- This article covers lysergic acid diethylamide. For other meanings, see LSD (disambiguation).
LSD blotter paper
D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (Chem: C20H25N3O), commonly called acid or
LSD, is a powerful synthetic hallucinogen and psychedelic entheogen originally
derived from ergot fungus. LSD is typically
delivered orally as a clear, odorless, tasteless liquid, usually on a substrate such as absorbent blotter paper, a sugarcube, or
gelatin, although it is also possible to deliver it via food or drink. LSD is an abbreviation of the German term for the compound, Lyserg-Säure-Diäthylamid.
LSD was marketed as a psychiatric miracle drug, and was shown to have great potential for use in psychedelic psychotherapy. It first became popular
recreationally among a small group of mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and psychologists during the 1950s, as well as by socially prominent and politically powerful individuals such as Henry and Clare Boothe
Luce. Cold War era intelligence services were also keenly interested in the
possibilities of LSD, both for use in interrogation and mind control (see MK-Ultra),
and also for large-scale social engineering (see counterculture). Several mental health professionals, notably Harvard psychology professors Drs. Timothy Leary and
Richard Alpert (later known as Ram Dass), became convinced of LSD's
potential as a tool for spiritual growth. They were dismissed from the traditional psychological community and spread LSD use to
a much wider portion of the public as countercultural spiritual gurus among the hippies
of the 1960s. The drug was banned in the United States in 1967. Tours by psychedelic rock band The Grateful Dead were
identified by the DEA as a primary
illicit distribution mechanism. In the 1990s, LSD became popular in raver subculture. American LSD usage declined sharply circa 2000 following
the largest LSD manufacturing raid in DEA history.
Dosage
LSD is one of the most potent drugs in common use. LSD is 100 times more potent than psilocybin and psilocin
and 4,000 times more potent than mescaline. Dosages of LSD are measured in
micrograms (µg), or millionths of a gram. By comparison, dosages of almost all other drugs, both recreational and medical, are
measured in milligrams, or thousandths of a gram.
The dosage level that will produce a threshold hallucinogenic effect in humans is generally considered to be 25 micrograms. In
the late 1990s, LSD obtained during drug law enforcement operations in the United States has usually ranged between 20 and 80 micrograms per dose. During
the 1960s, dosages were commonly 300 micrograms or more. The drug's effects become
markedly more evident at higher dosages.
Effects
Physical
Physical reactions to LSD may include: uterine contractions, body temperature increase, elevated blood
sugar levels, dry-mouth, "goose-bumps", heart-rate increase, jaw clenching, cramps, muscle-tension, nausea, perspiration, pupil-dilation, salivation,
mucus production, sleeplessness, tremors.
LSD functions as a serotonin antagonist, though this is probably not directly related to its hallucinogenic properties, as several chemical
analogues to LSD which are psychically inert also antagonize serotonin.
Psychological
LSD's psychological effects (commonly called a "trip") vary greatly from person to person, from one trip to another, and even
as time passes during a single trip. Widely different effects emerge based on what Leary called "set and setting" -- the
set being the general mindset of the user, and the setting being the physical and social environment in which
the drug's effects are experienced.
A single LSD trip can have long lasting or even permanent neutral, negative, and positive psychoemotional effects.
LSD experiences can be indescribably ecstatic as well as hellishly difficult; many difficult experiences (or "bad trips")
result from a panicked user feeling that he or she has been permanently severed from reality and the ego. If the user is in a hostile or otherwise unsettling
environment, or is not mentally prepared for the powerful distortions in perception and thought that the drug causes, effects are
more likely to be unpleasant.
Conversely, a pleasant, comfortable environment and a relaxed, balanced and open mindset will often result in a unique and
extremely unusual experience. Many have attempted to describe these states, which vary greatly among different individuals.
The sensory shifts caused by the drug can lead users to sit or lie in awkward positions for extended periods of time,
resulting in muscle cramps and soreness that are often mistakenly attributed to the direct physical action of the drug.
