Psychedelic visuals in the context of "Psychotomimetic"

Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic hallucinogens or serotonergic hallucinogens, the term psychedelic is sometimes used more broadly to include various other types of hallucinogens as well, such as those which are atypical or adjacent to psychedelia like salvia and MDMA, respectively.

Classic psychedelics generally cause specific psychological, visual, and auditory changes, and oftentimes a substantially altered state of consciousness. They have had the largest influence on science and culture, and include mescaline, LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. There are a large number of both naturally occurring and synthetic serotonergic psychedelics.

Mescaline, also known as mescalin or mezcalin, and in chemical terms 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine, is a naturally occurring psychedelic protoalkaloid of the substituted phenethylamine class, found in cacti like peyote (Lophophora williamsii) and San Pedro (certain species of the genus Echinopsis) and known for its serotonergic hallucinogenic effects.

Mescaline is typically taken orally and used recreationally, spiritually, and medically, with psychedelic effects occurring at doses from 100 to 1,000 mg, including microdosing below 75 mg, and it can be consumed in pure form or via mescaline-containing cacti. Mescaline induces a psychedelic experience characterized by vivid visual patterns, altered perception of time and self, synesthesia, and spiritual effects, with an onset of 0.5 to 0.9 hours and a duration that increases with dose, ranging from about 6 to 14 hours. Ketanserin blocks mescaline’s psychoactive effects, and while it's unclear if mescaline is metabolized by monoamine oxidase enzymes, preliminary evidence suggests harmala alkaloids may potentiate its effects.