What is lysergic acid diethylamide?

Answer 1

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (sometimes called: LSD, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Acid etc.) is a hallucinogenic drug which is one of the most studied of all time. It is described as a psychedelic in the tryptamine family. This means it binds (effects) the 5-HT-2A receptors in the brain, and is somewhat related to psilocin (magic mushrooms) and DMT (found in various plants). It alters one's perception of senses, emotions, personal awareness and time. Many people's experiences with the drug vary greatly from one an other. It is microscopically active, meaning one can feel the effects from less than one hundred micrograms. A standard illegal street dose gathered from hearsay and research suggests 50ug to 125ug per hit. Often times LSD is found on small squares of paper resembling stamps with art designs on it called "blotter". Gel tabs and candies are also something LSD has known to be put inside. Liquid and crystalline forms are the most potent and a rarity of today's society, although not unheard of.

LSD's onset period is typically thirty to ninety minutes, and its initial effects can last from seven to fourteen hours. Some typical positive effects: increase in creativity, spiritual experiences, enhancement of the senses, appealing and beautiful visual hallucinations, psychological understanding, increase in empathy. Typical neutral effects: dilated pupils, increased saliva production, funny thought and speech patterns, difficulty focusing, overwhelming thoughts, strange body sensations. Typical negative effects: anxiety, fear, paranoia, tension, insomnia, confusion, difficulty retaining temperature, flashbacks.

Many people think of "hippies" and Rock Music when it comes to LSD, but the story really starts in 1938 with a chemist named Albert Hoffman from Switzerland. He was experimenting with ergot (a type of fungus found on rye) in search of medically useful properties. Five years later, the psychedelic properties were discovered when he accidentally absorbed some of the drug into his system. He intentionally dosed 250ug in 1943, estimating it would be a threshold dose, but he found it stronger than anticipated. It became a drug to be used for psychology in 1947. In the United States it was a spark of controversy because of experiments conducted by the CIA in the 1950s. In the 1960s, it became a counter-culture icon of hippies, rock and pop stars, philosophers and aspiring chemists. By the 1980s, clinical trials of LSD ceased in the USA. By 1993, Switzerland followed suit. Many places are resuming studies, and many analogs (drugs with slightly different chemical structures than LSD) are being synthesized and made readily available. Some of these analogs have yet to be scheduled in certain countries.