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Cycling home from the Sandoz Pharmaceutical Laboratories in 1943, the Swiss biochemist Albert Hofmann found himself on the trip of his life. The familiar route had unexpectedly been transformed into an undulating boulevard like a Salvador Dali painting, fringed by buildings that yawned and rippled, "as if seen in a curved mirror".
This was not a fantastical dream, but the result of a rather unorthodox experiment. Five years earlier, in a search for novel therapeutic agents to treat migraines, Hofmann had combined an ergot alkaloid, lysergic acid, with a diethylamine building block to create the 25th molecule in a series of lysergic acid compounds. At the time, pharmacological assessment of the new molecule, lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), had revealed nothing of interest.
Hofmann did not realise he had stumbled upon a compound with mind-altering properties that would change both the scientific and social world until he resynthesised the substance on April 16, 1943 and accidentally absorbed some through his skin. Intrigued by the effects he experienced, Hofmann ran a series of experiments on himself, starting with the famous bicycle 'trip'. He took 0.25 milligrams of LSD — which he believed to be a miniscule dose. Today it is known that one-thousandth of that amount is enough to produce psychedelic effects.
The first experiment immersed Hofmann in an enchanting world of perceptual distortions in which objects morphed into surreal images, and sounds transposed into colourful kaleidoscopic visions. But the inner distortion of his mind reached such frightening proportions that Hofmann feared for his sanity and his life.
"Familiar objects and pieces of furniture assumed grotesque, threatening forms. Every attempt to put an end to the disintegration of the outer world and the dissolution of my ego, seemed to be wasted effort," Hofmann wrote in his 1980 seminal work, LSD: My Problem Child. "A demon had invaded me. I jumped up and screamed, trying to free myself from him… my body seemed to be without sensation, lifeless, strange. Was I dying?
"Another reflection took shape, an idea full of bitter irony: if I was now forced to leave this world prematurely, it was because of this lysergic acid diethylamide that I myself had brought forth into the world."
Hofmann had not only brought forth a new drug, he had given birth to a new field of scientific research — psychedelic medicine — which scientists and physicians of the day embraced with great enthusiasm.
Barely able to believe Hofmann's reports of the drug's vivid effects, Ernst Rothlin, the director of the pharmacology department at Sandoz at the time, and two colleagues, conducted similar self-experimentation using one third of Hofmann's dose. Rothlin too found himself plunged into a world that the Beatles famously described as full of "tangerine trees and marmalade skies". His experience included frightening demonic twists and turns of his mind They agreed that LSD, the hallucinogenic effects of which can last for 6 to 12 hours, had extraordinary potency.
Believing LSD could be of great value to psychiatry, Sandoz made the drug readily available to scientific and clinical investigators for medical research under the trade name Delysid.
THE FLURRY OF RESEARCH that ensued suggested that LSD might encourage the release of memories or reveal the unconscious in psychoanalysis; or help psychotherapy patients to reach new levels of self-awareness. Many psychiatrists were encouraged to take the drug to enable them to subjectively understand schizophrenia or share psychedelic experiences with their patients.
Patients were given LSD for conditions ranging from anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorders, depression and bereavement to sexual dysfunction. The early literature even describes attempts to fix what was termed 'frigidity', using LSD to release repressed memories of abuse, while noting that the compound accentuated anxiety in some patients.
Inevitably, LSD escaped from the lab. As the drug counter-culture gathered momentum in the 1960s, the boundary between scientific inquiry and the quest for 'spiritual enlightenment' began to blur — and the scientific community distanced itself from the drug.
One of the best-known catalysts in this transition was Timothy Leary, a doctoral psychologist from Harvard University, who turned LSD from a scientific interest into a cult. Recruiting Harvard students as disciples, Leary's clinical LSD experiments at Harvard in the 1960s attracted more willing participants than could be accommodated, creating a black market for the drug on campus among those who missed out.
By 1967, Leary had abandoned any pretense to scientific research. To a gathering of 30,000 hippies at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, he prescribed the catch phrase, "turn on, tune in, drop out".
As LSD became increasingly associated with drug abuse, student riots and anti-war demonstrations, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved swiftly to classify LSD as a Schedule 1 drug under the Federal Controlled Substances Act of 1970. Worldwide prohibition followed in 1971.
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Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman with a model of the LSD molecule.
