L S D

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:22 am

I grew up in an era when L S D or acid was prevalent, I have no idea if people are still using this as a recreation drug or not. Ive used it many times back in the day and I dont regret it, rather for the most part it was a pleasant experience. Thats behind me now and I dont condone it but I dont condemn it either.

Father of LSD Celebrates 100th Birthday

Jan 11, 9:50 PM (ET)

By SAM CAGE

(AP) Albert Hofmann, discoverer of LSD and former head of the research department of Swiss chemical...

Full Imagep {margin:12px 0px 0px 0px;}

GENEVA (AP) - LSD is an unlikely subject for a 100th birthday party. Yet the Swiss chemist who discovered the mind-altering drug and was its first human guinea pig is celebrating his centenary Wednesday - in good health and with plans to attend an international seminar on the hallucinogenic.

"I had wonderful visions," Albert Hofmann said, recalling his first accidental consumption of the drug.

"I sat down at home on the divan and started to dream," he told the Swiss television network SF DRS. "What I was thinking appeared in colors and in pictures. It lasted for a couple of hours and then it disappeared."

Hofmann, who also had bad experiences with the drug, continues to insist it should be legalized for medical treatment, particularly in psychiatric research. But LSD's reputation has been as turbulent as some acid trips. if ((typeof tag336_2) == 'function') {tag336_2();} document.write('');

The drug earned a bad reputation amid fatalities associated with hallucinations and reports of "flashbacks" -

the recurrence of hallucinations when not taking the drug.

LSD inspired the 1960s hippy generation and was immortalized in the Beatles' hit "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," although the band denied any connection. But it was also known as Like Swift Dead.

For decades after LSD was banned in the late 1960s, Hofmann defended his invention.

"I produced the substance as a medicine," he said. "It's not my fault if people abused it."

The chemist - who still takes nearly daily walks in the picturesque village where he lives in the Jura mountains with his wife of 70 years, Anita - discovered lysergic acid diethylamide-25 in 1938 while studying the medicinal uses of a fungus found on wheat and other grains at the Sandoz pharmaceuticals firm, now part of Novartis.

The company declined to comment for this story.

Hofmann was the first person to test the drug when a tiny amount of the substance seeped on to his finger during a repeat of the laboratory experiment in April 1943.

"Everything I saw was distorted, as in a warped mirror," he wrote of the experience, noting his surprise that LSD was able to produce "such a far-reaching, powerful, inebriated condition without leaving a hangover."

The chemist experimented with a larger dose three days later, but the result this time was a "horror" trip, he wrote. His surroundings turned into threatening images. A neighbor was transformed into a wicked witch.

"I was filled with an overwhelming fear that I would go crazy. I was transported to a different world, a different time," he wrote.

Hofmann and his scientific colleagues hoped LSD would make an important contribution to psychiatric research. The drug exaggerated inner problems and conflicts, and they hoped it might be used to recognize and treat mental illnesses like schizophrenia.

The drug was popularized by Timothy Leary, the one-time Harvard lecturer known as the "high priest of LSD," whose "turn on, tune in, drop out" advice to students in the 1960s glamorized the hallucinogen. The film star Cary Grant and numerous rock musicians extolled its virtues in achieving true self-discovery and enlightenment.

But away from the psychedelic trips and flower children, stories emerged of people going on murder sprees or jumping out of windows while hallucinating. Heavy users suffered permanent psychological damage.

The United States banned LSD in 1966 and other countries followed suit.

Hofmann maintains that was unfair, arguing the drug was not addictive. He has repeatedly said the ban should be lifted so LSD can be used in medical research, and he took the drug himself - purportedly on an occasional basis and out of scientific interest - for several decades.

But he added a note of caution. "The history of LSD to date amply demonstrates the catastrophic consequences that can ensue when its profound effect is misjudged and the substance is mistaken for a pleasure drug," he wrote.

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:42 am

Wooohoooooooooooooooooooooooo... take a vacation and never leave the house...

It is definately not for everyone... hadda be with trusting friends in a safe environment..but damn.. look at all the pretty colors.. hahahahahahaha.....

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:44 am

That did happen to me once with mushrooms and it was horrible, you just have to wait it out, theres nothing you can do. I think frame of mind going in to it can really alter your perceptions during the experience.

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:46 am

greydeadhead wrote: Wooohoooooooooooooooooooooooo... take a vacation and never leave the house...

It is definately not for everyone... hadda be with trusting friends in a safe environment..but damn.. look at all the pretty colors.. hahahahahahaha.....

For some reason a Dead concert always seemed like a safe environment, I think it was.

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:50 am

oh yeah... it always was... if you caught a bad trip people took care of you. On more than one occasion we helped out people and made them safe.. There really was a sense of community at the shows.

Some of my best trips were at those shows.. the lights.. and the music seemed to meld together.. amazing..

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:53 am

Their music just seemed conducive to it, just the right blend, its hard to put in words.

lady cop · Post by **lady cop** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 8:54 am

i smoked some dope in college, but i NEVER tried LSD or any other hallucinogen, i was too concerned about preserving my mental status.