Sensory/perception
Beginning in the first hour after ingestion, and continuing for the duration of the trip, the user may experience anything
from subtle changes or distortions in visual perception and mood changes to overwhelming changes in perception.
Sensory shifts include "high-level" sensory distortions such as warping of surfaces, blurred vision, seeing "trails" behind
moving objects, shape suggestibility, and color variations. Users often report "new" colors that they have not previously
experienced.. Audio and visual hallucinations are common, ranging from
subtle to overwhelming, often featuring or appearing in regular geometric or fractal patterns.
Higher doses often cause users to experience shifts at a "lower level" of cognition - causing intense and fundamental
distortions of sensory perception such as synaesthesia, the experience of
additional spatial, temporal, or time dimensions, and intense hallucinations.
Spiritual
LSD is considered an entheogen because it often catalyzes intense spiritual
experiences where users feel they have come into contact with a greater spiritual or cosmic order. It is common for users to
experience permanent or long-lasting changes in their life perspective. Some users consider LSD a religious sacrament, or a
powerful tool for access to the divine. Many books have been written comparing the LSD trip to the state of enlightenment of eastern philosophy.
Such mystical experiences under the influence of LSD have been observed and documented by researchers such as Leary and
Stanislav Grof.
Acute duration
LSD's primary effects normally last from 6 to 12 hours. One characteristic feature of LSD is that with higher doses, the
intensity of the experience increases, but not the duration. It is typical for a user of LSD to be unable to sleep restfully
until at least 12 hours have passed, and they do not feel completely "back to normal" until after getting one or two full nights
of restful sleep, although they will exhibit no outward signs of impairment after the drug has worn off.
LSD has an extremely short half life in the body. Most of the drug's already miniscule dose is eliminated before the trip is
even over, suggesting that LSD triggers some sort of neurochemical cascade rather than acting directly to produce its
effects.
Administration of Thorazine or similar typical antipsychotic tranquilizers will immediately end an LSD trip.
Physical dangers
Although LSD is generally considered nontoxic, other dangers may arise from bad judgments made during the experience. As with
many drugs, while under the influence of LSD the ability to make sensible judgments and understand common dangers can be
impaired, making the user susceptible to personal injury. If the user attempts to drive a car or operate machinery, their
impaired state may lead to accidents and injury.
There is also mounting evidence that LSD can trigger a dissociative fugue state in individuals who are taking certain classes of antidepressants. In such a state, the user has an impulse to wander, and may
not be aware of their actions, which can lead to physical injury. Lithium-based antidepressants and tricyclics are believed to
have such severe interactions with LSD. MAOIs and SSRIs are believed to interact more benignly, tending to diminish LSD's
subjective effects greatly.
Flashbacks
There is also a commonly reported risk of "flashbacks", a psychological phenomenon in which an individual experiences an
episode of some of the subjective effects of LSD (this may be a positive or negative experience) long after the drug has been
consumed and worn off -- sometimes weeks or months afterward. Despite anecdotal claims that flashbacks are common, studies have
shown that these experiences are relatively rare.
Debate continues over the nature and causes of flashbacks. Some say flashbacks are a manifestation of post-traumatic stress disorder, not directly
related to LSD's mechanism, and varying according to the susceptibility of the individual to the disorder. Many emotionally
intense experiences can lead to flashbacks when a person is reminded acutely of the original experience.
Several urban legends claim that flashbacks are the result of trace
amounts of LSD or related chemicals being dislodged and released into the body after having been crystallized and stored in fat
or spinal fluid cells. However, scientific research has disproven this conjecture; LSD is metabolized in the liver, as with many
other drugs, and its metabolites are excreted normally in the urine. [1]
Drug studies have not confirmed that LSD can cause flashbacks or lasting psychoses, according to a meta-study by MAPS (see the
link at the end of this article).
Addictive potential
LSD is not addictive in that its users do not exhibit the medical community's commonly accepted definitions of addiction and physical dependence. LSD users do, however, exhibit tolerance; LSD's
effects diminish with frequent, repeated use, especially over short periods of time. This tolerance passes after a few days'
abstention from use.
