGS APPEAR TO BE DIFFERENTIATED AS PSYCHEDELICS FROM OTHER CHEMICAL AGENTS WHICH ELICIT SIMILAR SUBJECTIVE EFFECTS. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)