LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide), first synthesized in 1938, is an extremely potent hallucinogen. It is synthetically made from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. It is so potent its doses tend to be in the microgram range. It's effects, often called a "trip" can be stimulating, pleasurable, and mind-altering or it can lead to an unpleasant, sometimes terrifying experience called a "bad trip."

LSD is sold under more than 80 street names including Acid, Blotter, Doses, Dots, Trips, Mellow Yellow, Window Pane, as well as names that reflect the designs on sheets of blotter paper (for example, "purple dragon").

In the U.S., LSD is illegal and is classified by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) as a Schedule 1 drug, meaning the LSD has a high potential for abuse, it has no currently accepted medical treatment use in the U.S., and it has a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision. LSD is produced in crystalline form and then mixed with other inactive ingredients, or diluted as a liquid for production in ingestible forms. It is odorless, colorless and has a slightly bitter taste.

LSD is usually found on the streets in various forms, for example:

• Blotter paper (LSD soaked onto sheets of absorbent paper with colorful designs; cut into small, individual dosage units) - the most common form.
• Thin squares of gelatin (commonly referred to as window panes)
• Tablet form (usually small tablets known as Microdots) or capsules
• Liquid on sugar cubes
• Pure liquid form (may be extremely potent)

Some people may inhale LSD through the nose (snort) or inject it into a vein (shoot it up). There is no way to predict the amount of LSD that might be in any form you consume.

Unlike a lot of drugs, which may require smoking or injecting, LSD is easy to take orally - it's colorless, odorless and tasteless - and ingesting just a tiny amount (25 micrograms, or 0.000025 grams, less than the weight of two salt grains) is enough to feel the effects. It's also easy to conceal, since today's doses are usually found on tiny squares of absorbent paper called "blotters". LSD is difficult to detect, because of the small amount ingested and the fact that it's quickly metabolized by the body. Acid is cheap compared to other drugs. A single dose usually costs no more than $10, and if you're at the right music festival at 2 o'clock in the morning, well, you may find the stuff passed around by jovial partiers for free. The same things about LSD that would make it popular also make it scary, and we've been warned about its many dangers at one time or another.

The effects of LSD are unpredictable and occur based on factors such as on the amount taken, a person's personality, mood, expectations and the surroundings in which the drug is used. The ability to make sound judgments and see common dangers is impaired, leading to a risk of injury. In some people, LSD can cause flashbacks, recurrence of certain drug experiences even if the user doesn't take the drug again. In some people, flashbacks can persist and affect daily functioning, a condition known as hallucinogen persisting perceptual disorder (HPPD). LSD does produce tolerance, so some people who take the drug repeatedly must take higher doses to achieve the same effect. This is an extremely dangerous practice, given the unpredictability of the drug. In addition, LSD produces tolerance to other hallucinogens, including psilocybin.

Fast Facts:

• Naturally occurring hallucinogens have been used for thousands of years in various cultural rituals.
• In 2013, some 1.3 million people aged 12 years or older, or 0.5 percent of the population in the U.S., had used hallucinogens.
• LSD is a potent and illegal hallucinogen that blurs the line between perception and imagination.
• Use may trigger the onset of schizophrenia in those predisposed to the condition.
• Effects can last up to 12 hours.

LSD stimulates serotonin production in the cortex and deep structures of the brain, by activating serotonin receptors. These receptors help visualize and interpret the real world. The additional serotonin allows more stimuli to be processed that usual. Normally, the brain filters out irrelevant stimuli, but with LSD this is not the case. This overstimulation causes changes in thought, attention, perceptions, and emotions. These alterations appear as hallucinations. Sensations seem real, but they are created by the mind. The perceptions can involve one or more of the five senses. It can also cause blending of the senses, known as synesthesia. People report "hearing" colors and "seeing" sounds.

