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Charles Amirkhanian Collection ➔ Telluride Mushroom Festival 1988: Sasha Shulgin on Mushrooms, Drugs, and the Brain, 1 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type
Lectures and Panel Discussions
Origin
C Amirkhanian
Identifier
TMF.1988.08.26.A
Program Series
Telluride Mushroom Festival
Program Length
151 min
Part
1 of 2
Dates
1988-08-26 | created
Description
A recording of a lecture by Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin on Mushrooms, drugs, and the brain, during the 1988 Telluride Mushroom Festival in Colorado.

Begins with an introduction by Andrew Weil on the psychoactive properties of nutmeg and how he met Alexander “Sasha” Shulgin because of his research on the subject. He then introduces Shulgin’s life and work in the field of psychedelic drugs.

Sasha Shulgin begins by talking about his process of taste testing all of the compounds he synthesizes and how it relates to mushroom hunting. He then attempts to answer the question, how do psychedelic drugs work?

He lists and explores the five classifications of psychedelic drugs; Excitantia (excitement), drugs like amphetamines, cocaine, etc.; Inebriantia (intoxicants) alcohol, barbiturates, etc.; Hypnotica (hypnosis) large amounts of alcohol or barbiturates; Euphorica (euphoria) heroin, morphine, opioids; Phantastica (shine) Mescaline, LSD, LSA, anti-psychotics, etc.

Shulgin then goes on to discuss the negative effects of attempting to test drugs on animals versus human testing and the system of testing for the FDA.

The lecture moves on to discussing the difference between simple and complex psychedelic compounds.

The recording continues in the middle of a sentence about neurotransmitters.

Shulgin talks about the anthropological interests in how non-oral drug taking began in humans and how it relates to the Phantistica class of drugs and its effect on humans. He points to psychedelic mushrooms, cacti, and toads, LSD, DMT, etc., and their extreme effect on humans but lack of effect on animals.

Shulgin finishes his lecture by telling a story of a colleague who accidentally took a rather large dose of LSD.
Subjects
Mushrooms
Fungi
Brain
Psychedlic drugs
Acknowledgment
Digitized with support from the National Recording Preservation Foundation, The Copland Fund, and the Association for Recorded Sound Collections.
Related place
Telluride (Colo.) (was recorded at)
Related Entities
Telluride Mushroom Festival
Telluride Institute
Shulgin, Sasha, 1925-2014
Shulgin, Alexander T. (Alexander Theodore)