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LSD
It's barely been a decade, since Timothy Leary was laid to rest, yet still the Western world, America particularly, remains in denial about this magical-molecular quantum leap, just as important as the discovery of DNA.
Just last year, John Hopkins U. studies showed that psilocybin can afford an enhanced spiritual awareness, not unlike the discoveries made in private by millions of people in the 1960-70's, and by the hundreds who tripped under the guidance of Leary & Alpert in Millbrook, NY. Smaller LSD revivals surfaced briefly in the early 1980's and 90's.
Psychedelics in general, manifest an awareness of the dual nature of man, the spiritual & the sexual, and as such tap into the basis of our humanity and cultural creativity. Leary & guests re-christened the moniker `LSD' to stand for `Let's Strip Down', in knowing anticipation of the inevitable, impending sexual arousal. Psychedelics allow the suspension of the ego, and thus an ability to sustain ecstatic sexual arousal for hours, in effect a `chemical Tantra'.
Only psychedelics have this inherent potential for awakening the unfettered ancient aspects of man. Pity they are not in accord with the desires of the religons and governments that enslave human consciousness, and deny us our most fundamental psychic rights, to maintain their power over us. Perhaps one day, far into the future, we shall overcome.
LSD and HPPD
I have visual disturbances 24/7 from taking a single hit of LSD in 1988. They are continuous and non-stop from the moment I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night. They consist of hypersensitivity to light and color, prolonged afterimages, objects appearing to "breathe" and change thier size and shape, tracers, abnormal dark adaptation, seeing geometric patterns whenever I enter a dark room. I also have cognitive impairment such as difficulty concentrating and thinking fluently or rapidly, short-term memory problems, problems with attention span and focusing attention that maninfest as gross inaccuracies whenever I attempt to do mental computations (i.e. I attempt to multiply 2 x 4, but my brain instead adds 2 + 4), a constant feeling of being "spaced-out". I also have constant depersonalization and derealization(feelings of unreality as if you are dreaming, persistent feelings as if I am not separate from the external world(loss of ego boundaries), and sleep disturbances such as sleep paralysis, and involuntary tics(muscle twitches)in my facial muscles. I had none of these symtoms prior to using LSD, and my prior drug history included moderate consumption of alcohol and occasional use of marijuana (maybe 30 occasions). I have has all of these effects for 20 years now. To be fair, the LSD I took was in the form of "chocolate mesc", which in narcotic raids and subsequent analysis was always found in reality to be LSD cut with cocoa and lactose. I do not believe it was adulterated with PCP because the subjective effects I experienced were consistent to the effects decribed during LSD intoxication(geometric patterns, body image distortion, undulations in the visual field, sensory enhancement, ego loss, depersonalization etc, still object appearing to move etc..). I also used LSD one month later in the form of (2) hits of blotter, but did not experience any effects.
In spite of my predicament, I would like to see LSD research legalized again so we can do functional MRIs and determine exactly how LSD affects the brain. Perhaps this could help explain why a very small percentage of LSD users develop these chronic HPPD effects. I would warn anyone undergoing an LSD clinical study that developing life-long HPPD is potential hazard.
LSD
I just want to know exactly what LSD does to your brain after you've taken it and its out of your system.
My friend was dealing some seriously potent liquid acid, on new years i had about 3, the next day had 2, then next night had about 6 drops the night after that 4, and by the end i was pretty much drinking it from the bottle. New years was on wednesday and by the following tuesday i was still tripping hard.
I just want to know, what is going on with my brain.. like do i have a chemical imbalance now? Monday night i thought i was going to be stuck in a trip for the rest of my life.. please can someone tell me what happens to your brain after, i've looked up heaps of sites and all it tells me is the effects of acid, and where it comes from, i know this. Just want to know if i still have much of my brain left ect..
someone get back to me.
peace
Brain
Honestly, as badly as you were ABUSING the substance I wouldn't think you had much of a brain to begin with. Drinking it from the bottle and NOW you stop to worry what you've done to yourself? good grief.
LSD
I am having some issues with an LSD problem kind of similar to yours is there some way I could communicate with you other than here?