It is often called a "trip" when someone takes a hallucinogenic drug, and not all trips are good. Some are considered to be spiritual, causing a person to feel like they are having some kind of "awakening" while a "bad trip" may induce paranoia, anxiety, fear, panic, aggression, psychosis, or even death. Hallucinogenic drugs can stay in your body for a long time, and their effects can be hard to predict ahead of time. The DEA warns that an LSD trip may make it hard to tell how far away something is or what its actual shape is, interfering with depth perception, movement, and balance, and making accidents and injuries more likely. A person cannot think clearly or rationally while taking a hallucinogenic drug.

The effects of mixing LSD and alcohol are often unpleasant, although rarely life-threatening. Many LSD users turn to alcohol to diminish the unpleasant sensation that occurs when the pleasant effects of LSD begin to wear off. However, use of alcohol along with LSD for this purpose can cause nausea and vomiting due to chemical reactions that take place between the two substances as they are processed by the human body.

LSD is not physically addictive at all, and theoretically, any user should be able to stop using it whenever he or she wants to. On the other hand, some users become psychologically addicted to the unusual visions and imagined experiences, or "trips," that are the main recreational effects of LSD. In addition, repeated use of LSD does cause a tolerance effect similar to that of alcohol, in which larger and larger amounts of the drug are necessary to produce the effects that the user seeks from it. NIDA warns that users of a hallucinogenic drug may suffer from long-term side effects like flashbacks that can happen weeks, months, or even years later. A flashback can come on without warning and will cause a person to feel like they are tripping without taking the drug.

LSD is a potent hallucinogen and currently has no accepted medical use in treatment in the United States. It is sold on the street in tablets, capsules, and occasionally in liquid form. It is an odorless and colorless substance with a slightly bitter taste. LSD is often added to absorbent paper, such as blotter paper, and divided into small decorated squares, with each square representing one dose. It is taken orally.

During the first hour after ingestion, users may experience visual changes with extreme changes in mood. While hallucinating, the user may suffer impaired depth and time perception accompanied by distorted perception of the shape and size of objects, movements, colors, sound, touch, and the user's own body image. The ability to make sound judgments and see common dangers is impaired, making the user susceptible to personal injury. It is possible for users to suffer acute anxiety and depression after an LSD "trip" and flashbacks have been reported days, and even months, after taking the last dose.

LSD's effects are similar to other hallucinogens, such as PCP, mescaline, and peyote. Overdose means longer, more intense "trip" episodes, psychosis, and possible death.

There is no legitimate medical use for LSD in the United States.

Some LSD users have flashbacks. This is when parts of the drug experience, or trip, return, even without using the drug again. Flashbacks occur during times of increased stress. Flashbacks tend to occur less often and less intensely after stopping use of LSD. Some users who have frequent flashbacks have a hard time living their daily life. LSD is not known to be addicting. But frequent use of LSD can lead to tolerance. Tolerance means you need more and more LSD to get the same high. LSD is a mind-altering drug. This means it acts on your brain (central nervous system) and changes your mood, behavior, and the way you relate to the world around you. LSD affects the action of a brain chemical called serotonin. Serotonin helps control behavior, mood, the senses, and thinking. LSD is in a class of drugs called hallucinogens. These are substances that cause hallucinations. These are things that you see, hear, or feel while awake that appear to be real, but instead of being real, they have been created by the mind. LSD is a very strong hallucinogen. Only a tiny amount is needed to cause effects such as hallucinations.

LSD Myths:
One of the most common misconceptions about LSD is that it is the key to unlocking the inner mind. While people might feel that they are unlocking the secrets to inner awareness during an acid trip, such insights tend to be subjective. The perceptual and thought changes that take place when using the drug are not necessarily a way of understanding the self. Another common myth is that LSD leads to mental health problems. Although LSD can produce some extreme, short-term psychological effects, the use of psychedelic drugs (including LSD, psilocybin, and mescaline) have not been linked to the development of mental health problems.

