Betel nuts found to be world’s oldest psychoactive drug
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Researchers identified betel nuts as the oldest known substance people used to alter their consciousness. The team from Griffith University examined skeletal remains from Sulawesi, Indonesia, dating to between 25,000 and 6,300 years ago.
They discovered unusual wear patterns on the teeth of two individuals, suggesting they frequently sucked on betel nuts over long periods. The scientists determined that simply sucking on the nuts released enough arecoline to affect brain function.
Betel nuts, the seeds of the areca palm, produce mild euphoria and increased alertness. While less known in Western countries, the nuts are currently the fourth most consumed psychoactive substance globally, after alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine. The researchers conducted experiments mimicking nut consumption with artificial saliva and tested the resulting solutions on cloned human receptors. They found the process activated receptors that regulate neuron activity.
Although tooth pain may have initially motivated people to use betel nuts, long-term consumption can lead to dental problems. This discovery pushes back the known history of human drug use, predating the earliest evidence of beer brewing by roughly 12,000 years.
