LSD: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 22:06, 2 September 2006

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{{main|History of LSD}}

[[Image:LSD blotter paper.jpg|thumb|300px|right|When impregnated with LSD, perforated blotter paper, as illustrated above, is one popular form of dispensing the drug.]]

"LSD" is an [[initialism]]Albert formed from the [[German language|GermanHofmann]] chemicalsynthesized name of the compound, '''''L'''yserg'''s'''äure-'''d'''iethylamid''. It was first synthesizedLSD in 1938 by Swiss chemist Dr. [[Albert Hofmann]] at the [[Sandoz Laboratories]] in [[Basel]] as part of a large research program searching for medically useful [[Ergoline|ergot alkaloid]] derivatives. Its psychedelic properties were unknown until 5 years later, when Hofmann, acting on what he has called a "peculiar presentiment,", returned to work on the chemical. He attributed the discovery of the compound's psychoactive effects to the accidental absorption<!--via an unknown route!--> of a tiny amount throughof his skinLSD on [[April 16]], which led to him testing a largeran amount (of 250 µg) on himself for [[Psychoactive|psychoactivity]].<ref name="problem-child">Hofmann, Albert. ''LSD &ndash; My Problem Child'' (McGraw-Hill, 1980). Page?! ISBN 0-07-029325-2. Available online [http://www.psychedelic-library.org/child1.htm here] or [http://www.flashback.se/archive/my_problem_child/chapter1.html here].</ref>

Until 1966, LSD and also [[psilocybin]] were provided by Sandoz Laboratories free of charge to interested scientists. (Sandoz gave LSD the [[trade name]] "Delysid".<ref name="problem-child"/>) The use of these compounds by psychiatrists to gain a better subjective understanding of the [[schizophrenia|schizophrenic]] experience was an accepted practice. Many [[clinical trials]] were conducted on the potential use of LSD in [[psychedelic psychotherapy]],. generallyAmong withthe verypioneers: positive[[Hanscarl resultsLeuner]].

[[Cold War]] era intelligence services were keenly interested in the possibilities of using LSD for interrogation and mind control, and also for large-scale [[social engineering (political science)|social engineering]]. The [[CIA]] conducted extensive research on LSD, which wasdocuments were mostly destroyed.<ref>ACHRE Report, chapter 3: "[http://www.eh.doe.gov/ohre/roadmap/achre/chap3_4.html Supreme Court Dissents Invoke the Nuremberg Code: CIA and DOD Human Subjects Research Scandals]".</ref> [[Project MKULTRA]] (also known as|Project MK-ULTRA)]] was the code name for a CIA mind-control research program begun in the 1950s and continued until the late 1960s. Tests were conducted by the U.S. Army Biomedical Laboratory now known as the U.S. Army Medical Research of Chemical Defense located in the Edgewood Arsenel at [[Aberdeen Proving Grounds]]. Volunteers would take LSD and perform a battery of tests to see the effects of the drug on soldiers. There is much published evidence that the project involved not only the use of drugs to manipulate persons, but also the use of electronic signals to alter brain functioning; for details, see the [[MKULTRA]] article proper.

The [[United Kingdom|British]] government also engaged in LSD testing; in 1953 and 1954, scientists working for [[MI6]] dosed servicemen in an effort to find a "truth drug". (In all probability, MI6 was motivated by rumors that the [[Soviet Union]] had developed [[brainwashing]] drugs.) The test subjects were not informed that they were being given LSD, and had in fact been told that they were participating in a medical project to find a cure for the common cold. One subject, aged 19 at the time, reported seeing "walls melting, cracks appearing in people's faces ... eyes would run down cheeks, [[Salvador Dalí]]-type faces ... a flower would turn into a slug". After keeping the trials secret for many years, MI6 agreed in 2006 to pay the former test subjects financial compensation. Like the CIA, MI6 eventually decided that LSD was not a practical drug for brainwashing purposes.<ref>Rob Evans, "[http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1716708,00.html MI6 pays out over secret LSD mind control tests]". ''The Guardian'' 24 February 2006.</ref>