Theory of Psychedelics:
Consequently, your perception of the world is governed by a combination of 'bottom-up' processing, starting with incoming signals, combined with 'top-down' processing, in which selective filters are applied by your brain to cut down the overwhelming amount of information to a more manageable and relevant subset that you can then make decisions about. In other words, people tend to see what they've been trained to see, and hear what they've been trained to hear. The main theory of psychedelics, first fleshed out by a Swiss researcher named Franz Vollenweider, is that drugs like LSD and psilocybin, the active ingredient in "magic" mushrooms, tune down the thalamus' activity. Essentially, the thalamus on a psychedelic drug lets unprocessed information through to consciousness, like a bad email spam filter. "Colors become brighter , people see things they never noticed before and make associations that they never made before,

First Synthesized:
LSD was first synthesized by Albert Hoffman while working for Sandoz Laboratories in Basel in 1938. Some years later, during a re-evaluation of the compound, he accidentally ingested a small amount and described the first 'trip'. During the 1950s and 1960s, Sandoz evaluated the drug for therapeutic purposes and marketed it under the name Delysid. It was used for research into the chemical origins of mental illness. Recreational use started in the 1960s and is associated with the 'psychedelic period'. Although once used in psychotherapy, LSD has no current medical use.

Lysergide (LSD) drug profile:
http://www.emcdda.europa.eu/publications/drug-profiles/lsd

Augustus Owsley Stanley III:
During the 1960s LSD ("acid") became popular within the hippie subculture that emerged in the United States and western Europe. One critical pioneer in that movement was Augustus Owsley Stanley III, a California-based underground chemist who manufactured several million doses of the drug. Stanley's efforts supplied the drug to several figures who would become advocates for LSD, including novelist Ken Kesey. Stanley also was a personal supplier of LSD to the Grateful Dead (for whom he also provided early financial support and served as sound engineer).

Lysergide (LSD) is a semi-synthetic hallucinogen and is one of the most potent drugs known. Recreational use became popular between the 1960s to 1980s, but is now less common. LSD was first synthesized by Albert Hoffman while working for Sandoz Laboratories in Basel in 1938. Some years later, during a re-evaluation of the compound, he accidentally ingested a small amount and described the first 'trip'. During the 1950s and 1960s, Sandoz evaluated the drug for therapeutic purposes and marketed it under the name Delysid. It was used for research into the chemical origins of mental illness. Recreational use started in the 1960s and is associated with the 'psychedelic period'. LSD possesses a complex pharmacological profile that includes direct activation of serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine receptors. In addition, one of its chief sites of action is that of compound-specific ("allosteric") alterations in secondary messengers associated with 5HT2A and 5HT2C receptor activation and changes in gene expression. The hallucinogenic effects of LSD are likely due to agonism at 5HT2A and 5HT2C receptors. LSD is also an agonist at the majority of known serotonin receptors, including 5HT1A, 5HT1B, 5HT1D, 5HT5A, 5HT6 and 5HT7 receptors. During the 1960s, LSD was investigated for a variety of psychiatric indications, including the following: as an aid in treatment of schizophrenia; as a means of creating a "model psychosis"; as a direct antidepressant; and as an adjunct to psychotherapy. LSD is listed in Schedule I of the United Nations 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances.

Lysergide (LSD):
https://drugs.ncats.io/drug/8NA5SWF92O

History:

Albert Hofmann and Bicycle Day
Albert Hofmann, a researcher with the Swiss chemical company Sandoz, first developed lysergic acid diethylamide or LSD in 1938. He was working with a chemical found in ergot, a fungus that grows naturally on rye and other grains. Hofmann didn't discover the drug's hallucinogenic effects until 1943 when he accidentally ingested a small amount and perceived "extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors." Three days later, on April 19, 1943, he took a larger dose of the drug. As Hofmann rode home from work on his bicycle - World War II restrictions made automobile travel off-limits - he experienced the world's first intentional acid trip. Years later, April 19 came to be celebrated by some recreational LSD users as Bicycle Day.

