Albert Hoffman and LSD

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Last Trip For Man Who Discovered LSD
Sky News
April 30, 2008

The Swiss chemist who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD has died aged 102, from a heart attack at his home in Basel. Albert Hofmann termed the discovery his "problem child" and advocated the medicinal properties of the drug, rather than the mind-altering ones.

He felt the hippy movement of the 1960s hijacked and abused LSD - also commonly known as 'acid'. The chemist felt the drug was useful in analysing the mind and how it works. He hoped it could be used to recognise and treat illnesses, such as schizophrenia, and defended it for decades after it was banned in the 1960s.

Mr Hofmann stumbled on the drug - lysergic acid diethylamide - when a small amount leaked on to his hand during a laboratory experiment in 1943. He wrote of the effects in his book, LSD - My Problem Child, saying a "remarkable restlessness, combined with slight dizziness" made him stop his work. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxication-like condition, characterised by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight too unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours."

Mr Hofmann experienced the first "bad trip" a few days later, when he intentionally took a dose of LSD. He wrote: "A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind, and soul. I jumped up and screamed, trying to free myself from him, but then sank down again and lay helpless on the sofa. The substance, with which I had wanted to experiment, had vanquished me."

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I used the stuff for fun and self-analysis. So what does that mean about it's value? I never believed that he 'accidentally' noticed the effects when first isolating it though - he was working on a cold-cure and while working with ergot (well known for its hallucinogenic effect) he isolated that part of the fungus' structure.

Still, it was a lot easier than necking a handful of mushrooms...

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This is a pretty interesting article - and the comments are well worth reading too.

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[Brown Sauce]

I once met someone who was close to the top. He told me that he and one of the top dogs were in a car, they were stopped by a cop on a bike, who proceeded to search the glove compartment. He found a small bottle of holy water. Being the good cop that he once was he put a couple of drops on his index finger, just like Hawaii Five-0, and just like Danno, licked it off ....

Anyone in the trade will tell you that pure LSD comes in liquid form, and is clear and tasteless. A couple of drops will send one into hyper space, it being the equivalent of tens of trips. And the julie stuff was good stuff..

for the record, I go along with everything the folk tried to do, met one of the merry pranksters on me travels too .. similar philosophy ...

[faceless]

I've had some great times on LSD, but also some hellish ones. The problem lies in being around the right people - there are some utter bastards who relish the thought of trying to fuck your head up.

[Brown Sauce]

I honestly can't say that I've had anything like a hellish time with acid. Always was done with mates though, in a fifteen year period between mid 70's and early 90's. Strong stuff at times, walking on stars ..

I have felt much more uncomfortable smoking some of the heavier weed hybrids.

[luke]

i had some great times on acid as well, and was lucky and never had a bad one, but i know people who had some really bad experiences. acid was the first drug i ever did, i was about 13 or 14 i think - crazy to think of now!

the worse experience i ever had was on mushrooms, but that was just once - and i think that had a lot to do with other factors. we started the mushrooms at home, but we went to a club, which isn't the best place for something like that, we crashed the car on way there, the girl i was going out with tried some ( her first of any drug ) and was freaking out big time ... not a great night ... i did them again, but never again in a club

i remember some years back, a couple of mates did acid at a club in london, and had to leave - they just couldn't handle it.

[Brown Sauce]

I forgot an incident with the walking on stars trip. We had to get some fags, we HAD to. Went to the local, everyone, except for the gaffer was dressed in black leather, had bright red lipstick on, and had a tail.

My mate looked a tag worried too, we had to get out of there