Lophophora williamsii (pronounced /loʊˈfɒfərə wɪlˈjæmsiaɪ/), better known by its common name Peyote, (from the Nahuatl word peyotl), is a small, spineless cactus. It is native to southwestern Texas and through central Mexico. It is found primarily in the Chihuahuan desert and in the states of Tamaulipas and San Luis Potosi among scrub, especially where there is limestone.

It is well known for its psychoactive alkaloids, particularly mescaline. It is currently used world wide as an entheogen, and supplement to various transcendence practices including meditation, psychonautics, and psychedelic psychotherapy. Peyote has a long history of ritual religious and medicinal use by indigenous Americans. It flowers from March through May, and sometimes as late as September. The flowers are pink, with thigmotactic anthers (like Opuntia).

Description
Psilocybin is a hallucinogenic (entheogenic, psychedelic) indole of the tryptamine family, found in psilocybin mushrooms. It is present in hundreds of species of fungi, including those of the genus Psilocybe, such as Psilocybe cubensis and Psilocybe semilanceata, but also reportedly isolated from a dozen or so other genera. Psilocybin mushrooms are commonly called "sacred mushrooms," "magic mushrooms," or more simply "shrooms". Possession, and in some cases usage, of psilocybin or psilocin has been outlawed in most countries across the globe. Proponents of its usage consider it to be an entheogen and a tool to supplement various types of practices for transcendence, including in meditation, psychonautics, and psychedelic psychotherapy. The intensity and duration of entheogenic effects of psilocybin mushrooms are highly variable, depending on species/cultivar of mushrooms, dosage, individual physiology, and set and setting. Though psilocybin rarely attracts much attention from mainstream media, when it does the focus tends to be on the recreational use, generally excluding any other uses of the drug.

Biology
Psilocybin is a naturally-occurring compound found in varying concentrations in some species of the genera of Psilocybe spp. and Panaeolus spp. (fungal Phylum Basidiomycota). The spores of these mushrooms are completely free of both psilocybin and psilocin. Mushroom caps tend to contain more of the psychoactive compounds than the stems. The total potency varies greatly between species and even between specimens of one species in the same batch. Younger, smaller mushrooms are relatively higher in alkaloids and have a milder taste than larger, mature mushrooms. Mature mycelium contains some psilocybin, while young mycelium (recently germinated from spores) does not contain appreciable amounts of alkaloids. Many species of mushrooms containing psilocybin also contain small amounts of the psilocybin analogs baeocystin and norbaeocystion Most species of psilocybin-containing mushrooms bruise blue when handled or damaged due to the oxidization of phenolic compounds. This is not a definitive method of identification or determining a mushroom's potency.

Effects
The effects of psilocybin are highly variable and dependent on the current mood and overall sense of well-being by the individual. Initially the subject may begin to feel somewhat disoriented, lethargic, and euphoric or sometimes depressed. At low doses, hallucinatory effects may occur, including enhancement of colors and the animation of geometric shapes. Closed-eye hallucination may occur, where the affected individual may see multi-coloured geometric shapes and vivid imaginative sequences. At higher doses, hallucinatory effects increase and experiences tend to be less social and more introspective or entheogenic. Open-eye visuals are more common, and may be very detailed although rarely confused with reality.

Distortions in the experience of time in psilocybin-induced states have been subjectively reported, and objectively measured . In these studies, psilocybin significantly decreased subjects’ reproduction of time intervals longer than 2.5 s, impaired their ability to synchronize to inter-beat intervals longer than 2 s, and reduced their preferred tapping rate. Recent studies into the effects of psilocybin on time interval reproduction may shed light on qualitative alterations of time experience in experimentally-induced altered states of consciousness, mystical states, or in psychopathology.

Users having a pleasant experience can feel ecstatic, a sense of connection to others, nature, the universe, and other feelings/emotions are often intensified. Difficult experiences or bad trips occur due to a variety of reasons. Tripping during an emotional/physical low, or in a non-supportive/inadequate/etc. environment (see: set and setting) could possibly cause anxiety. Latent psychological issues may be triggered by the strong emotional components of the experience.

Some of these individuals report that they have experienced a 'spiritual' episode. For example, in the Marsh Chapel Experiment, which was run by a graduate student at Harvard Divinity School under the supervision of Timothy Leary, almost all of the graduate degree divinity student volunteers who received psilocybin reported profound religious experiences.

In 2006, a group of researchers from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine led by Roland R Griffiths conducted an experiment assessing the degree of mystical experience and attitudinal effects of the psilocybin experience; this report was published in the journal Psychopharmacology. Thirty-six volunteers without prior experience with hallucinogens were given psilocybin and methylphenidate (Ritalin) in separate sessions, the methylphenidate sessions serving as a control and psychoactive placebo; the tests were double-blind. The degree of mystical experience was measured using a questionnaire on mystical experience developed by Ralph W Hood; 61% of subjects reported a "complete mystical experience" after their psilocybin session, while only 13% reported such an outcome after their experience with methylphenidate. Two months after taking psilocybin, 79% of the participants reported moderately to greatly increased life satisfaction and sense of well-being. About 36% of participants also had a strong to extreme “experience of fear” or dysphoria (i.e., a “bad trip”) at some point during the psilocybin session (which was not reported by any subject during the methylphenidate session), with about one-third of these (13% of the total) reporting that this dysphoria dominated the entire session. These negative effects were reported to be easily managed by the researchers and did not have a lasting negative effect on the subject’s sense of well-being. Further measures at 14 months after the psilocybin experience confirmed that participants continued to attribute deep personal meaning to the experience. This research was widely covered in the major media outlets. The research team cautions that if hallucinogens are used in less well supervised settings, the possible fear or anxiety responses could lead to harmful behaviors. Further studies by this group have investigated the relationship of psilocybin dose to likelihood of mystical experience in healthy volunteers and whether mystical experiences in volunteers given psilocybin can help with anxiety and poor mood due to cancer.

In rare cases, psilocybin use can cause Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder.

Social and legal aspects
Psilocybin and psilocin are listed as Schedule I drugs under the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances. Schedule I drugs are illicit drugs that are claimed to have no known therapeutic benefit. Parties to the treaty are required to restrict use of the drug to medical and scientific research under strictly controlled conditions. Most national drug laws have been amended to reflect this convention (for example, the US Psychotropic Substances Act, the UK Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and the Canadian Controlled Drugs and Substances Act), with possession and use of psilocybin and psilocin being prohibited under almost all circumstances, and often carrying severe legal penalties.

Possession and use of psilocybin mushrooms, including the bluing species of Psilocybe, is therefore prohibited by extension. However, in many national, state, and provincial drug laws, there is a great deal of ambiguity about the legal status of psilocybin mushrooms and the spores of these mushrooms, as well as a strong element of selective enforcement in some places. For more details on the legal status of psilocybin mushrooms and Psilocybe spores, see: Psilocybe: Social and legal aspects.

Because of the ease of cultivating psilocybin mushrooms or gathering wild species, purified psilocybin is often extremely difficult to find on the market.

• How long the drugs will be detectable depends on which resource you consult.  We have provided a list of conservative Drug Detection Times provided by the manufactures of the drug tests.

• For the cutoff levels of commonly abused drugs and more about drug testing take a look at Drug Testing Cutoff Levels.