The CIA and Project MK-Ultra
Project MK-Ultra, the code name given to a Central Intelligence Agency program that began in the 1950s and lasted through the 1960s, is sometimes known as part of the CIA's "mind control program." Throughout the years of Project MK-Ultra, the CIA experimented with LSD and other substances on both volunteers and unwitting subjects. They believed that LSD could be used as a psychological weapon in the Cold War. Hypnosis, shock therapy, interrogation and other dubious mind-control techniques were also part of MK-Ultra. These government acid experiments - which also involved dozens of universities, pharmaceutical companies and medical facilities - took place throughout the 1950s and 1960s, before LSD was deemed too unpredictable to use in the field. When Project MK-Ultra became public knowledge in the 1970s, the scandal resulted in numerous lawsuits and a congressional investigation headed by Senator Frank Church.

Ken Kesey and the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test
After volunteering to take part in Project MKUltra as a student at Stanford University, Ken Kesey, author of the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, went on to promote the use of LSD. In the early 1960s, Kesey and the Merry Pranksters (as his group of followers were called) hosted a series of LSD-fueled parties in the San Francisco Bay area. Kesey called these parties "Acid Tests." Acid Tests combined drug use with musical performances by bands including the Grateful Dead and psychedelic effects such as fluorescent paint and black lights. Author Tom Wolfe based his 1968 non-fiction book, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, on the experiences of Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters. The book chronicles the Acid Test parties and the growing 1960s hippie counterculture movement.

Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert
Both psychology professors at Harvard University, Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert administered LSD and psychedelic mushrooms to Harvard students during a series of experiments in the early 1960s. At the time, neither of these substances were illegal in the United States. (The U.S. federal government didn't outlaw LSD until 1968.) Leary and Alpert documented the effects of the hallucinogenic drugs on the students' consciousness. The scientific community, however, criticized the legitimacy of the studies which Leary and Alpert conducted while also tripping. Both men were eventually dismissed from Harvard but went on to become symbols of the psychedelic drug and hippie counterculture. Leary founded a psychedelic religion based on LSD called the League for Spiritual Discovery and coined the phrase "tune in, turn on, drop out." Alpert wrote a popular spiritual book called Be Here Now under the pseudonym Baba Ram Dass.

(1938) 32-year-old Researcher Albert Hoffman:
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 dream-like state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted steam of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors.

Psychiatric Students:
From the 1940's to the mid 1970's, LSD was extensively researched in the psychiatric community. Psychiatric students were encouraged to use LSD as a teaching tool to help understand schizophrenia. Soon, LSD emerged as a drug of abuse by some in the psychiatric and medical community who shared it with friends. By the 1960's, casual use of LSD evolved into a subculture that celebrated mysticism and psychedelia and embraced media personalities such as Harvard University instructor Dr. Timothy Leary. Though casual LSD use spread through the early 1970's, publicity about the negative effects of LSD, such as "flashbacks" and "bad trips," as well as prohibitive legislation and the efforts of law enforcement agencies led to a decreased popularity by the mid-seventies. By the early 1980's, the value of LSD use in psychotherapy was discredited, and scientific study of the drug ended.

LSD use decreasing:
NIDA's MTF survey data found that LSD use has decreased significantly among 10th- 12th graders over the past few years. In 2003, past year use reached the lowest levels in the history of the survey: 1.3 percent of 8th-graders, 1.7 percent of 10th-graders, and 1.9 percent of 12th-graders reported past year use of LSD.

Can taking LSD in low doses or "microdosing" be used to enhance creativity?
Anecdotal evidence points toward yes. A series of experiments between 1954 and 1962 involved nearly 1,000 participants in monitored settings to gauge any effects from LSD, including artists, academics, and many others. Some of the results from those experiments, along with a pilot study in 1966 that tested whether low dose LSD (around 50 micrograms) could aid problem solving, showed trends of possible enhanced functioning in subjects. Microdosing is a practice that has gained much interest recently that involves regularly taking doses of LSD too small to cause noticeable changes in consciousness (around 5-10 micrograms) to enhance creativity and problem solving.

