Since Adam Gotlieb came out with his pioneering work on the chemical doping of mescaline bearing cacti, hopeful peyoteros have been rushing to their local drug stores, buying up syringes and filling their cacti full of holes in their starry eyed quest for the Super Pedro.
The traditionally prepared San Pedro cactus is a notoriously bitter, slimy, foul tasting green soup that requires an iron stomach to swallow and keep down. By increasing the alkaloid level in the cactus, one would use less material in the end to achieve the desired result.
Gottlieb's method of 'doping' San Pedro requires the injecting of chemical precursors into the tissue of the cactus at various points, incrementally from the base of the plant on up. These precursors are then metabolized within the plant to create mescaline. There are three major precursors to mescaline, namely dopa, tyramine and dopamine. During mescaline synthesis in the plant, tyrosine is broken down into tyramine and dopa. These then combine to form dopamine, which is later converted to nor-mescaline, and mescaline. One of the problems involving the injection method is that it is difficult to evenly distribute the precursor solution throughout the plant. In addition, much of the solution may simply leak out of the hole once the syringe is extracted, especially if it is injected too quickly. The results are often less than satisfactory.
Enter DMSO.
 DMSO (Dimethyl Sulfoxide) is an Alkyl sulfoxide that is practically odorless in its purified form. As a highly polar organic liquid, it is a powerful solvent. Its biologic activities include the ability to penetrate plant and animal tissues as well as cell membranes, and to preserve living cells during freezing. It continues to be researched as a topical analgesic and anti-inflammatory agent, and as an agent to increase the penetrability of other substances. DMSO is an inexpensive and widely available byproduct of the wood industry. Due to its unique ability to penetrate and move across cell membranes, DMSO is often used as a delivery method or carrier for other drugs in veterinary medicine, as well as a pesticide delivery system in agriculture.
By using a solution of DMSO and the precursor dopamine (or a combination of tyramine and dopa) one can easily and effectively 'dope' their San Pedros with noticeable results. Historically it has been shown that a 70% solution of DMSO/H2O is best for membrane penetration and, oddly, performance drops with concentrations higher than 90 percent. The solution may be sprayed or swabbed with a cotton ball onto the surface of the cactus approximately 8 weeks prior to harvest, and every other week thereafter on the sixth and fourth week before harvest. Do not stress the plant during this time as normal growing is required for the cactus to metabolize the precursor effectively. Safety equipment must be used, as the solution will penetrate your body if you are exposed to it. Rubber gloves, long sleeves, pants and safety goggles are highly recommended.  Unlike the injection method, do NOT starve the cactus of water prior to administering the precursor, as DMSO will penetrate more readily when cells are hydrated. Since this is a relatively new method, precursor amounts to be used are not available until more trials and assay are completed. Typically, a saturated solution of free-base dopamine is prepared in a .05 N solution of HCL with the injection method. The DMSO method of precursor administration is not limited to the San Pedro cactus. It could easily be applied to any plant with a desired chemical and a known precursor to said chemical. The possibilities are endless, limited only by our imagination. We could possibly see a future of super potent phalaris grass, morning glories, mimosa, cannabis, or any one of mother natures little chemical factories! Unfortunately, DMSO is known to be fungicidal and may be death to our little blue staining friends, but further investigation is in order. Here are a couple of places one can obtain the necessary equipment for pumping up your Pedros: www.dmso.com html & graphics by shtiva |