History
Early history: synthesis
LSD was first synthesised by the Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in the Sandoz (now
Novartis) laboratories in 1938. The
laboratory had undertaken a research program aimed at isolating the active constituents of medicinal plants so that they
could be produced in the laboratory and later precisely dosed for accurate administration to patients. Dr. Hofman eventually
began researching the ergot fungus and alkaloids which could be derived from it. Ergot was traditionally used by midwives as an ecbolic, a
medication used to induce childbirth, and early 20th century research
indicated that the various compounds in ergot had other effects on the body as well, prompting further research.
After Dr. Hofmann succeeded in synthesizing ergobasine (which became the preeminent uterotonic), he began experiments with other molecules based around the central lysergic acid component shared by ergot alkalines. Lysergic acid diethylamide,
the 25th synthesized molecule (hence the name LSD-25) was developed initially as a probable analeptic, a circulatory and respiratory
stimulant, based on its structural similarity to another known analeptic, Coramine (nicotinic acid diethylamide). However, no extraordinary benefits of the compound were
identified during animal tests (though laboratory notes briefly mention that the animals became "restless" under its effects),
and its study was discontinued.
The hallucinogenic effects of LSD were unknown for the next five years. Dr. Hofmann writes in LSD: My Problem Child
that a "peculiar presentiment" prompted him to revisit LSD-25. While re-synthesizing the compound for further study, he became
dizzy and was forced to stop work:
Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced
to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable
restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition,
characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be
unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense,
kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away.
Three days later, April 19, 1943 (known as
Bicycle Day), Dr. Hoffman intentionally ingested 250µg of LSD, which he hypothesized would be a threshold dose, based on
other ergot alkaloids. Hoffman wrote:
By now it was already clear to me that LSD had been the cause of the remarkable experience of the previous Friday, for the
altered perceptions were of the same type as before, only much more intense. I had to struggle to speak intelligibly. I asked my
laboratory assistant, who was informed of the self-experiment, to escort me home. We went by bicycle, no automobile being
available because of wartime restrictions on their use. On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms.
Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror. I also had the sensation of being
unable to move from the spot. Nevertheless, my assistant later told me we had traveled very rapidly.
Dr. Hofmann summoned a doctor, who could find no abnormal physical symptoms other than extremely dialated pupils. After
spending several hours terrified that his body had been possessed by a demon, that his
next door neighbor was a witch, and that his furniture was threatening him, Dr. Hofmann
feared he had become completely insane.
[The doctor] saw no reason to prescribe any medication. Instead he conveyed me to my bed and stood watch over me. Slowly I
came back from a weird, unfamiliar world to reassuring everyday reality. The horror softened and gave way to a feeling of good
fortune and gratitude, the more normal perceptions and thoughts returned, and I became more confident that the danger of insanity
was conclusively past. Now, little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted
behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing
themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux. It
was particularly remarkable how every acoustic perception, such as the sound of a door handle or a passing automobile, became
transformed into optical perceptions. Every sound generated a vividly changing image, with its own consistent form and color ...
Exhausted, I then slept, to awake next morning refreshed, with a clear head, though still somewhat tired physically. A sensation
of well-being and renewed life flowed through me. Breakfast tasted delicious and gave me extraordinary pleasure. When I later
walked out into the garden, in which the sun shone now after a spring rain, everything glistened and sparkled in a fresh light.
The world was as if newly created. All my senses vibrated in a condition of highest sensitivity, which persisted for the entire
day. This self-experiment showed that LSD-25 behaved as a psychoactive substance with extraordinary properties and potency. There
was to my knowledge no other known substance that evoked such profound psychic effects in such extremely low doses, that caused
such dramatic changes in human consciousness and our experience of the inner and outer world.
Interest in the drug was revived after Dr. Hofmann's experiment, and the University of Zurich began conducting systematic human trials on both normal subjects and psychiatric patients diagnosed with schizophrenia. In both cases, the predominant reaction was euphoria. Sandoz began producing LSD under the trade name Delysid for research, suggesting that the drug
might be useful "to elicit release of repressed material and provide mental relaxation, particularly in anxiety states and
obsessional neuroses" and also for self-experimentation by psychiatrists, "to gain an insight into the world of ideas and
sensations of mental patients".
