You are Illegal!

Illegal Drugs You Naturally Produce

There are a number of psychoactive substances naturally produced in the human body by normal metabolism. Some of these are illegal except by prescription in the United States. Draconian drug laws regarding these naturally occurring controlled substances create an absurd and confusing legal atmosphere of ambiguity and uncertainty.

Below is a collection of information on these various substances from multiple sources. I offer a commentary following these excerpts.

From The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants – Ethnopharmacology and its Applications by Christian Rätsch...

Since the time when morphine was first detected in breast milk, cow’s milk, and human cerebrospinal fluid, it has been known that it is a natural endogenous neurotransmitter in higher vertebrates, including humans (Aman and Zenk 1996; Cardinale at al. 1987; Hazum et al. 1981). Morphine does not bind well to enkephalin receptors (to which the endorphins dock) but docks at the specific morphine (m) receptors (Hazum et al. 1981). It is most likely biosynthesized in the body from dopamine (Brossi 1991). Another closely related substance, codeine, is also endogenous in humans (Cardinale et al. 1987).

Morphine is the best and strongest natural painkiller known. Its efficaciousness is surpassed only by that of the synthetic morphine analogs (heroin, fentanyl). Morphine is particularly well suited for treating chronic pain, such as in cancer therapy (Amann and Zenk 1996; Melzack 1991). Endogenous morphine constitutes the body’s own pain medication:

Studies on rats have shown that among animals who were suffering from arthritis, morphine concentrations in the spinal cord and urine were significantly elevated. Because of this, it is assumed today that the organism produces increased amounts of morphine in certain disease states. Consequently, endogenous morphine may serve to regulate pain in the organism. Morphine exists in animal and human tissue and is excreted in significant amounts in the urine. (Amann and Zenk 1996, 24)

The following is from Pharmacotheon by Jonathon Ott.

While the government experiments with the ‘get-tough’ approach, scientific developments have compromised severely the forensic chemical basis for evidence in the ensuing drug-related prosecutions. The interesting discovery that the illicit entheogen DMT appears to be a mammalian neurotransmitter (Christian et al. 1976; Christian et al. 1977) and that the drug normally occurs in cerebrospinal fluid (Corbett et al. 1987) raises important legal questions. Moreover, diazepam or Valium has been found to occur in rat brain and in trace amounts in wheat grains (Wildmann et al. 1987), and "diazepam-like" compounds have been found in bovine urine (Luk et al. 1983). Similarly, the controlled opiates morphine and codeine have been found to be normal components of human cerebrospinal fluid (Cardinale et al. 1987), and morphine has been found to be a trace constituent of cow and human milk, and to occur naturally in mammalian brain tissue. Trace amounts of morphine have also been detected in ‘various plants such as hay and lettuce’ (Hazum et al. 1981). In ancient times, Pliny reported a lettuce variety called "poppy lettuce, from its abundance of juice of soporific property" (Harlan 1986) and lactucarium or "lettuce opium" was introduced to the pharmacopoeia in 1810 (Duncan 1810) and may still be purchased from companies advertising in "countercultural" drug magazines. Trace amounts of morphine in poppy seeds used in baked goods can show up in the urine of a diner. With the detection of morphine in urine being considered prima facie evidence of heroin use in methadone-clinic patients and in job applicants (Bigwood 1978; Potter & Orfali 1990), and with the drug laws flatly proclaiming that unauthorized possession or sale of ‘any material, compound, mixture or preparation which contains any quantity of’ DMT, Valium, morphine and many other drugs, where does this leave the concept of drug control and forensic chemical evidence? If morphine occurs in hay and lettuce, in poppy-seed rolls, in every one of our bodies, even in mothers' milk... on what scientific basis can an authorized cultivator of opium poppies be punished, without also punishing lettuce and hay growers, or the proprietors and employees of supermarket chains and the corner Mom and Pop grocery for illicit trafficking in morphine present in each and every quart of wholesome milk? On what basis... as citizens subjected willy-nilly to the absurd consequences of drug laws... we demand to know... on what basis?…

…Note that these are the ‘frontline troops’ in the ‘War on Drugs,’ and they don't want ‘the people’ to know what drug metabolites are in their urine! A company called Psychemedics is now fighting the ‘urinalysis lobby’ for a piece of the $200 million per year U.S. drug testing market- promoting a technology based on infinitesimal residues of drugs or drug metabolites in hair samples (Holden 1990c). There is some evidence that merely allowing your fingers to touch your hair after handling some of the Federal Reserve Chairman's cocaine-blighted bills could make you a candidate for a positive reading in a ‘hairanalysis’ drug test... or taking a stroll through the park and inadvertently passing through some marijuana smoke exhaled by some brazen lawbreaker (it has been demonstrated that such ‘passive’ exposure to Cannabis smoke can lead to false positive readings for marijuana use in blood and urine tests too; Moreland et al. 1985). Urinalysis also involves the problem of ‘false positives’ if detection thresholds are set low enough to detect all users (Schwartz et al. 1987). The ultra-sensitive analyses for drug metabolites in urine cannot tell whether morphine in the urine came from a shot of heroin or a few poppyseed rolls dinner. Do you still think the troops fighting the ‘War on Drugs’ are on your side... can you be sure you won't one day be considered ‘enemy’?...

