• Question: what is the wierdest drug you have come across and what effect would it have on people?

    Asked by riley to Roisin on 8 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Roisin Jones

      Roisin Jones answered on 8 Nov 2016:

      Interesting question! While most people know about the major drugs (cocaine, meth, heroin, alcohol, nicotine) and their effects, there are some really niche drugs out there that aren’t very popular or well known, and they can have some peculiar effects on the human body!

      The drug I work on is a derivative of amphetamine (i.e. it has an amphetamine core, but some structural differences), and it can cause very vivid, scary and long-lasting hallucinations, with some anecdotal reports calling it ‘like the worst acid trip you’ve ever taken’, so I think it’s weird that people want to take it! In general, hallucinogens are really the weirdest set of drugs out there, and they can make people see and do crazy things.

      I think one of the weirdest drugs I’ve come across though is actually a fungus, called Ophiocordyceps unilateralis, aka the zombie fungus! (Spoiler alert: if you’re not a massive fan of bugs or are easily grossed out, now would be a good time to stop reading!) It’s never been ingested by humans (as far as I’m aware), but it does some crazy stuff to ants and other bugs: basically, the fungus takes over the body of the bug it infests, and over-rides all of its basic biological directives. The bug then goes to a place that’s suitable for the fungus and stays there until it dies as the fungus eats it from the inside out, so there are insect corpses with fungus growing out of them in all directions! As I’ve said, I don’t think it’s every been ingested by a human, but there have been studies done in mice which suggest it has a similar effect on mammalian brains as on insect ones, so theoretically it could do the same thing to a human. Actually, there was a video game called ‘The Last of Us’ which was a horror game based on the concept that humans could get infected by the fungus which painted a pretty bleak picture, so hopefully there will never be a human-active strain!

      Hope this has been at least an engaging answer to your question!

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