Psychiatric use
LSD was introduced into the United States in 1948. Sandoz marketed LSD as a psychiatric cure-all and hailed it as a remedy for everything from schizophrenia
to criminal behavior, sexual perversions and alcoholism. In psychiatry, the use of LSD by students was an accepted practice; it was viewed as a
teaching tool in an attempt to enable the psychiatrist to subjectively understand schizophrenia. It was also showed great promise
as a facilitating agent in psychedelic
psychotherapy. From the late 1940s through the mid-1970s, extensive research and
testing were conducted on LSD. During a 15-year period beginning in 1950, research on LSD
and other hallucinogens generated over 1000 scientific papers, several dozen books, and 6 international conferences, and LSD was
prescribed as treatment to over 40,000 patients. Many psychiatrists began taking the drug recreationally and sharing it with
friends. Dr. Leary's experiments (see below) spread LSD usage to a much wider segment of the general populace.
Sandoz halted LSD production in August of 1965 after growing governmental protests at
its proliferation among the general populace. The National Institute of Mental Health in the United States distributed LSD on a limited
basis for scientific research. Scientific study of LSD ceased circa 1980 as research
funding declined, and governments became wary of permitting such research fearing that the results of the research might
encourage illicit LSD use.
The United States Drug Enforcement
Agency claims:
Although initial observations on the benefits of LSD were highly optimistic, empirical data developed subsequently proved less
promising... Its use in scientific research has been extensive and its use has been widespread. Although the study of LSD and
other hallucinogens increased the awareness of how chemicals could affect the mind, its use in psychotherapy largely has been
debunked. It produces no aphrodisiac effects, does not increase creativity, has no lasting positive effect in treating alcoholics
or criminals, does not produce a 'model psychosis', and does not generate immediate personality change. However, drug studies
have confirmed that the powerful hallucinogenic effects of this drug can produce profound adverse reactions, such as acute panic
reactions, psychotic crises, and "flashbacks", especially in users ill-equipped
to deal with such trauma.
Dr. Timothy Leary
A significant number of researchers disagree with the government's assessment of LSD. Dr. Timothy Leary, a psychology professor at Harvard University, was the most prominent pro-LSD researcher. Leary
claimed that using LSD with the right dosage, set (what one brings to the experience), and setting, preferably with the guidance
of professionals, could alter behavior in dramatic and beneficial ways.
Dr. Leary began conducting experiments with psilocybin in 1960 on himself and a number of Harvard graduate students after trying hallucinogenic mushrooms used in Native
American religious rituals while visiting Mexico. His group began conducting
experiments on state prisoners, where they claimed a 90% success rate preventing repeat offenses. A student introduced Leary to
LSD, and he then incorporated that drug into his research as his mental catalyst of
choice. His experiments produced no murders, suicides, psychotic breaks, or bad trips. On the contrary, almost all of Leary's
subjects reported profound mystical experiences which they felt had a tremendous
positive effect on their lives.
By 1962, faculty discontent with Leary's experiments reached critical mass. Leary was
informed that the CIA was monitoring his research (see Government
experiments below). Many of the other faculty members had harbored reservations about Leary's research, and
powerful parents began complaining to the university about Leary's distribution of hallucinogenic drugs to their children.
Further, many undergraduate students who were not part of Leary's research program heard of the profound experiences other
students had undergone, and began taking LSD (which was not illegal at the time) recreationally. Leary described LSD as a potent
aphrodisiac in an interview with Playboy magazine. Leary and another professor, Richard
Alpert, were dismissed from the university in 1963.
DEA agents Don Strange (r.) and Howard Safir (l.) bring Leary to justice in 1972.