A Microdosing Study:
Numerous anecdotal reports suggest that repeated use of very low doses of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), known as "microdosing," improves mood and cognitive function. These effects are consistent both with the known actions of LSD on serotonin receptors, and with limited evidence that higher doses of LSD (100-200 mu g) positively bias emotion processing. Yet, the effects of such sub-threshold doses of LSD have not been tested in a controlled laboratory setting. As a first step, we examined the effects of single very low doses of LSD (0 - 26 mu g) on mood and behavior in healthy volunteers under double-blind conditions.

LSD for Depression?
Here we found that the psychedelic experience can be in some ways unpleasant and psychosis-like, but that anxiety tends to be low and a positive mood and 'blissful state' more common. Importantly, we also found that self-reported optimism and openness were increased 2 weeks after LSD, while delusional thinking was not, suggesting that the positive effects on personality/outlook linger while the psychosis-like effects do not. Taken together, the findings suggest: 1. that that the immediate effects of psychedelics can be quite different from their longer-term effects, and 2. that the longer-term effects may be clinically relevant and support the idea of using LSD in the treatment of mood disorders such as depression.

LSD

Duration: LSD is a popular psychedelic with a relatively long history of use and research, and as such is known to be relatively safe despite its extremely high potency. It is the archetypical psychedelic to which all others are compared, and remains in popular usage.
Route	Onset	Duration	After Effects
Tripsit Factsheets
LSD Basic Information: http://drugs.tripsit.me/lsd
All ROAs:	45-90 minutes	9-14 hours	12-24 hours
Avoid: marijuana (Can potentiate effects)
Marquis: Olive black
Half-life: 3-5 hours
Effects: visual distortions, a sense of childlike wonder, brightening of colors,racing thoughts, hue shifts, euphoria, anxiety, confusion
Oral: Light: 50-100ug Common: 100-150ug Strong: 175-225ug Heavy 225ug+ | Note: These doses are for pure LSD, note that tabs are often rather a lot weaker than they are advertised.

Street LSD that's not LSD:
LSD belongs to a group of drugs known a psychedelics. When small doses are taken, it can produce mild changes in perception, mood and thought. When larger doses are taken, it may produce visual hallucinations and distortions of space and time. Sometimes, what is sold as LSD can actually be other chemicals such as NBOMe or the 2C family of drugs (part of the new psychoactive substances). These can be quite dangerous, as their quality is inconsistent, plus the potential to take too much of these other substances can be fatal and a number of deaths have been reported due to people taking them.

Making LSD:
Sandoz held the patent on LSD until 1963 and stopped making it shortly afterward. The company claimed that it was concerned about a lack of regulation and the inaccurate information being perpetuated about the drug. However, this didn't stop anyone from making it themselves, and until 1965, it was entirely legal to do so. LSD production requires a strong working knowledge of organic chemistry, a complete laboratory setup (including the ability to sterilize equipment as well as access to a darkroom), and several chemicals that are currently either sales restricted or have their sales closely monitored by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). Unlike the chemicals used in the manufacture of methamphetamine, they can't be found in fairly ordinary household items.

Blotter Art:
From the mid 1970's blotter has been the most available form of LSD. There are likely two main reasons for this: Firstly, after LSD was made illegal in the US (in 1967) mandatory minimum sentencing was introduced. Sentences were determined by the weight of the substance with which offenders were caught. If someone had LSD on a sugar cube weighing 1g then the sentence was the same as for an individual caught with 1g of crystal LSD (representing approx 10,000 LSD doses rather than just 1)! . The move to lightweight LSD blotter therefore reduced sentences. Secondly: There were many high profile busts in the late 60's and early 70's, during which pill presses were seized, LSD blotter was therefore more convenient for many to make. Over the years "Blotter Art" has developed as a field in its own right, with images ranging from multiple repeats (so each trip has a complete image), to complex images spanning a whole sheet. Images have typically been psychedelic in nature, or relied heavily on cartoon images. Occult and religious symbols have also been widely used. There is also a distinct sub-category of satirical Blotter Art, including images such as "Gorby" and "FBI". This imagery originally served as an identifier of different batches of LSD, a form of "trademark".

