LSD Facts

LSD may not be the most talked about drug in recent years, but it is still out there and being consumed at an alarming rate.

How much do you know about LSD?

Well if you think “not very much,” or want to check out your facts, read on.

Names

• LSD
• Lysergic Acid Diethylamide
• LSD-25
• Acid
• Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
• Dots
• Blotters

Categorization

Acid is classified as a hallucinogen, meaning it is a drug which can distort perceptions. There will also be alterations in consciousness or emotion. These changes can be slight or severe, they can be of long duration, and they are totally unpredictable.

In the UK, LSD is a Class A drug.

Potency

Whole dose of LSD is less than 200 micrograms, that’s less than one millionth of an ounce. Normally one dose of acid is just a spot on a small square of paper which is licked, or put under the tongue. That one lick can be enough for a full-blown trip of many hours. That is thousands of times stronger than most other drugs.

Physical Effects

LSD's physical effects are highly variable and not particularly specific. Some reported effects are pupil dilation, reduced appetite, wakefulness, numbness, weakness, nausea, hypothermia, elevated blood sugar, increased heart rate, tremors and sweating.

Psychological

The most common and immediate effects of LSD are visual hallucinations, known as trips. These vary greatly from person to person. Trips usually start within 20-30 minutes of taking LSD orally (faster if snorted or taken intravenously), and then peak three to four hours later but can last up to 12 hours.

Bad trips

Bad trips are one of the most dangerous aspects of LSD. These are negative experiences, producing intensely adverse emotions such as irrational fears, anxiety, paranoia, rapid mood swings, panic attacks, hopelessness, harmful intentions to others and suicidal thoughts.

It is completely impossible to predict when a bad trip will occur. Taking LSD many times with no bad trips does not make it less likely that you wouldn’t have a bad trip next time. They can be extremely scary negative experiences that can affect someone throughout their life.

Psychosis

Review studies have shown that LSD plays a role in precipitating acute psychosis in previously healthy individuals. This means that someone who was physically and mentally in a good state, can take LSD, and with no prediction, have a mental breakdown and go totally psychotic.

This is the biggest danger of LSD, in essence you are playing Russian roulette with your mind. Many trips might be OK, but one day you may never come back down. Lose your mind and you have lost your life.

Flashbacks

LSD has an interesting phenomena of flashbacks months or years after consumption of LSD has ceased. This means that the same psychological experiences of LSD can be felt later without prediction. Not everyone experiences it but the studies show that 20-30% of individuals do experience this. So experimenting with LSD now, even if you get through it without having a psychotic break, can come back to haunt you at any time; while driving, in an important meeting, or at any moment without prediction.

History & Source

LSD is manufactured from lysergic acid which comes from the fungus ergot which forms on certain grains such as rye. It was first made by Albert Hofmann in Switzerland in 1938; in 1943 he discovered its psychedelic properties. At that point, under the trade name Delysid, it was sold as commercial medication for certain psychiatric uses. In the 1950s the CIA tested the drug on unsuspecting servicemen and youth to see if it could be used for mind control and chemical warfare. By the 1960s it had gone into recreational use, which within a few years caused it to become illegal.

Interesting Fact

In the middle-ages ergot poisoning was a recurring problem in villages where the grain was reaped, stored and then, unknown to the farmer, the fungus ergot would grow on the stored grain. Then villagers, consuming the bread made from the affected grain, would become violently ill and hallucinate. It is even thought that the Salem witch trials were largely caused by the ranting and hallucinations of poisoned villagers.