Hallucinogenic drugs are exceptional in that they produce the desired hallucinogenic effects at what are considered non-toxic doses. The hallucinogenic drugs can be categorized into four basic groups: indole alkaloid derivatives, piper dines derivatives, phenylethylamines and the cannabinols.
Basically, Hallucinogenic Drugs are use for restitutive therapies that encompass the variety of techniques used to produce altered states of consciousness (ASC) in patients for therapeutic purposes. For some of these techniques, healing or curative powers are attributed to the experience per se of the ASC (e.g., mystical, peak, or transcendental states, post anesthetic amnestic states, etc.); for other techniques, the production of the ASC purportedly renders the mind susceptible to specific psychological maneuvers on the part of the therapist (e.g., narcoanalysis, narcosynthesis, abreaction, etc.). In general, these therapies, which aim toward reintegration of the personality, the controlled release of inhibitions, relief of nuclear conflicts, and renewed hope, are applied over a relatively short-time span, covering one to twenty sessions.
Types of Hallucinogenic Drugs
Alcohol
This is probably the oldest drug used by man for social, religious, and medical purposes. References to the use of wine have been discovered in Babylon and Egypt. Vines were seen as godly plants and the juice of the grape was equated with divine blood. The priest drank in order to establish a closer relationship with the gods, especially Osiris, the wine god. The Hebrews also drank for religious and medical purposes. The Book of Proverbs states "Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts, let him drink and forget his poverty and remember his misery no more." In ancient Greece, wine was used generously for religious, festive, and social occasions, including the symposium. The Greeks drank wine to seek communion with Dionysus........