LSD Increases Suggestibility:
One of the cheapest drugs available, it is neither addictive nor physically dangerous. Taken by an intelligent, open-minded person, it can create fantastic revelations and experiences. It is not a good party drug, and, in a hostile environment such as a party, it can lead to what is known as a 'bad trip', where the person under the influence of the substance in question has an experience which is totally frightening. Fear, depression and anger are accentuated to fill the entire body to a point where entire thought patterns are controlled by these emotions. The same accentuation goes for happiness and relaxation, often leading to a state of artificial nirvana, the only difference being that the person is absolutely suggestible and can lose the ability to reason.

In the 1950s and 1960s, mimeograph copies of the following Handbook were shared among pioneering therapists exploring the therapeutic utility of LSD. To this day, it remains one of the most relevant documented explorations of the guided psychedelic session.

The pharmacology of LSD is indeed quite complex, which may, in part, explain why its mechanisms of action re-main unclear. LSD is physiologically well tolerated and there is no evidence for long-lasting effects on brain and other parts of the human organism. The above review of pharmacology, psychopharmacology, related preclinical research, as well as basic studies with human subjects are gleaned from research that was for the most part conducted in the 1950s and 1960s during an era that held great promise for LSD and related hallucinogens. Hope was placed in these substances for new treatments for psychiatric conditions and discoveries that would "unlock the mysteries" of the mind. And hallucinogen re-search did indeed lead to the discovery of serotonin, brain second-messenger systems, and a variety of other re-search techniques

Warning - LSD POWDER
LSD powder should be handled with the utmost care.The analyst should work with an assistant using an empty hood where lights can be used to aid in UV light examination for LSD contamination. Once the container is opened, the chemist's hands and immediate area of the hood become contaminated. Anything needed outside the hood should be handled by the assistant. Dust mask, apron, and latex gloves should be worn. Dampening the gloves with a damp rag helps avoid problems associated with static electricity. Cloth gloves may be used over the latex gloves to minimize static as well. After analysis, the LSD container should be wiped off with a damp rag before replacing in the evidence bag. The chemist's gloves and the hood, including its contents should be decontaminated using diluted bleach. Decontamination is complete when all blue LSD fluorescence has been converted to yellow.

In San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, brothers Ron and Jay Thelin opened the Psychedelic Shop in January 1966. The Thelins' store is regarded as the first ever head shop. The Thelins opened the store to promote safe use of LSD, which was then still legal in California. The Psychedelic Shop helped to further popularize LSD in the Haight and to make the neighborhood the unofficial capital of the hippie counterculture in the United States. Ron Thelin was also involved in organizing the Love Pageant rally, a protest held in Golden Gate park to protest California's newly adopted ban on LSD in October 1966. At the rally, hundreds of attendees took acid in unison. Although the Psychedelic Shop closed after barely a year-and-a-half in business, its role in popularizing LSD was considerable.

LSD effects typically begin within half an hour. The effects normally last between 6 and 12 hours depending on dosage, tolerance, body weight, and age. LSD does not appear to be addictive, although tolerance may occur with use of increasing doses. Adverse psychiatric reactions are possible, such as anxiety, paranoia, and delusions. Distressing flashbacks might occur in spite of no further use, a condition called hallucinogen persisting perception disorder. About 10 percent of people in the United States have used LSD at some point in their lives as of 2017, while 0.7 percent have used it in the last year. As of 2008 there were no documented fatalities attributed directly to an LSD overdose. Despite this several behavioral fatalities and suicides have occurred due to LSD.