WACHUMA - San pedro
The
Wachuma has remained outside the legislation on drugs and public attention.
Therefore, the aspects to be considered in this section are somewhat smaller.
Content and psychotropic
action
E. pachanoi contains several
alkaloids: mescaline or TMPE (trimethoxyphenylethylamine),
tyramine, metitiramine,
methoxytriramine, ordinate, analonin and tricocerene. The main one is
mescaline, which is formed in the green tissue adjacent to the outer skin of
the branches; its content is approximately 0.12% in the fresh plant and 2% when
it is dry. Mescaline concentration is higher in E. peruvianus than in E.
pachanoi and varies according to the place where the plant grows;
Cacti that grow on powerful or
"enchanted" hills are especially sought after. The alkaloid is found
in the bark
green of the cactus in a
proportion of 5%, is a yellowish liquid sparingly soluble in water, boiling at
140 degrees. Its salts are obtained in the form of hydrochloride (water-soluble
crystals). In doses of 5 to 22 milligrams per kilo of weight, it has
psychotropic properties. Buy san pedro in Shamandealer.com
Late identification of mescaline in
wachuma
The alkaloid called mescaline was
isolated in the 1890s in the United States, from the native cactus of northern
Mexico called peyote (Lophophora williamsii). The peyote was the first cactus
that, studied pharmacologically, allowed to isolate the Mescaline. This substance is only
produced by some American cacti, therefore it was unknown in Europe and the
other continents.
From the 1930s, Echinopsis pachanoi
- "cultivated variety" - spread through nurseries, cacti and
botanical gardens around the world, used as a basis for the grafting of other
cacti species. This dispersion of the plant occurred before its content in
mescaline was known. Although the traditional use of wachuma in northern Peru
was known, chemists had not been interested in investigating its alkaloid
content.
Only in the 40s, some doctors in
Lima suggested -based on the use of Traditional- that could have
mescaline in the "San Pedro". Cruz Sánchez, looking for the Finding new drugs, he carried out
the chemical and pharmacodynamic study of an alkaloid isolated from the bark of
E. pachanoi, and described its chemical characteristics suggesting that it
could be mescaline. In 1960, the identification of mescaline in wachuma,
relatively late compared to peyote (1890), would be confirmed.
Mescaline is on the list of
prohibited substances. The plant species (all American cacti) that contain
mescaline are in a "no man's land", they are not properly legal or
illegal. In the Andean countries, there has not been a significant legal debate
about the legal status of wachuma.
Psychotropic
action
Mescaline has a
molecular formula almost identical to noradrenaline, a hormone or chemical
intermediate that naturally produces the body and stimulates alertness sensory and
muscular in front of the outside world. An active dose of mescaline is 300 mg.
Assimilated
orally, it acts on noradrenaline systems modifying or replacing some
of the chemical intermediaries, by way of similar keys that they open the
same locks. This is how it produces states of consciousness that differ
qualitatively from ordinary consciousness.
The psychotropic
action, of the drink elaborated with the cactus by the healers, is very different from
that of purified mescaline. Wachuma contains other alkaloids whose effects
substantially modify the action of mescaline, causing "(...) a sedative
effect and, in higher doses, a true deep sleep without disturbances."
"Such alkaloids could be attributed the narcotic effect that is always
present in the ingestion of Sanpedro (...) "
"During the states of heightened awareness, the networks of relationships established between
ideas among themselves and with external events, that is, between the psychic and physical realities,
make aware in a quantitative and qualitatively superior way, incorporating to the corpus of the conscious a huge range of concepts that are interconnected and they acquire a deep sense and total coherence. External and internal events are understand then as interdependent relationship units and, therefore, interchangeable, at a level of concatenation and clarity that fully justifies the ritualization and religiosity (...) A key word for the description of these forms of intellection is speed. This speed of thought is such that it allows a vision global of a certain reality. (...) This lighting, as well as the possibility of manipulating specific areas within the mentioned networks of relationships, and their therapeutic direction by those who are capable of such management, constitutes the essence of this type of quackery. "
"A key word for the description of these forms of intellection is speed. Is speed of thought is such that it allows a global vision of a reality determined. "
"The hallucinatory states, far from being devalued aspects of the psychic task are, in
this context and in its highest peaks, higher levels of intellection (...) "
According to Eduardo Palomino, a
healer from northern Peru, wachuma favors:
"(...) a great" vision
", a clarification of all the faculties of the individual. It produces a
slight numbness in the body, and
then tranquility. And then there's a
Detachment, a type of visual force
in the individual, that includes all the senses:
see, hear, smell, touch, etc .; all
the senses, including the sixth sense, the telepathic sense
that transmits it to one through
time and matter ... Develops the power of
perception ... in the sense that if
you want to see something that is far away ... you can distinguish
powers or problems or disturbances
at a great distance, and deal with them ... [Also]
it produces ... a general cleaning,
which includes the kidneys, the liver ... the stomach and the
blood."