…Let's face it, we're all on drugs, all of the time... I'm not talking about the industrial quantities of alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, etc. consumed regularly by humankind, but about the DMT and morphine our bodies make for us and which we ‘consume’ all the time; or our very own sleeping pill, the endogenous ligand of the Valium receptor (which may be Valium itself); or the ‘anxiety peptide’ which blocks that receptor (Marx 1985); or our endorphins and encephalins (our own self-produced ‘ENDOgenous moRPHINES’; (see Snyder & Matthysse 1975) which kill our pain; or ‘Substance P,’ our own pain-causing molecule (Skerrett 1990); or anandamide, the endogenous ligand of the THC (marijuana) receptor (Devane et al. 1992)... The life of the mind, of consciousness, is a constant, ever-changing pharmacological symphony, or to put it less romantically, a never-ending drug binge. The urge to ingest opiates or DMT or Valium is completely natural (Siegel 1989) and as ‘organic’ as can be- we are only supplementing or complementing the drugs that make our brains work, and these drugs work for us precisely because they are identical to, or chemically similar to our own endogenous drugs. Researchers have found ‘commonalities’ in ‘drug abuse’ irrespective of gross pharmacological differences between different classes of drugs (Holden 1985) because on one level all psychoactive drugs are the same- they are all fitting into our own brains' own receptors for our homemade, endogenous drugs…

… Having touched on the subject of Constitutional vagueness, it is important to stress that scientific research continues to reveal new plant (and animal) species containing illegal compounds. Since controlled substances such as DMT, morphine and codeine appear to be general mammalian neurotransmitters, dog and cat (or other mammal) owners are technically in unauthorized possession of illicit drugs all the time…

Furthermore, it has been found that,

Morphine has been found in cow and human milk at concentrations of 200 to 500 nanograms per liter… …morphine-like materials have been described in brain and intestine…

(Huzum et al. 1981)

It has also been found that in individuals with schizophrenic and manic-depressive illnesses…

The excretion of N,N,-dimethyltryptamine (DMT) was frequently raised… …when they were psychotic but was usually normal when they had recovered. Rapid changes in the severity of illness or sudden switches from one mood state to another were not accompanied by changes in excretion of DMT.

(Checkley et al. 1980)

Apparently, not only is the highly illegal DMT present in humans but the analog 5-MeO-DMT (5-methoxy-N,N- dimethyltryptiamine) as well…

The amines found in the urine of both groups were dimethyltryptamine, (DMT), bufotenine, and 5-methoxy-N,N- dimethyltryptiamine.

(Faurbye and Pind 1973)

The infamous Dr. Shulgin adds to the supporting evidence,

Thanks to the existence of ever-increasingly sensitive scientific instruments, the search of body fluids for possible psychedelics has brought forth a number that appear to be natural components of the human animal. DMT has been reported to be in the urine of schizophrenic patients, and so have 5-MeO-DMT, bufotenine, and its demethylated homologue N-methylserotonin.

(Shulgin and Shulgin 1997)

Commentary : Not only your pets, but you yourself are illegal. Under federal law (the Controlled Substance Act of 1970) anything (or anyone) that contains an illegal substance is itself (himself, herself) illegal. Here’s an example; psilocybin is specifically outlawed by the Controlled Substances Act. Psilocybe mushrooms are not specifically named in the CSA, but since these mushrooms contain psilocybin, they are illegal. A large pill that contains a tiny amount of MDMA (ecstasy) is considered a container of an illegal substance. The definition of container is stretched further. The toad Bufo alvarius which contains bufotenine in its glands may be ruled illegal in a court of law (most likely this would depend on whether or not it can be proven that the toad was intended to be used as a source for the illegal substances it produces) because that toad is considered a container. As we have seen, there are illegal substances in pets and people.

The reader may be quick to think that since only minute amounts of the illegal substances mentioned above have been found in the human body that this is a moot point. We are sorry to tell you that under federal law (United States Sentencing Commission, Guidelines Manual §2D1.1, Drug Quantity Table, n. * (Nov. 1987) (1987 USSG) the “container” of an illegal substance is considered to be the illegal substance itself. So, for example, not only is it illegal to posses the toad Bufo alvarius, but in the eyes of the law, a 1 pound Bufo alvarius toad is considered as 1 pound of bufotenine even though the toad may only contain trace amounts of bufotenine!

So, by logical extension, a 150 pound nursing mother may be tried for possessing150 pounds of morphine and a 200 pound man may be tried for possession of 200 pounds of DMT!

Absurd? Yes, of course it is, but what else would you expect from our government?

Sources

Checkley, Stuart A et al. A longitudinal study of urinary excretion of N,N- dimethyltryptamine in psychotic patients. British Journal of Psychiatry; 1980 Sep Vol 137 236-239

Faurbye, Arild and K. Pind. The presence of N-methylated and N-acetylated indole amines in the urine of schizophrenics and controls. Foreign Psychiatry; 1973 Sum Vol. 2(2) 3-10

Huzum, E., JJ Sabatka, KJ Chang, DA Brent, JW Findlay, and P Cuatrecasas Morphine in cow and human milk: could dietary morphine constitute a ligand for specific morphine (mu) receptors? Science 28 August 1981: Vol. 213. no. 4511, pp. 1010 - 1012

Ott, Jonathan. 1993. Pharmacotheon. Natural Products Co.

Rätsch, Christian. 2005. The Encyclopedia of Psychoactive Plants – Ethnopharmacology and its Applications. Park Street Press.

Shulgin, Alexander and Ann Shulgin. 1997. TiHKAL: Tryptamines i Have Known and Loved Berkeley Calif.: Transform Press.