The Effects of LSD

The effects of LSD are legendary or perhaps more accurately mythical - hallucinations and believing that one can fly. LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide) was discovered in 1938 by Albert Hofmann, who was employed by a Swiss pharmaceuticals company. The aim was to devise a stimulant drug from ergot, a parasitic fungus found growing naturally on ryes and other grasses. By accident, Hofmann ingested a minute amount of LSD and then experienced the first LSD trip. He wrote:

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, characterised by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed, I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense kaleidoscopic play of colours. After some two hours the condition faded away. Hofmann, 1980

LSD came to be used in a number of different settings. It was used experimentally on prisoners in the USA and as a therapeutic agent in psychotherapy, with inconclusive results. This drug has often been referred to as a psychomimetic, ie, it appears to mimic psychosis. LSD has also been used in an illicit fashion and has been strongly linked in some sub-cultures as a key to quasi-religious transcendental experiences. It is also used in the current dance scene as one of a number of hallucinogenic drugs such as ecstasy.

Methods of Use
LSD is easily concealed and small amounts, even a few micrograms, result in powerful effects. The drug is easily disguised in tablet form or blotting paper making distribution easy and identification difficult.

Effects of Lsd
The short-term effects of LSD start about 30 minutes after ingestion and last up to twelve hours. Users commonly report striking visual effects, intense colours and distorted shapes and sizes. These effects are commonly described as hallucination, but users usually know that these experiences are not real.

Adverse Effects of Lsd
Reactions to LSD vary greatly. Many users report feelings of dissociation from the body. Negative reactions are more common amongst individuals who are ‘unstable’ in some way. Such individuals may re-port experiences of anxiety, depression, dizziness and paranoia. LSD has been linked to mental illness but a conclusive causal link has not been established.

There are no known physical dangers attributed to long-term use. Psychotic reactions generally occur where individuals have an underlying or current mental health problem. Some users experience flashbacks, vivid re-experiences of part of a previous LSD trip. They are rarely dangerous but are generally reported as being particularly disturbing to the individual.

LSD does not appear to produce a dependence syndrome. However tolerance develops rapidly over a two to three-day period and subsides following a further two to three-day period of abstention.

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