Leary and Alpert, unfazed by their dismissals, relocated first to Mexico, but were
expelled from the country by the Mexican government. They then set up at a large private mansion owned by William Hitchcock in New York, known as Millbrook, where they continued their experiments. Their research lost
its controlled scientific character as the experiments transformed into LSD parties. Leary later wrote, "We saw ourselves as
anthropologists from the twenty-first century inhabiting a time module
set somewhere in the dark ages of the 1960s. On this space colony we were attempting to create a new paganism and a
new dedication to life as art."
A judge who expressed dislike for Dr. Leary's books sentenced him to 30 years in prison for possession of half a marijuana
cigarette (which was later reversed by the Supreme Court). Publicity surrounding the case further cemented Leary's growing
reputation as a countercultural guru. Around this time, President Richard
Nixon described Leary as "the most dangerous man in America." Repeated FBI raids
instigated the end of the Millbrook experiment. Leary refocused his efforts towards countering the tremendous amount of anti-LSD
propaganda then being issued by the United States government, coining the
slogan, "Turn on. Tune in. Drop out."
Many experts blame Leary and his antics for the near-total suppression of psychedelic research over the last thirty years.
Government experiments
LSD was the original centerpiece of the United States Central Intelligence Agency's top secret MK-ULTRA
project, an ambitious undertaking conducted from the 1950s through the 1970s designed to explore the possibilities of pharmaceutical mind control. Hundreds of subjects,
including CIA agents, government employees, military personnel, prostitutes, members of the general public, and mental patients
were given LSD, many without their knowledge or consent. The experiments often involved severe psychological torture, and many victims committed suicide or
wound up in psychiatric wards. The researchers eventually concluded that LSD's effects were too varied and uncontrollable to make
it of any practical use as a truth drug, and the project moved on to other
substances. See MK-ULTRA.
Though no evidence has yet come to light in the West, it is presumed likely that the Soviet government conducted its own experiments on the properties of LSD during the Cold War.
Recreational use
LSD began to be used recreationally in certain (primarily medical) circles. Some psychiatric and medical professionals,
acquainted with LSD in their work, began using it themselves and sharing it with friends and associates. During the 1960s, this first group of casual LSD users evolved and expanded into a subculture that extolled the mystical and
religious symbolism often engendered by the drug's powerful effects, and advocated
its use as a method of raising consciousness. The personalities
associated with the subculture, gurus such as Dr. Timothy Leary and
psychedelic rock musicians such as the Grateful Dead, Jimi
Hendrix, and Jefferson Airplane soon attracted a great deal
of publicity, generating further interest in LSD.
The popularization of LSD outside of the medical world was hastened when individuals such as Ken Kesey participated in drug trials and liked what they saw. Tom
Wolfe wrote a widely read account of these early days of LSD's entrance into the non-academic world in his book The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test, which was
written as he traveled around the country in a psychedelic bus with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters.
The Beatles wrote a song which many assumed referred to LSD, "Lucy in the
Sky with Diamonds," although John Lennon is said to have always dismissed the
connection as mere coincidence; the song title is reputedly based on how Lennon's son Julian described the subject of a drawing
he made (the Lucy of the song is one Lucy O'Donnell). The Beatles were, however, experimenting with the drug, and the songs "She
Said She Said" (the line,'I know what it's like to be dead' is from an LSD trip that the Beatles took with Peter Fonda. Peter
kept saying that to John Lennon) and "Got To Get You Into My Life" from the album Revolver were admittedly about LSD trips. During that same time, bands such as Pink Floyd helped give
birth to a genre known as "psychedelic rock."
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the drug culture adopted LSD as the psychedelic drug of choice, particularly amongst
the hippie community. However, LSD dramatically decreased in popularity in the
mid-1970s. This decline was due to negative publicity centered on side-effects of LSD use (most misleading or patently false,)
its criminalization and the increasing effectiveness of drug law enforcement efforts, rather than new medical information.
As a recreational drug, LSD has remained popular among certain segments of society. Traditionally, it has been popular with
high school and college students and other young adults. LSD also has been integral to the lifestyle of many individuals who
follow certain rock music bands, most notably the Grateful Dead. Older
individuals, introduced to the hallucinogen in the 1960s, also still use LSD.