LSD first became popular [[recreational drug use|recreationally]] among a small group of mental health professionals such as psychiatrists and psychologists during the 1950s, as well as by socially prominent and politically powerful individuals such as [[Henry Luce|Henry]] and [[Clare Boothe Luce]] to whom the early LSD researchers were connected socially. Most notably, [[Harvard]] psychology lecturers [[Timothy Leary]] and [[Ram Dass|Richard Alpert]], became convinced of LSD's potential as a tool for spiritual growth. In 1961, Leary received grant money from Harvard University to study the effects of LSD on test subjects. 3,500 doses were given to over 400 people. Of those tested, 90% said they would like to repeat the experience, 83% said they had "learned something or had insight," and 62% said it had changed their life for the better.^{(citation requested)}

Their research became more esoteric and controversial, alleging links between the LSD experience and the state of enlightenment sought after in many [[mysticism|mystical]] traditions. They were dismissed from the traditional academic psychology community, and as such cut off from legal scientific acquisition of the drug. <!-- Dr. Leary was then (allegedly unbeknownst to himself) approached by agents of the CIA, who supplied him with such quantity of purified LSD-25 that he and Dr. Alpert/Ram Dass made available to a much wider portion of the public. --><!-- previous sentence commented out pending sourcing --> The experiments lost their scientific accreditation, and the pair evolved into countercultural [[spirituality|spiritual]] [[guru]]s, encouraging people to question authority and challenge the status quo, a concept summarized in Leary's catchphrase, "Turn on, tune in, and drop out". The drug was banned in the United States in 1967, with scientific therapeutic research as well as individual research also becoming prohibitively difficult. Many other countries, under pressure from the U.S., quickly followed suit.

Several mental health professionals involved in LSD research, most notably [[Harvard]] psychology professors Drs. [[Timothy Leary]] and [[Ram Dass|Richard Alpert]], became convinced of LSD's potential as a tool for spiritual growth. In 1961, Dr. Timothy Leary received grant money from Harvard University to study the effects of LSD on test subjects. 3,500 doses were given to over 400 people. Of those tested, 90% said they would like to repeat the experience, 83% said they had "learned something or had insight," and 62% said it had changed their life for the better.

Their research became more esoteric and controversial, alleging links between the LSD experience and the state of enlightenment sought after in many [[mysticism|mystical]] traditions. They were dismissed from the traditional academic psychology community, and as such cut off from legal scientific acquisition of the drug. <!-- Dr. Leary was then (allegedly unbeknownst to himself) approached by agents of the CIA, who supplied him with such quantity of purified LSD-25 that he and Dr. Alpert/Ram Dass made available to a much wider portion of the public. --><!-- previous sentence commented out pending sourcing --> The experiments lost their scientific accreditation, and the pair evolved into countercultural [[spirituality|spiritual]] [[guru]]s, encouraging people to question authority and challenge the status quo, a concept summarized in Leary's catchphrase, "Turn on, tune in, and drop out". The drug was banned in the United States in 1967, with scientific therapeutic research as well as individual research also becoming prohibitively difficult. Many other countries, under pressure from the U.S., quickly followed suit.

Since 1967, underground recreational and therapeutic LSD use has continued in many countries, supported by a black market and popular demand for the drug. Legal, academic research experiments on the effects and mechanisms of LSD are also conducted on occasion, but rarely involve human subjects.

According to Leigh Henderson and William Glass, two researchers associated with the [[National Institute on Drug Abuse|NIDA]] who performed a 1994 review of the literature, LSD use is relatively uncommon when compared to the abuse of [[alcohol]], [[marijuana]], [[cocaine]] and [[prescription drugs]]. Over the previous fifteen years, long-term usage trends stayed fairly stable, with roughly 5% of the population using the drug and most users being in the 16 to 23 age range. Henderson and Glass found that LSD users typically partook of the substance on an infrequent, episodic basis, then "maturing out" after two to four years. Overall, LSD appeared to have comparatively few adverse health consequences, of which "bad trips" were the most commonly reported (and, as the researchers found, one of the chief reasons youths stop using the drug).<ref name="henderson-glass"/>

== Dosage ==