LSD
For thousands of years people have spoke of all types of visions. Whether the visions were from religious groups, Indian tribes, or self proclaimed prophets; all types of people have seen things. This was more than likely occurring with the help of different types of hallucinogens. Hallucinogens have been around since the beginning of time. Some mushrooms, cactus flowers, and even different types of mold are all able to produce hallucinogenic effects. However, it was only within the last century that man actually started to produce his own. LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide-25, is a relatively new substance in society. All known effects show LSD, or acid, as the harmful drug most people know it as. There are people who believe acid has positive effects, but they are by far the minority. LSD is an interesting drug due to its strange past and the hallucinogenic effects, and it still remains quite popular in society today.
In April of 1943 a man by the name of Dr. Albert Hofman discovered Lysergic Acid 25, now known as L.S.D., in a professional laboratory. In Lee's book Acid Dreams, he tells of how Hoffman stumbled upon LSD while investigating chemical and pharmacological properties of ergot. Ergot is a rye fungus rich in medicinal alkaloids (7). While Hoffman was searching for a circulatory stimulant from ergot derivatives he stumbled upon LSD during his twenty-fifth experiment. Thus, the notion of lysergic acid diethylamide-25. Since its arrival in the drug market, LSD and other hallucinogens have flooded the drug market for the past forty years (Lee 8). Some of these drugs are natural while others are man-made, but almost all of them have the same effect on the people that take them. In its early years L.S.D, and L.S...
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... Ecstasy. Putnam, New York, 1968.
Lee, Martin A. Acid Dreams: the CIA, LSD, and the Sixties Rebellion. Groove Press,
New York, 1985.
Sommer, T. Hallucinogens and their Effects on Human Behavior. Spectrum
Publications Inc., New York, 1977.
Watts, David W. The Psychedelic Experience. Sage Publication, California, 1971.
Bibliography:
References
Aaronson, Bernard. Psychedelics: The Uses and Implications of Hallucinogenic Drugs.
Anchor Books, New York, 1970.
Leary, Timothy PhD. The Politics of Ecstasy. Putnam, New York, 1968.
Lee, Martin A. Acid Dreams: the CIA, LSD, and the Sixties Rebellion. Groove Press,
New York, 1985.
Sommer, T. Hallucinogens and their Effects on Human Behavior. Spectrum
Publications Inc., New York, 1977.
Watts, David W. The Psychedelic Experience. Sage Publication, California, 1971.