LSD
Many LSD users experience flashbacks, recurrence of certain aspects of a person's experience, without the user having taken the drug again. A flashback occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or more than a year after LSD use. Flashbacks usually occur in people who use hallucinogens chronically or have an underlying personality problem; however, otherwise healthy people who use LSD occasionally may also have flashbacks. Bad trips and flashbacks are only part of the risks of LSD use. LSD users may manifest relatively long-lasting psychoses, such as schizophrenia or severe depression and those are making the drug rehabilitation a particular problem , comparing with cocaine usage or heroine. It is difficult to determine the extent and mechanism of the LSD involvement in these illnesses.
hppd
sucks for you. i'm pretty sure i have some sort of hppd: i've done about 14 hits in my life, 4 at once two times. It was a life changing experience. So what if red and green colors are extra bright and the sky and walls have a rainbow-like static. Cognitively my brain functions better than before. I was getting to a point where i was developing social anxiety (over thinking conversations, planning out what i was gonna say when i was among friends) but after i did acid for the first time i have had an INCREDIBLE boost in confidence, energy, creativity, and motivation. I also got the highest grade i got all semester on quizzes in my business statistics course 5 days after my first 4 hit trip. I'm not saying it's good for everyone, and i'm not saying doing it all the time won't mess you up some how. I know it didn't make me more creative or more confident, but it brought back the creativity and confidence that i had as a child. lsd could be incredibly useful for mental disorders, i think this is article is great
blue star purple microdot blotter: it all sux
in 1987 i took acid and have NEVER been the same. i hate hearing all these people saying how great it is. yeah i enjoyed the mind opening experience of it, but during one trip, i literally felt something trigger in the back of my brain(pituiatary gland) and my skin literally got liquidy oily within like an hours time. i NEVER had any break out before, perfect skin. after that trip, my skin broke out terribly and the ammount of oil was disgusting. i would be curious to ask people with bad cystic acne if they have done acid? because i am convinced that it can and does trigger a host of problems in some people and therefore should not be allowed to be legal. alot of the pschiatric problems people report linked to lsd use could be directly related to hormones being triggered. why do you think you see and feel the things that you do when on acid? something happens when you take it, like it affects/triggers whatever is already there in the body(and maybe keeps it on, maybe in some people that trigger that is turned on is never turned off?, high levels of cortisol could explain, "INCREDIBLE boost in confidence, energy, creativity, and motivation" and all the high, hallucinigenic feelings. you can have those too if you have a pituatary tumor. i have NEVER heard this discussed but i know in my heart it is the Truth because of what i have experienced. i hate acid and anyone who touts it as a good thing. it isnt. and has ruined my life and alot of other people. some that may not even get the connection! someone do the research and put it out there. i need to take it to my doc for proof! call me wack but i know there is a connection and i'm sick and tired of keeping quiet about it. and no! i think the use of therapuedic use of lsd is terribly wrong! why do we need drugs at all?
wow.
You're right - there's no need for drugs at all! Let's ban aspirin and penicillin because some people are allergic to them! *eye roll* You're going to blame ACNE on a trip? You think research that could help people with serious problems should be banned due to your personal (and almost certainly outside of a controlled and knowledgeable setting)experiences. You HATE anyone who touts it as a good thing? Your problem is wanting to blame a substance and others for your own personal failings and lack of responsibility. I'm not surprised you want some sort "proof" you can take to your doctor - I'm sure you'd love to be able to blame one drug trip two decades ago for your perceived failures. I'm not at all surprised your doctor thinks you're malingering - you ARE!
I have found it to be one of
I have found it to be one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to me. For those who have had a few trips and experience this HPPD thing...well, considering the multitudes of trips, on a wide variety of and various combinations of different substances in what many consider to be massive doses I have never noticed such things after the last of it has worn off....(this has taken a couple of days occasionally, but hardly unexpected considering the quantities involved). I am able to sort of "imagine" myself into very mild semi-hallucinogenic states when intoxicated on other things or fatigued...it's more like a memory or fantasy of tripping rather than experiencing any significant actual effects. The effect of the drug on my conciousness and perception not to mention my philosophical understanding of my own psyche and the world in general has been one of the most important aspects of my life. My personal belief has always been that the "syndrome", or whatever it is, is a a bit of overhyped propaganda designed to deter folks from experimenting. I guess that means I'd be calling all you sufferers a liar, but I don't think its so much lying as the power of suggestion coupled with a self-induced sort of hypochondria-type reaction. To those who feel Im minimizing their affliction, well...my apologies. It's just my opinion...