LSD made a comeback in the 1990s, especially through the acid house scene and raver subculture. However, the current
average oral dose consumed by users is 30 to 50 micrograms, a decrease of nearly 90 percent from the 1960 average dose of 250 to
300 micrograms. Lower doses may account for the relatively few LSD-related psychiatric emergencies during this period. LSD use
and availability declined sharply following a raid of a large scale LSD lab in 2000
(see below).
Retail-level distribution of LSD often takes place during concerts and all-night raves.
Users usually obtain LSD from friends and acquaintances.
Urban Legends
A number of urban legends exist about LSD. The aura of mystique
popularly associated with the drug, and a great deal of misinformation issued and propagated by well-meaning anti-drug groups, particularly in United States anti-drug education programs in schools, provide fertile
ground for misconceptions to take hold. Such misinformation may be propagated due to simple ignorance, or through deliberate
attempts to frighten students away from LSD usage through scare tactics.
Blue Star Tattoos
One popular meme is the blue star tattoo legend. This meme frequently surfaces in American elementary and middle schools in
the form of a flyer that has been photocopied through many generations, which is distributed to parents by concerned school
officials. It has also become popular on Internet mailing lists and websites. This
legend states that a temporary lick-and-stick tattoo soaked in LSD and made in the form of a blue star, or of popular children's
cartoon characters, is being distributed to children in the area in order to get them addicted to LSD [sic]. The flyer lists an
inaccurate description of the effects of LSD, some attribution (typically to a well-regarded hospital or a vaguely specified
"adviser to the president"), and instructs parents to contact police if they come
across the blue star tattoos. No actual cases of LSD distribution to children in this manner have ever been documented.
Retention of LSD in Spinal Fluid
A meme with particular appeal to anti-drug educators who wish to instill a healthy fear of the potential long-term effects of
LSD in their pupils, and also among casual high school age LSD users, is that the body stores crystallized LSD in spinal fluid or
in fat cells, which at some point dislodges and causes horrific flashbacks, perhaps years later. The scientific evidence provides
no support whatsoever for this theory, and rather indicates that LSD has a very short half-life in the body, and that most of the drug's already miniscule dose is eliminated from the system before
the trip is even over. (see Flashbacks, above).
This legend may be derived from the fact that an inert, metabolized form of THC, the main
active constituent of marijuana, is in fact stored by the body in fat cells for
about a month after use.
Different Types of LSD
A popular meme with high school and college age users is that there are different "types" of LSD, which produce different
types of trips. The types are usually associated with a particular blotter paper design or other dosage form (e.g. sugarcube or
geltab), and the resultant trips associated with each dosage form are typically described in terms such as that "blue pyramids [a
blotter paper design] give body trips" (a trip of mainly physical sensations with not much mental effect) or a "head trip" (the
reverse, mainly mental effects with little physical sensations) or "great visuals" (hallucinations).
While there is no actual physical variation in the LSD molecules carried on different substrates, this meme is
self-reinforcing insofar as a user taking LSD who strongly expects to have a particular type of experience due to ingesting a
particular substrate is thus much more likely to actually have that particular kind of experience.
Banana Peel Synthesis
Another popular theme among naļve LSD users is that it is possible to synthesize LSD from banana peels or other common household foods and chemicals, or that the synthesis of LSD can be easily accomplished
in a bathtub. Variants of this legend often circulate on the Internet, and were
popular on 'underground' BBSes run by high schoolers before the advent of widespread home
Internet access. This myth is sometimes related in a way so as to bolster social standing within a drug-using social group
through association with the purported chemist, e.g. "My boyfriend/cousin/friend/roommate makes LSD in the bathtub from banana
peels". The actual synthesis requires university training in organic
chemistry and requires both expensive laboratory equipment and expensive, carefully controlled precursor chemicals.
Strychnine
Anti-drug educators frequently tell their students some variant on the theme of inevitable strychnine poisoning through LSD use, for example, that strychnine is commonly sold as a cheaper substitute for
LSD by unscrupulous drug dealers; that strychnine is a byproduct of LSD synthesis; that the body produces strychnine as a result
of LSD metabolism; or that strychnine is somehow necessary to bond LSD to blotter paper. None of these are true. These memes may
even be believed and propagated by drug users themselves.
