Mescaline of the genus "Echinopsis" are technically controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act, they are commonly sold publicly as ornamental plants. In the United Kingdom, mescaline in purified powder form is a Class A drug. However, dried cactus can be bought and sold legally. Mescaline is considered a schedule 9 substance in Australia under the Poisons Standard (October 2015). A schedule 9 substance is classified as "Substances with a high potential for causing harm at low exposure and which require special precautions during manufacture, handling or use. These poisons should be available only to specialised or authorised users who have
Alkaloid as psychoactive substances. Cocaine, caffeine, and cathinone are stimulants of the central nervous system. Mescaline and many of indole alkaloids (such as psilocybin, dimethyltryptamine and ibogaine) have hallucinogenic effect. Morphine and codeine are strong narcotic pain killers. There are alkaloids that do not have strong psychoactive effect themselves, but are precursors for semi-synthetic psychoactive drugs. For example, ephedrine and pseudoephedrine are used to produce methcathinone and methamphetamine. Thebaine is used in the synthesis of many painkillers such as oxycodone. Alkaloid Alkaloids are a class of naturally occurring organic compounds that mostly contain basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some