Former goth stripper Krystle Cole talks about her time spent living in a subterranean missile silo converted into a luxurious LSD manufacturing facility. She spent three years of her life running from the DEA, being held partially against her will and used as a guinea pig for strange new psychedelic chemicals. Eventually her friends-turned-captors were arrested and Krystle herself barely escaped incarceration. She now makes her living as a writer, sharing her experiences in books and on the web.
We took a trip to Amsterdam to learn about the ban of psychedelic mushrooms and the rise of truffles that contain psilocybin (the stuff that makes you trip balls).
There is an Amazonian frog called Phyllomedusa Bicolor or the Sapo which I have been reading about for years. It is totally different from the psychedelic toads found in North America. The Sapo's venom produces an effect much closer to morphine than LSD, but really it's not like either of those things.
Rumor has it that there is a secret drug in Haiti that can turn the living into Zombies.
The best way to eliminate all sensory input is to step inside a sensory deprivation tank.
Zolpidem tartrate, or Ambien, has been prescribed to millions of insomniacs internationally, yet those who use the drug to ensure a good night's sleep are seldom aware it also possesses the ability to normalize functioning in certain types of damaged neurons, a phenomenon called "the Ambien effect." The first awakening occurred in 1999 when a man who had spent three years in a persistent vegetative state spontaneously regained consciousness after ingesting a 10mg tablet. Since then, hundreds of patients have experienced miraculous recoveries from traumatic brain injury using Ambien. Hamilton Morris travels from South Africa, where the Ambien effect was first discovered, to England to interview a physician on the cutting edge of Ambien research, and then to Florida to meet a voice-over artist who depends on Ambien to speak.
Swaziland is a landlocked country sandwiched between South Africa and Mozambique. Despite Swaziland's small size, it boasts more hectares of land dedicated to growing Cannabis than all of India. It is also home to Swazi Gold, the legendary sativa strain. Hamilton Morris travels to Swaziland hoping to chemically analyze the cannabinoids present in some of the local strains. Instead, he finds a country steeped in political corruption and economic turmoil. Cannabis is viewed by many growers, users, and politicians as a drug that will cause insanity, but it may be Swaziland's only hope for economic stability.
In 1998, the antiretroviral drug efavirenz was approved for treatment of HIV infection. Though the drug was highly effective, patients soon began to report bizarre dreams, hallucinations, and feelings of unreality. When South African tabloids started to run stories of efavirenz-motivated rapes and robberies, scientists began to seriously study how efavirenz might produce these unexpected hallucinogenic effects. Hamilton Morris travels to South Africa to interview efavirenz users and dealers and study how the life-saving medicine became part of a dangerous cocktail called "nyaope."
Hamilton Morris travels to New Zealand to meet the king pin of New Zealand’s legal highs crusading for his fading dream for future of drug control.
Hamilton meets with members of the Yaqui tribe and witnesses their ceremonial dance and speaks with them about "toad medicine."
An epic love-fest on the man who birthed Ecstasy in a test-tube.
South Africa is the last place on earth Quaaludes can still be found. Hamilton travels there to study the drug and finds a dark history of medical experimentation.
Hamilton travels across the USA meeting with addicts, dealers, and chemists to trace the history of PCP from its pharmaceutical origins to its escape onto the streets.
From the heavenly cloud forests of Oaxaca to a viral video of Miley Cyrus, Hamilton investigates the inconspicuous yet extraordinary psychedelic plant Salvia divinorum.
From the Aztec empire to the underground laboratory, Hamilton explores magic mushrooms with the help of shamans, clandestine growers, and ethnomycologists.
Hamilton embarks on an aquatic adventure to Reunion Island and Madagascar to investigate ichthyoallyeinotoxism and a twisted history of hallucinogenic fish.
In our last episode, we meet with famed LSD chemist Casey Hardison in the Nevada desert and embark on a road trip to visit an unsung hero of psychedelic history - Darrell Lemaire.
Hamilton embarks on a quest to answer the most important question in ethnoherpetological history and along the way, he finds the power of love.
From the greenhouses of Thai cactophiles to the Tamaulipan thornscrub, Hamilton traces the history of peyote with the help of a Native American peyotist.
Hamilton speaks with Dr. Martin Terry, a cactus expert and conservationist, about his plant collection.
Hamilton investigates the pharmacology and traditional uses of Kratom, a Thai tree with opioid-containing leaves.
Hamilton meets with a Thai folk healer to learn about the effects of kratom leaves.
Hamilton travels across North America to study how and why DMT exists in the environment and the laboratory.
Hamilton meets with Marina Masic of Lumina NY to receive light therapy that provides a similar experience to DMT.
Hamilton heads to India to see industrial Ketamine synthesis, and speak with therapists and luminaries in an attempt to understand the role of dissociative anesthetics in society.
Hamilton meets an unsung hero of the psychedelic underground and hears a tragic tale of MDMA synthesis and chemiluminescence.
Hamilton ascends the Carpathian Mountains, microscope in hand, to learn how Europeans use Amanita muscaria, and uncovers the chemistry behind a mushroom-inspired pharmaceutical.
Deep in the Andean highlands of Peru, Hamilton becomes the apprentice of a local shaman, learning how to use the night-blooming San Pedro cactus as a medicine.
Haunted by past mistakes, Hamilton embarks on a journey to correct an error in his reporting and identifies the origin of an international toad venom smoking phenomenon.
From X-ray crystallography to vesicular dopamine release, Hamilton travels the country visiting meth labs to understand the process behind a great American folk art.
Hamilton traces the multibillion year history of nitrous oxide on Earth and follows the strangest noble gas to the Czech Republic.
After revealing a scientific mystery around Tramadol-addicted cows in West Africa, Hamilton follows a Gabonese opiate addict to a psychedelic ritual.
Succumbing to viewer requests, Hamilton journeys to South America to understand the legend of Bufotenine, the world's oldest psychedelic.
With the precise structure of LSD's molecular target identified, Hamilton discusses the new era of psychedelic research and meets pioneers of the field.
