D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (lsd)

Thesis/Introduction

This essay will mainly be about the drug D-lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or for short LSD. It has always been a center of controversy in American society, but little is known about it in Sweden. Research chemist Albert Hoffman first discovered the psychological effects of LSD on April 19th 1943 when he accidentally dipped his fingers in a solution containing the LSD-25 molecule.

What I will try doing in this essay is to answer some questions about LSD. What are the effects on your body and most importantly your mind? I will explain what ÐŽ§ego lossЎЁ is and why LSD is a ÐŽ§set & settingЎЁ drug.

The final question that I will try to answer is if LSD has any medical properties?

ÐŽ§I suddenly became strangely inebriated. The external world became changed as in a dream. Objects appeared to gain in relief; they assumed unusual dimensions; and colors became more glowing. Even self-perception and the sense of time were changed. When the eyes were closed, colored pictures flashed past in a quickly changing kaleidoscope. After a few hours, the not unpleasant inebriation, which had been experienced whilst I was fully conscious, disappeared. What had caused this condition?ЎЁ

- Albert Hofmann

- Laboratory Notes (1943)

The History of LSD

The LSD molecule was discovered and synthesized by the chemist Albert Hofmann. The work of unraveling this ÐŽ§mystical moleculeЎЁ started early in the 20th century with Albert isolating some compounds from Ergot (A fungus that grows on rye and other grains). Some other chemist had already isolated an alkaloid called ergotamine, which Albert later continued to work with.

The director of Sandoz (the laboratory where Albert worked) warned Albert to continue his work with ergot alkaloids because they were so sensitive and thus hard to work with. Although the director wasnÐŽ¦t too happy about it, he was granted to continue working in trying to find more alkaloid derivatives from ergot.

The following years Albert synthesized many alkaloids and developed a procedure to synthesize them more easily using the naturally occurring lysergic acid (a part of the LSD molecule). In November 1938 he synthesized the 25th compound, which was D-lysergic Acid Diethylamide, and it was given the lab code LSD-25.

LSD-25 was tested on animals, but there where no visible effects. When tested, LSD-25 only showed strong activity in the uterus and the animals seemed very to be sensitive to stimuli. The effects were not enough to further investigate the drug so it was forgotten, except for one person.

In the spring of 1943, Albert felt a "a peculiar presentiment, the feeling that this substance could possess properties other than those established in the first investigation, induced me, five years after the first synthesis, to produce LSD-25 again." This feeling made him synthesize enough LSD-25 to begin new pharmacological testing. It was very unusual that compounds that had no apparent effects in the first tests were tested again; they were usually dropped from the companyÐŽ¦s research program. During the purification and crystallization steps in the synthesis process, AlbertÒ's work was interrupted by unusual physical and mental sensations:

ÐŽ§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.ЎЁ

- Albert Hofmann

That experience made Albert very curious to the compound he had synthesized. He begun testing the compound on himself and thus began the ÐŽ§adventuresЎЁ into his inner self.

The Effects of LSD

LSD is one of the most common ÐŽ§psychedelicЎЁ or ÐŽ§hallucinogenicЎЁ substances. It comes in all kinds of forms, but is almost always taken orally. Today, LSD is most commonly found in the form of small squares of paper called blotter, which are soaked in liquid LSD. Blotters are generally decorated with different designs, such as comic figures or intricate patterns. Other forms of LSD can be pills, gelatin sheets and as a white odorless powder. The standard dose of LSD is about 50-150 Ñ"Эg (micrograms, one thousand of a gram).

The lethal dose of LSD is several thousand times higher than the standard dose. LSD has a very low addiction potential. There is no physical addiction after heavy use, although people can be mentally habituated as with any other substance. Overdosing LSD will generally end in respiratory arrest.

The effects of LSD seem to be very hard to understand for a person who hasnÐŽ¦t taken the substance. LSD is likely to cause a sort of indefinably feeling similar to anticipation or anxiety. There is often a slight feeling of energy in the body. Lights appear to twinkle and have big coronas around them. As the effects become stronger, a wide variety of perceptual changes may occur; non-specific mental and physical stimulation, pupil dilation, closed and open eye patterning and visuals, objects that are dead might seem to be alive, feelings of insight, confusion, or paranoia, and quickly changing emotions (happiness, fear, anxiety, anger, joy, irritation).

ÐŽ§Imagine the most gorgeous stain glass window you have ever seen, and then multiply it by a million, both in terms of complexity and artistic intensity. There is no way to convey this experience with words. You literally see colors and geometric patterns you have never seen before.ЎЁ

-Mahan Atma (erowid.org experience vaults)

ÐŽ§Ego lossЎЁ is something people who take high doses of LSD experience. ItÐŽ¦s often life changing experience because you see yourself from the outside, evaluating yourself. The inner voice that is always in you talking (your ego) is suddenly quiet. As the ego fights for its existence, LSD creates a living hell; it becomes a ÐŽ§Bad TripЎЁ (see Medical Properties of LSD & Psilocybin).

A "bad trip" is when