Strychnine has indeed rarely been discovered mixed with LSD and other drugs in a few samples recovered by law enforcement
agencies, but these were all found in murder or attempted murder investigations where
someone was being specifically targeted for poisoning, and not associated with recreational LSD use.
A related myth is that a new type of gang initiation requires the initiate to put a
mixture of LSD and strychnine on the buttons of as many payphones as possible.
Fruit Juice Synergy
Several legends claim that drinking some specific type of fruit juice (varying from legend to legend) will intensify an LSD
trip. While there is no specific physical evidence supporting this claim, if a person under the influence of LSD does something
that they believe will intensify their trip, then it is likely to do so.
Various Atypical Psychotic Reactions
Anecdotal legends retell the stories of LSD users who believed (for example) they could fly and jumped out of a high window;
believed themselves immortal and walked onto a highway, only to be hit by a car; thought that they were oranges and locked
themselves in a closet for hours for fear of being peeled, etc. While it is not unlikely that isolated instances of such cases
have occurred in the long and widespread history of LSD use, these are not typical reactions, though anti-drug educators usually
present them as such, in an effort to warn students off of trying LSD. Individuals with preexisting mental problems are much more
likely to suffer such effects under the influence of LSD.
Chemistry
LSD is an example of an ergoline derivative. It is commonly is produced from
lysergic acid, which is made from the tartrate form of ergotamine, a substance derived from the ergot
fungus on rye, or from ergine (lysergic acid
amide), a chemical found in morning glory seeds. Although theoretically
possible, manufacture of LSD from morning glory seeds is not economically feasible and these seeds have never been found to be a
successful starting material for LSD production.
Only a small amount of ergotamine tartrate is required to produce LSD in large batches. For example, 25 kilograms of
ergotamine tartrate can produce 5 or 6 kilograms of pure LSD crystal that, under ideal circumstances, could be processed into 100
million dosage units (50 micrograms), more than enough to meet what is believed to be the entire annual U.S. demand for the drug.
LSD manufacturers need only create a small quantity of the substance and, thus, enjoy the advantages of ease of concealment and
transport not available to traffickers of other illegal drugs, primarily marijuana and cocaine.
Glassware seized by the DEA from Pickard and Apperson's laboratory
Manufacturing LSD is time consuming and dangerous. Relatively sophisticated and expensive laboratory equipment is required,
and it takes from 2 to 3 days to produce 30 to 100 grams of crystal. Some of the reactions necessary may cause significant
explosions if not performed properly by a trained organic
chemist. It is believed that LSD usually is not produced in large quantities, but rather in a series of small batches.
Production of LSD in small batches also minimizes the loss of precursor chemicals should they become contaminated during the
synthesis process.
Forms of LSD
LSD is produced in crystalline form and then mixed with excipients or diluted as a liquid for production in ingestible forms.
Often, LSD is sold in tablet form (usually small tablets known as microdots), on sugar cubes, in thin squares of gelatin
(commonly referred to as window panes), and most commonly, as blotter paper (sheets of paper soaked in or impregnated with LSD,
covered with colorful designs or artwork, and perforated into one-quarter inch square, individual dosage units). LSD is sold
under more than 80 street names including acid, blotter, cid, doses, and trips, as well as names that reflect the designs on the
sheets of blotter paper. On occasion, authorities have encountered the drug in other forms-- including powder or crystal, liquid,
and capsule-- and laced on other substances. More than 200 types of LSD tablets have been encountered since 1969 and more than 350 paper designs have been acquired since 1975.
Designs range from simple five-point stars in black and white to exotic artwork in full four-color print. Inexpensiveness (prices
range from US $2 to $5 per dosage unit or 'hit'; wholesale lots often sell for as little as $1 or less), ready availability,
alleged 'mind-expanding' properties, and intriguing paper designs make LSD especially attractive to junior high school and high
school students.
