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Other names include acid, tabs, trip
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- LSD is d-lysergic acid diethylamide which is derived from ergot, a
fungus which grows on rye and other grasses. Ergot itself has been used
for hundreds of years to help with childbirth as it can prevent bleeding
after delivery.
- LSD was discovered by the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman whilst conducting
experiments with ergot to find medicines for use with migraine, childbirth
and the elderly. Although tests on animals showed nothing remarkable,
in April 1943 Hoffman accidentally tried it on himself and experienced
the first ever LSD 'trip'. He went on to try it several more times.
Following reports of his experiences, the company he worked for tested
it on a number of volunteers and believed that they had the key to unlock
the mysteries of schizophrenia and other mental health problems.
- LSD was then experimented with by psychiatrists in both one-to-one
therapy and on whole wards of patients, on prisoners, on alcoholics
and by the military as a means of drugging the enemy and as a means
of reversing the effects of brainwashing on troops. The American CIA
also experimented with the drug as a means of brainwashing people and
gave unknowing members of the public LSD-spiked drinks and then recorded
the results through two-way mirrors.
- One of the most important pieces of medical research was on the use
of LSD as an alternative pain reliever for cancer patients. It was found
to be far more effective than the traditional pain relief medicines.
- By the 1960s, psychiatric use had more or less stopped but recreational,
non-medical use had increased significantly. The writer Aldous Huxley
and the actor Cary Grant were fans of LSD. But it was Timothy Leary,
a teacher at Harvard, who led the LSD uprising in America and who coined
the term "Turn on, tune in and drop out". Britain didn't take long to
follow.
- Through the late 1970s and early 80s, LSD seemed to go out of fashion.
It emerged again on the rave scene in the 1990s as part of a new interest
in psychadelia. It is now often seen as a cheap way to have a "good
laugh" by young people.
- LSD doses come on small squares of paper or card, usually with a printed
design on. Each of these squares has between 35 and 400 micrograms of
LSD on - a microgram is a millionth of a gram, and to give some idea
of how powerful LSD is, a postage stamp weighs about 60,000 micrograms!!!
100 micrograms is more than enough for a powerful twelve hour trip.
LSD costs around £2-50 a dose, or "tab", or "trip".
It is difficult to assess how popular LSD is as its use is governed by
local fashion and by local availability. The most recent available figures
from the National Centre for Social Research/ National Foundation for
Educational Research suggest that around 1% of 13-15 year olds had tried
LSD and that this figure remained the same each year between 1998 and
2002 ('Smoking, Drinking and Drug Use Among Young People in England in
2002: Provisional Results' Department of Health)
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- The effects of LSD usually start to come on 30-40 minutes after it
has been taken, though it can take as long as two hours, and begin with
feelings of excitement and restlessness.
- What happens from then on depends on how big a dose has been taken,
how experienced the user is, how the user feels at the time, where they
are, who they're with, what happens around them during the trip.
- Although LSD is classed as a hallucinogen, real hallucinations, or
seeing things that aren't really there, are very rare. The LSD experience
is more about seeing, hearing and feeling distortions in objects, colours
and time. In very crude terms, LSD is about "seeing sounds and hearing
colours"! Objects can take on human characteristics and self-image can
change dramatically. Emotions, feelings, events and responses can change
by the second or seem like they hang for hours.
- A further possible effect is that the LSD experience is so enlightening
or overpowering, the user can begin to feel detached from the world
and question their place within it.
- These experiences are at their most powerful during the first few
hours of the "trip", they then settle for the final hours and the user
can begin to think quite deeply about what they have experienced and
some people become sad, gloomy and moody. These final couple of hours
are best followed by sleep.
- Very occasionally, people can go through what is called a "bad trip"
in which the hallucinations described above become too much and the
user becomes anxious, paranoid, frightened and panics. It can be difficult
to understand that it is the response to the LSD experience that is
causing these negative feelings as this becomes absolute reality and
can continue throughout the duration of the "trip" and often beyond.
Physical
- There is very little, if any, physical risk associated with LSD. It
is non-toxic and, in itself, non-addictive. Any physical injury is usually
as a result of an accident whilst tripping.
- Scientific evidence to date suggests that LSD causes no brain cell
damage and no genetic damage.
- Tolerance to LSD builds up very quickly so that a "normal" dose taken
on a daily basis will have no effect after the fourth or fifth day.
Psychological
- The majority of people who use LSD will stress that they have benefited
from the experience and that, rather than being psychologically harmed,
they feel more "complete" as a result.
- The effects and memory of a "bad trip" can, however, last longer than
the eight to twelve hours of a trip. If a bad trip does start to happen
or if something else around the user makes them feel anxious or panicky,
there is no way of just turning the trip off - drinking pure orange
juice has been known to help some people to calm a little as has gentle
reassurance from a non-tripping friend or relative that the trip will
eventually finish.
- If a person is vulnerable to negative mental health states, there
may be some effects that persist after the comedown - instability, depression,
loss of confidence and the like. It is possible that LSD use may trigger
a mental health condition that has been there in the past, or may even
bring out a state that would have stayed hidden and non-problematic
if the drug hadn't been taken.
LSD is a Class A drug.
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