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:01 am

Your toying with me now right ?

if I were feeling better................

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:05 am

oh. the whole thing was conducive to it... from the music and lights to the people... lots of times you would run into someone at a show.. then like 2 years later catch them at another one. Still have some friends that I used to see. Yeppers.. catching a miracle in the parking lot.. heading down Shakedown Street... vegggie burritos.. life was great....

Course now we are all older, not necessarily wiser, but wise enuff to know that if we attempted what we did then.. wellllllll.. prolly would not have the saame results.. hahahahaha....

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:29 am

Heres the kicker though, I dont have kids, if I did I probably would be singing a different tune. Grateful Dead concert ? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:51 am

What.. you wouldn't let them go to a show..??

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 9:55 am

LOL...how could I ? If I went too then yea, if they were boys more so

Id be really conflicted

valerie · Post by **valerie** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:14 am

Someone I know went to a show once, the Dead's "early" years... he used

to sit down front. At one point, he and a friend looked down and there

were HUNDREDS of hits of orange sunshine. Looked like they had been

"scattered" on purpose for concert goers. So he picked up a bunch OF

COURSE... and just then the Dead were singing "I can tell your future,

oh just look what's in your hand"

:-6 :-6 :-6

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 10:21 am

Welll.. if it was before it became illegal... hhehehehehe..

ahhh Nomad.. did you ever experience a Dead show...??

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:20 am

Me? drugs? never!

chonsigirl · Post by **chonsigirl** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:28 am

My husband took LSD when he was in college-I directly blame that on him having flashbacks today with his brain injury. It makes life more then miserable for the both of us when this happens.

:(

Nomad · Post by **Nomad** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:38 am

greydeadhead wrote: Welll.. if it was before it became illegal... hhehehehehe..

ahhh Nomad.. did you ever experience a Dead show...??

Many, one with a temporary side trip to the local precinct for toking in the parking lot, that landed me 10 days in jail, drug evaluation, a fine, community service and general misery all around but the rest were great ! :-6

Bez · Post by **Bez** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:42 am

I am as passionately against drugs as Far is against....well you know what...

My daughter has dabbled with 'stuff' since she was 15...it broke my heart although she never got into 'hard' stuff. I love my daughter dearly....we are soul mates, but it always came between us (not now I hasten to add). She now has to live with the fact that her 15 year old daughter now smokes cannabis...I pray she will be OK.

I think there is a different 'set' of drugs available to kids nowadays....Es and that kind of stuff.

I know many people who were teenagers in the 60s (like me) who died far too young because of drugs.

Sorry to have wandered away from the LSD topic. I guess it was OK to experiment but I was always a 'scaredy cat' when it came to drugs.

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 11:49 am

SnoozeControl wrote: How come you aren't skiing right now?

ummm.. mainly cuz I have to do something to pay the bills... sigh.. and I am planning on going tomorrow if I feel better..

I have been learning to ride a snowboard and took a chest plant last friday.. bruised my sternum, ribs.. and solar plexus.. so took some time off this week..... been eating advil like jelly beans.. hahahahahaha.... the perils of boarding...

Nomad... rock on man...

never experienced the inside of a locall lockup.. but can relate to the public toking ... hehehehehehe....

abbey · Post by **abbey** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:20 pm

Awww bless ya weary bones Grey, nursie stalkysnooze will make you all better. :sneaky:

greydeadhead · Post by **greydeadhead** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:56 pm

Awwwwwwww.. aint that sweet... actually just gotta find some good drugs to help with it a bit.. hehehehehehe.....

Don't bogart that joint my friennnnnddd.......

BabyRider · Post by **BabyRider** » Thu Jan 12, 2006 3:35 pm

Ahhhh....acid trips. I have taken enough acid in my day to kill a horse. I dropped the last time about 9 years ago. I have to say, while I do NOT condone or encourage taking ANY illegal drug, that was the most fun I ever had in my life. Some seriously funny sh!t happens when you get good acid. As for now, I have no idea what's out there and considering some of the stuff people smoke and ingest and inhale, I wouldn't touch a speck of anything anymore. Between acid and mushrooms, I could take a pile of pencil shavings and find something funny with it. It was just something that made everything funny.

Katy1 · Post by **Katy1** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 3:40 pm

I've taken a few in my time.

A few not so nice and a few I wanted to tell the world about. Always favoured Ecstacy though. Like acid but with more hugs!

My husband and me still indluge in the occasional line of coke on high days and holidays. We have children but we'd never do it around them and in no way does it make us bad parents.

Never understood how people can trip out at gigs though, I preferred it at home, nice atmosphere and good friends. All those lights an sounds (man) ! LOL.

I once thought that The Beatles were talking to me through my speakers...well I was 18, and hey, maybe they were!?

buttercup · Post by **buttercup** » Fri Jan 13, 2006 4:09 pm

acid - we call it here

CHEAP & NASTY - is my thoughts on it, if you have to do drugs & i dont suggest anyone does - do the expensive one's

for those who have never taken - dont

it ****s you up!!!!!!!!