Chemistry: Albert Hofmann And LSD

The death of Dr. Olson came to the discovery of Project MKULTRA, According to PDF page 4 “In 1953 Dr. Olson a civilian employee of the army at Fort Detrick, leaped to his death form a hotel room window in New York City about a week after having unwillingly consumed LSD administered to him as an experiment at a meeting of LSD researchers called by CIA”.

In the sixties, the psychedelic music scene was at its prime and the world was full of hippie musicians that loved to drop acid and create some of the most interesting and innovative music known to man. During this time, drugs were a very popular part of the hippie culture and the prevalence of LSD helped to create the distinct genre of psychedelic music known as psychedelic or acid rock. Many bands and artists such as Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, The Beatles, and The Byrds were heavily influenced by LSD, which led to the creation of some very popular music. This decade was full of adventure, music, sex, and drugs, and it was all made possible due to this powerfully trippy drug.

Furthermore, she first completed questionnaires, chatted with the monitors, and settled down in a comfortable space where the session took place. After taking a capsule of the concentrated hallucinogen psilocybin, she then reclined in a comfortable chair, with eyeshades, and headphones that were playing classical music to further endure that she was to have a comfortable experience. At the end of the session, after the psilocybin effects worn off, she completed more questionnaires. Similar to all the other 35 participants, her responses indicated that during the time spent in the session room she had gone through a “profound mystical-like experience similar to those reported by spiritual seekers in many cultures and across the ages--one characterized by a sense of interconnectedness with all people and things, accompanied by the feeling of transcending time and space, and of sacredness and joy.” A year later, as a follow up research, Andy regarded it as “the most personally meaningful and spiritually significant event of her life”. She felt it had “brought on positive changes in her moods, attitudes and behaviors, as well as a noticeable increase in overall life satisfaction”. But on the

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD is a hallucinogenic drug that can be taken orally, injected or even absorbed through the skin. Once LSD has entered the body, it starts to take effects on the levels of serotonin in the brain which can cause; hallucinations, mood change, and even sensory distortion. After taking LSD, the effects on the brain usually last from 6 to 9 hours depending on multiple factors; the dosage of LSD taken, the subject taking LSD, and even the user 's mood can affect the duration of LSD use. LSD is a non-lethal, non-addictive, and a non-habit forming drug that has little to no effect on the long-term health of an individual. However, LSD has been illegal since the 1960 's. Not only did availability of LSD become scarce with the criminalization of the substance, but the legislation also put a halt on the research of the chemical as well. Much of the way LSD interacts with the brain has been left unknown. This derivative from the rye fungus Ergot has been the source of controversy that has left many people wondering why LSD has been classified as a drug that is just as dangerous to use as heroin. It becomes difficult for an individual to understand how legislation could criminalize a chemical without completely understanding how it functions and affects people. LSD should be legalized for scientific, medical and recreational usage.

Throughout human history people have sought experiences that somehow transcend every day life. Some sort of wisdom that might progress their knowledge of self and of the world that they live in. For some reason they believed that the tangible world just could not be all there is to life. Some believed in a greater force that controlled them, some believed of invisible beings that influenced their lives, some of an actual other world that paralleled their own. Many of these people also believed that it was possible to catch a glimpse of these forces, beings, or worlds through a variety of means that propel individuals into altered states of consciousness. These techniques include

Since the 20th century, many medical professionals and researchers have been attempting to utilize psychedelic drugs in psychological illnesses treatments. In many testing cases, these psychedelic drugs were having hallucination effects on the patients. For examples, psychedelic drugs such as LSD and methoxamine are capable of changing a person’s moods, feelings, or even behaviors in either positive or negative ways. However, after decades of restriction on psychedelic drugs in 1960s, hallucinogens have been researched constantly in order to find a proper ways to utilize them in medicine. In other words, medical experts have been testing these drugs occasionally on patients, raising questions about medical ethics as a result. For instance, various patients reported to experience drug addiction, violent or suicidal thoughts, and physical syndromes such as coma, seizures, or loss of muscular coordination. Therefore, not only the testing of psychedelic drugs causes ethical debates, but the use of these drugs in general also questions whether they should be used in medicine at all.

