Comparative acute effects of mescaline, lysergic acid diethylamide, and psilocybin in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled cross-over study in healthy participants.
Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology October 1, 2023 Laura Ley, Friederike Holze, Denis Arikci et al. 127 citations
At equally strong doses, the classic psychedelics mescaline, LSD, and psilocybin produce comparable subjective experiences, with no evidence of qualitative differences in altered states of consciousness. Autonomic effects were moderate; psilocybin increased diastolic blood pressure more than LSD, while LSD showed a trend toward higher heart rate than psilocybin. Mescaline had the longest effect duration (mean 11.1 hours), followed by LSD (8.2 hours) and psilocybin (4.9 hours). Mescaline and LSD, but not psilocybin, raised circulating oxytocin. None altered brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Tolerability was similar, though mescaline caused slightly more subacute adverse effects 12–24 hours later.