Legal status
The United Nations Convention on Psychotropic
Substances (adopted in 1971) requires its parties to prohibit LSD. Hence, it is illegal
in all parties to the convention, which includes the United States and
most of Europe. However, enforcement of extant laws varies from country to country.
LSD is easy to conceal and smuggle. A tiny vial can contain thousands of doses. Not much money is made from retail-level sales
of LSD, so the drug is typically not associated with the violent organized criminal organizations involved in cocaine and
opiate smuggling.
Unlike alcohol prohibition, LSD prohibition does not make an exception for religious use, presumably because nontraditional
entheogen-centered religions are extremely uncommon and not generally accepted by modern societies. By contrast, the United
States government permits some tribes of Southwestern American
Indians to cultivate and use hallucinogenic peyote cactus in traditional religious
rituals.
LSD was legal in the United States until 1967. The US Federal Government classified it
as a Schedule I drug according to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970. As such, the Drug
Enforcement Administration holds that LSD meets the following three criteria: it is deemed to have a high potential for
abuse; it has no legitimate medical use in treatment; and there is a lack of accepted safety for its use under medical
supervision. Lysergic acid and lysergic acid amide, LSD precursors, are both classified in Schedule III of the Controlled
Substances Act. Ergotamine tartrate, a precursor to lysergic acid, is regulated under the Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act.
LSD in the United States
Prior to 1967, LSD was available legally in the United States as a prescription psychiatric drug.
LSD has been manufactured illegally since the 1960s. A limited number of chemists, probably less than a dozen, are believed to
have manufactured nearly all of the illicit LSD available in the United States. Some of these manufacturers probably operated
continuously for 30 years or more.
Pickard and Apperson ran an LSD lab in this former missile silo in Nebraska.
LSD manufacturers and traffickers can be separated into two groups. The first group was based in northern California and later identified by the DEA as run by chemists (referred to as
cooks) William Leonard Pickard and Clyde Apperson. Initial distribution points for this group's LSD were usually
in the San Francisco area, or coordinated elsewhere through informal
meetings at Grateful Dead concerts. These men worked in close association
with trusted traffickers. The government claims that these two men were responsible for the vast majority of LSD sold illegally
in the United States and a significant amount of the LSD sold in Europe, and that black
market LSD availability dropped by 95% after the two were arrested in 2000. [2]
In November of 2003, Pickard and Apperson
were sentenced to two life sentences and two 30 year sentences, respectively, after being convicted in Federal Court of running a
large scale LSD manufacturing operation out of several clandestine laboratories, including a former missile silo near Wamego, Kansas.
The second group of cooks consists of small independent producers who, operating on a comparatively limited scale, can be
found throughout the country. As a group, independent producers are of less concern to the Drug Enforcement Agency than the northern California group,
inasmuch as their production is intended for local consumption only.
Notable people who have commented on their LSD experiences
Please add to this list.
- Paul Allen
- Dr. Richard Alpert (now Ram Dass)
- John Perry Barlow
- Jerry Garcia, numerous interviews.
- Bill Gates, interview in the December 1994 Playboy: [3]
- Cary Grant, in the September, 1959
Look Magazine, relates how LSD treatment has brought him inner
peace.
- Dr. Albert Hofmann
- Aldous Huxley
- Steve Jobs, in an interview with Time Magazine
- Ken Kesey
- Dr. Timothy Leary
- John Lennon
- John C. Lilly in his book Centre of the Cyclone and other
works
- Henry Luce Founder of Time/Life http://www.moralgroup.com/NewsItems/Drugs/p10.htm
- William H. Macy, in the July 2001 issue of Maxim
- Paul McCartney
- Jim Morrison
- Kary Mullis, in his essay collection Dancing Naked in the Mind
Field.
- Jack Nicholson
- Anais Nin, in The Diary Of Anais Nin, Volume 5 (1947-1955)
- Keith Richards, interviewed in Rolling Stone, October 17, 2002
- Jean-Paul Sartre
- Oliver Stone
- Hunter S. Thompson
- Bob Wallace
- Robert Anton Wilson
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