Main Page | See live article | Alphabetical index Mescaline (C11H17NO3, 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine (3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine hydrochloride is also effective)) is a hallucinogenic drug and entheogen. It is either extracted from the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii or Anhalonium lewinii), the San Pedro cactus (Trichocereus pachanoi), the Peruvian Torch (Trichocereus peruvianus) or created synthetically (from 3,4,5-trimethoxybenzaldehyde, nitromethane, cyclohexylamine and acetic acid, initially) forming white crystals. Effective dosage is 200-400mg (3.75 mg/kg) with the effects lasting for up to twelve hours. Extract from peyote it was used in religious ceremonies from the earliest human contact, notably by the Huichols in Mexico. Because of this mescaline has become the standard against which other compounds are compared. There are four natural analogues of mescaline which are also used. It was first isolated and identified in 1897 by the German Arthur Heffter and first synthesized in 1919. In the US it was made illegal in 1970 by the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. Table of contents 1 Famous Users 2 See Also 3 External link Famous Users Syd Barrett Aldous Huxley See Also The Doors of Perception MKULTRA Indole ring Psilocybin External link Molecule of the Month This article is from Wikipedia. All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.