Something that is very odd about cactus, is that the effects seem to change and vary dependant on dose.
In low amounts, cactus, especially peyote, has effects that are close to that of MDMA,MDEA,methylone and the other XTC's. I don't know if mescaline itself is responsible for this, or whether it are the other phenethylamines that can be found in cacti.
In larger amounts though, the effects will change dramatically. Here the comparison with ayahuasca, DMT or mushrooms is more apropriate.
Apparently there is a threshold where something interesting happens. Maybe the mescalin starts to overpower the effects of the other phen's, maybe the effects mescalin has on a certain receptor or multiple receptors require e threshold to become noticeable, that is higher then the threshold for some other receptors.
Who knows?
Another idea i have on this, is that it's not the phen's but some MAOI compounds that aslo occur in cacti. One of the typical effects of XTC is an increased level of serotonin, wich is exactly what MAO-b-inhibitors can accomplish.
There is something else that points to this direction: The initial effects of ayahuasca, the first noticeable effects, can also resemble the effects of XTC and they definately resemble the effects of small amounts of cactus. The harmaline's are MAOI's an cause an increase of serotonin levels.
This leads me to thinking that the combination of MAOI activity and a mixture of phenethylamine's is responsible for the XTC-like effects of low doses.
Higher amounts of mescalin leads to exactly the opposite: a decrease of serotonergic activity by downregulation of serotonin receptors as a consequence of mescaline's 5-ht2 activity.
It seems there is a point where the balance of the scale is being tipped into the other direction.
In low amounts, cactus, especially peyote, has effects that are close to that of MDMA,MDEA,methylone and the other XTC's. I don't know if mescaline itself is responsible for this, or whether it are the other phenethylamines that can be found in cacti.
In larger amounts though, the effects will change dramatically. Here the comparison with ayahuasca, DMT or mushrooms is more apropriate.
Apparently there is a threshold where something interesting happens. Maybe the mescalin starts to overpower the effects of the other phen's, maybe the effects mescalin has on a certain receptor or multiple receptors require e threshold to become noticeable, that is higher then the threshold for some other receptors.
Who knows?
Another idea i have on this, is that it's not the phen's but some MAOI compounds that aslo occur in cacti. One of the typical effects of XTC is an increased level of serotonin, wich is exactly what MAO-b-inhibitors can accomplish.
There is something else that points to this direction: The initial effects of ayahuasca, the first noticeable effects, can also resemble the effects of XTC and they definately resemble the effects of small amounts of cactus. The harmaline's are MAOI's an cause an increase of serotonin levels.
This leads me to thinking that the combination of MAOI activity and a mixture of phenethylamine's is responsible for the XTC-like effects of low doses.
Higher amounts of mescalin leads to exactly the opposite: a decrease of serotonergic activity by downregulation of serotonin receptors as a consequence of mescaline's 5-ht2 activity.
It seems there is a point where the balance of the scale is being tipped into the other direction.