Mescaline

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Mescaline
Chemical name	3,4,5-Trimethoxy- phenethylamine or 2-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl) ethanamine
Chemical formula	C₁₁H₁₇NO₃
Molecular mass	211.26 g/mol
Melting point	128–129 °C
CAS numbers	54-04-6
SMILES	NCCC1=CC(OC)=C(OC)C(OC)=C1
Image:Mescaline structure.png

Mescaline or 3,4,5-trimethoxyphenethylamine is a psychedelic hallucinogenic drug and entheogen of the phenethylamine family. It is either synthesized (as mescaline sulfate) or extracted from the peyote cactus (Lophophora williamsii), the San Pedro cactus (Echinopsis pachanoi), or the Peruvian Torch cactus (Echinopsis peruviana). It is also found in a number of other members of the Cactaceae.

The use of extract from peyote in Native American religious ceremonies has been noted since the earliest European contact, notably by the Huichols in Mexico. It was first isolated and identified in 1897 by the German Arthur Heffter and first synthesized in 1919. The effective human dosage is 200–400 milligrams (3.75 mg/kg), with the effects lasting for up to twelve hours. It is not physically addictive. In the US it was made illegal in 1970 by the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act. It was prohibited internationally by the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances [1] and is categorised as a Schedule I hallucinogen by the CSA. Users typically experience visual hallucinations and radically altered states of consciousness, often experienced as pleasurable and illuminating but occasionally as accompanied by feelings of anxiety or revulsion.