Hamilton's Pharmacopeia

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).

VICE heads to the Amazon on a hunt for its most hallucinogenic tree frogs.

VICE heads to the Amazon on a hunt for its most hallucinogenic tree frogs. In part 2, federal agents, monster bugs, and an inept shaman keep getting in the way.

VICE heads into the Amazon on a hunt for its most hallucinogenic tree frogs. In part 3, a frog is caught, and a mind is blown.

Rumor has it that there is a secret drug in Haiti that can turn the living into Zombies. In part 1, Hamilton takes off for Port-Au-Prince on a quest for the secret poison.

Rumor has it that there is a secret drug in Haiti that can turn the living into Zombies. In part 2, we attended a Voodoo ceremony and watched as a pig was sacrificed in order to become an ambassador to the gods.

Rumor has it that there is a secret drug in Haiti that can turn the living into Zombies. In part 3, we were granted a meeting with the leader of the Bizangos, a Haitian secret society and beholder of the formula for zombification. Negotiations are made and a local Bokor agrees to create a nzambi—for a price.

Rumor has it that there is a secret drug in Haiti that can turn the living into Zombies. In part 4, we went searching for the secret ingredient in the zombification powder, a poison extract from the Tetraodontidae, also knows as the Pufferfish.

Rumor has it that there is a secret drug in Haiti that can turn the living into Zombies. In part 5, Hamilton takes a large dose of the zombie powder to prove his strength. He is rewarded with a peak inside a zombie's shed.

Rumor has it that there is a secret drug in Haiti that can turn the living into Zombies. In part 6, Hamilton procures a sample of the zombie powder and its mysterious antidote. He returns home to subject both to extensive chemical analysis.

The best way to eliminate all sensory input is to step inside a sensory deprivation tank. In part 1, we talk to Joe Rogan about what happens to the mind, body, and spirit while inside the tank.

The best way to eliminate all sensory input is to step inside a sensory deprivation tank. In part 2, VICE Correspondent Hamilton Morris spends five hours inside a tank only to come out with more questions than answers. We head to Isolation Floatation in Colorado to learn more.

The best way to eliminate all sensory input is to step inside a sensory deprivation tank. In part 3, VICE correspondant Hamilton Morris tests the Rolls Royce of sensory deprivation tanks at Cloud nine Float Center in Boulder, Colorado.

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.

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.

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.