LSD

General Information

Classification: Psychedelic

History

First synthesized by Albert Hofmann on November 16, 1938, LSD went on to become a staple of the psychedelic world and the centerpiece of the 1960s counterculture. On April 19, 1943, Hofmann returned to investigate LSD further and ingested 250 micrograms of LSD. Hofmann believed this dose to have a minuscule, threshold effect. He rode his bicycle home and later wrote that, "... little by little I could begin to enjoy the unprecedented colors and plays of shapes that persisted behind my closed eyes. Kaleidoscopic, fantastic images surged in on me, alternating, variegated, opening and then closing themselves in circles and spirals, exploding in colored fountains, rearranging and hybridizing themselves in constant flux ..." This day in history later became known as Bicycle Day and is celebrated by LSD enthusiasts as the world's first LSD trip.

Dosage

Oral

Duration: 8-12 hours [Can be significantly longer with heroic doses]

Low dose: 50-100mcg

Medium (typical) dose: 100-250mcg

High dose: 250+mcg

Effects

Positive

• Mood lift, euphoria, sense of wellbeing
• Closed and open eye visuals, including the saturation of colors, tracers, etc.
• Enhanced audio/tactile senses
• Increase in associative & creative thinking; introspection
• At high doses, feeling of 'oneness' with everything; ego death

Neutral

• Racing thoughts, thought loops
• Extreme pupil dilation; increased sensitivity to light
• Inability to focus
• Slight increase in body temperature and heart rate
• Time dilation; seconds feel like minutes, minutes like hours

Negative

• Tension
• Anxiety, restlessness, confusion
• Insomnia
• Nausea
• Dizziness

After effects

"Hangover"?

• User may feel "out of it" and generally off the day after, esp. with larger doses

Afterglow

• Residual euphoria and a "ready to take on the world" feeling may persist

Long term effects

• No bodily harm from recreational doses of LSD, though mental effects from long term chronic use can be negative in some people.

Harm Reduction

Avoid driving and operating heavy machinery

Recommended time (pauses) between using the substance:

• At least three days for full effect due to rapid tolerance build, though it's generally advised to wait longer between trips. Ingesting LSD no more than once a month is advised due to the adverse psychological effects of chronic use.

Addiction potential:

• Physiological: nonexistant
• Psychological: low

Risk of death:

• While extraordinarily uncommon, a few cases have been reported in the medical literature of dangerous overheating following ingestion of LSD, including one non-fatal case that brought the patient's body temperature to over 106°F (41°C)
• Impaired judgement presents the highest risk of bodily harm.

Mental illness:

• LSD is known to cause latent mental illness to manifest. Those with mental illnesses should not ingest LSD. Those with a family history of mental illness, including but not limited to depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar should use LSD with extreme caution.
• LSD can cause dangerous physiological and psychological reactions when used in conjunction with lithium or tricyclic antidepressants.

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