The effects are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken; the user’s personality, mood, and expectations; and the surroundings in which it is used. The user usually feels the first effects 30 to 90 minutes after. The physical effects include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors.
Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than the physical signs. The user may feel several different emotions at once or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user’s sense of time and self changes. Sensations may seem to “cross over,” giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.
Some users experience severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings, fear of losing control, fear of insanity and death, and despair while using. Some fatal accidents have occurred during this state.
Many users experience flashbacks, recurrence of certain aspects of a person’s experience, without the user having taken it again. A flashback occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or more than a year after use. Flashbacks usually occur in people who use hallucinogens chronically or have an underlying personality problem; however, otherwise healthy people who use occasionally may also have flashbacks.
Most users voluntarily decrease or stop its use over time. It is not considered addictive since it does not produce compulsive behavior. However, it produces tolerance, so some users repeatedly must take progressively higher doses to achieve the state of intoxication that they had previously achieved. This is an extremely dangerous practice, given its unpredictability.
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