Chemical name: D-lysergic acid diethylamide, D-lysergic acid diethylamide
Chemical formula: C20H25N3O
Street Names: acid, blotter, cubes, microdot, yellow sunshine
DEA Schedule: Schedule I
History of the Drug: LSD did not receive popular attention until the early 1960s when the late Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, his colleague at Harvard University, began experimenting with the drug on themselves, other academics, local artists, and students. In 1974 the National Institute of Mental Health concluded that LSD had no therapeutic use.
The interest in LSD during the 1960s also prompted users to seek out naturally occurring substances that produced the same experiential effects. In fact, a variety of substances in nature produce transitory visual or auditory distortion, e.g., cannabis, thornapple, peyote, and jimsonweed. One of the oldest hallucinogens known to Western scientists is mescaline, a derivative of the peyote cactus, used for centuries in natural medicines and religious ceremonies. Substances such as peyote, mescaline, and a variety of exotic fungi (e.g., psilocybin mushrooms) can be smoked, brewed in tea, chewed, and incorporated into food. In the 1960s users exchanged and published recipes for preparation of hallucinogens through popular publications of the era.
Appearance
Blotter
The most common form of LSD is paper blotter divided into about 1/4\" squares called tabs. A single tab usually contains between 30 - 100 ug of LSD. Paper blotters are created by taking a sheet of absorbent paper (usually decorated and perforated) and soaking it in a dilution of lysergic acid diethylamide. The dilution can vary greatly from one batch to another, or one chemist to another.
Liquid
LSD is soluable in water and other solvents, though liquid LSD is usually water based. Liquid LSD is used in the creation of blotter tabs. A single drop of potent liquid LSD could be 50 times a normal dose, although it is generally diluted to the point where a single drop is equal to approximately one dose. Be extremely careful when dealing with it, as there is no way to gauge its potency. It is frequently stored in small dropper bottles, one precaution...when you reach the end of the bottle, don\'t rinse it out and assume that what remains is a small dose. There can still be many doses left along the inside surfaces and taking them all at once can lead to some unexpectedly strong and possibly very uncomfortable experiences.
Gelatin
Gelatin LSD is made by mixing liquid LSD with gelatin and forming it into small, thin squares. The benefit of this method is that less of the LSD is exposed to sun and air, which break down lysergic acid diethylamide.
Do you smoke this? In its most common forms - liquid, soaked into paper, pills or capsules - it is swallowed but LSD can also be injected or inhaled.
What\'s gonna happen to me? Like all hallucinogens, LSD affects the senses. Users can hallucinate, or see and hear things that don\'t really exist. Hallucinogens also influence emotions and the ability to think clearly. The effects vary from user to user and a lot depends on the strength of the LSD. Users can experience a sense of wonder and joy or they might get scared and anxious. They can also feel as they are outside their body and able to watch themselves. In general though, the effects are felt within an hour of taking LSD and these can last as long as 12 hours.
Risks & Realities: Many LSD users experience flashbacks, recurrence of certain aspects of a person\'s experience, without the user having taken the drug again. A flashback occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or more than a year after LSD use. Flashbacks usually occur in people who use hallucinogens chronically or have an underlying personality problem; however, otherwise healthy people who use LSD occasionally may also have flashbacks. Bad trips and flashbacks are only part of the risks of LSD use. LSD users may manifest relatively long-lasting psychoses, such as schizophrenia or severe depression. It is difficult to determine the extent and mechanism of the LSD involvement in these illnesses.
Most users of LSD voluntarily decrease or stop its use over time. LSD is not considered an addictive drug since it does not produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior, as do cocaine, amphetamine, heroin, alcohol, and nicotine.
Fast facts about effects on the body: LSD increases blood pressure and heart rate. It also increases the body\'s temperature and makes the pupil in the eye larger. These physical changes are the first thing users feel and may cause numbness, weakness and a lack of coordination.