At first, Hoffman doubted whether he had accidentally poisoned himself with the LSD. Days later, he decided to voluntarily intoxicate himself with 250 micrograms of LSD to see if that was the cause of his psychedelic experience earlier in the week. When he was debating about how much of the LSD to intoxicate himself with, he decided that it would be best to be very conservative and try just a small dose. Unknowing of exactly how powerful this new hallucinogenic chemical was, he thought 250 micrograms would have little or no psychological effects. Later it was determined that 250 micrograms was an extremely large dose for a human to consume. After ingesting the LSD, Hoffman describes in his own words the events that followed:

It is important to note that the citizens in Huxley’s novel are always happy. While happiness in its purest form is greatly treasured in our modern society, happiness in World Society existed in the form of a drug by the name of ‘Soma.’ In their society, the commonly used, “euphoric narcotic pleasantly hallucinant” drug symbolizes a state of happiness that is rarely attainable in the contemporary era” (37). However, it is significant because it symbolizes the powerful impact that science and technology have on society. In situations of unease and apprehension, and also in individuals are not only encouraged to, but conditioned to take doses of Soma, which brings them back into a state of high which ensures absolutely little to no acts of rebellion. Furthermore, Soma is commonplace that it is “served with the coffee” (50). This come to illustrate the immense amount of influence that scientific innovation and government regulations have on individuals to the point where it becomes integrated into their everyday lives. While the usage of drugs is greatly ridiculed in the modern world, it is encouraged in World Society, and this comes to demonstrate how great emphasis on scientific innovations can be destructive, stripping away natural human

Chemistry of LSD and Route of Access Classification Pharmacologically, the commonly abused hallucinogenic substances may be divided into two major groups. The indolealkylamines, including d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), psilocybin, and dimethyltryptamine (DMT) bear a structural resemblance to the neurotransmitter 5-hydroxytryptamine (serotonin). The phenylethylamines, including mescaline and the phenylisopropylamines such as 2, 5-dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine (DOM, "STP"), are structurally related to dopamine, norepinephrine, and the amphetamines (Gelenberg, Bassuk, Schoonover 1991). Doses Usual doses range from about 25 micrograms to more than 300 micrograms. LSD is known to posses a low level of

When hear the name Merry Pranksters what comes to your mind? Let me guess a group of young individuals dressed in a joker costume running around throwing water balloons from roof tops or shaking hands with strangers to taze them. Merry Pranksters were not exactly known for doing that, but they were group of young adults who did pranks with LSD. For instance, they mixed LSD in a bowl of Kool-Aid in their parties to get their guests high and this was known as Electric Kool-Aid Test. “In the 1960s, heroes of the counterculture -- Timothy Leary, Ken Kesey's Merry Pranksters, the Beatles and the Grateful Dead -- embraced the practice of dropping acid, viewing it as a great way to party and as the path to a higher consciousness” (Ross). At the same time, in the sixties violence was prevalent from Vietnam War, to protesters rebelling against the government and U.S. was at a brink of starting World War 3 with the Soviet Union. As a result, this made the American people pessimistic about their future, so they began to take LSD and drugs. We can see things in today’s culture that were partially inspired by the Merry Pranksters, such as using LSD in order to be connect with the self, two distinct groups of LSD users and the revival of psychedelic movement.

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

A Swiss chemist named Dr. Albert Hoffman first produced lysergic acid Diethylmide –or best known as LSD in 1938 (Dye, 1992, p. 2). Hoffman discovered the drug while trying to synthesize a new drug for the treatment of headaches. He obtained the lysergic acid from the parasitic fungus that grows on rye plants known as ergot. From the lysergic acid, he synthesized the compound LSD. He used the compound to test for its pain killing properties on laboratory animals. Being that appeared totally ineffective, the bottle of LSD was placed on a shelf and remained untouched for five years.

The author is a young man who obliviously is not self-effacing about his own usage and enjoyment of drugs. He used LSD, which in the fall of 2001 he realized that he had not seen the drug in ages and it was nowhere to be found; not for others or even for himself and statistics showed the decrease of the acid and its usage also. Dissatisfied with the situation He went to see his friend, Professor Peter Reuter who is a

LSD, which was the catalyst for psychedelic music, was discovered on April 16, 1943, by Albert Hofmann. For months he

It is no secret that drug use has the ability to completely alter a person’s state of consciousness, whether it be through extreme euphoria, increased hyperactivity, pain relief or psychedelic hallucinations. Although many drugs are used for medical purposes, the global issue of recreational drug use is now being fronted as an extremely serious matter that is steadily on the uprise. Recreational drug use is often associated with negativity, addiction and as having serious physical and mental repercussions. One of the few class of drugs that is often associated with both positive and negative connotations are hallucinogens, otherwise known as “psychedelics”, which have powerful altering effects on ones sense of perception, brain function