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{{Drugbox | Watchedfields = changed
| verifiedrevid = 263752391
|
| width = 200
| image = LSD 2D, 3D.png
| IUPAC_name = (6a''R'',9''R'')- ''N'',''N''- diethyl- 7-methyl- 4,6,6a,7,8,9- hexahydroindolo- [4,3-''fg''] quinoline- 9-carboxamide
| CAS_number = 50-37-3
| CASNo_Ref = {{cascite}}
| ChemSpiderID = 5558
| PubChem = 5761
| DrugBank = DB04829
| C=20 | H=25| N=3| O=1
| molecular_weight = 323.43 g/mol
| melting_point = 80
| synonyms = LSD, LSD-25,<br /> lysergide, <br /><small>D</small>-lysergic acid diethyl amide, <br /> ''N'',''N''- diethyl- <small>D</small>- lysergamide
| smiles = CN1[C@](C2=C[C@@H](C(N(CC)CC)=O)C1)([H])CC3=CNC4=C3C2=CC=C4
| elimination_half-life = 3–5 hours<ref name="Aghajanian" /><ref name="Papac" />
| metabolism = Hepatic
| excretion = [[Renal]]
| pregnancy_category =
| pregnancy_US = C
| legal_AU = Schedule 9
| legal_CA = Schedule III
| legal_UK = Class A
| legal_US = Schedule I
| legal_status =
| routes_of_administration = [[Oral]], [[Intravenous]]
}}

'''Lysergic acid diethylamide''', abbreviated '''LSD''' or '''LSD-25''', also known as '''lysergide''' and colloquially as '''acid''', is a [[semisynthetic]] [[psychedelic drug]] of the [[ergoline]] family. LSD is '''non-addictive''' and well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, [[synaesthesia]], a sense of time distortion, [[ego death]] and [[religious experience|spiritual experiences]], as well as for its key role in [[counterculture of the 1960s|1960s counterculture]]. It is used mainly as an [[entheogen]], [[recreational drug use|recreational drug]] and as an agent in [[psychedelic therapy]].

LSD was first [[chemical synthesis|synthesized]] by [[Albert Hofmann]] in 1938 from [[ergot]], a [[grain]] [[fungus]] that typically grows on [[rye]]. The short form LSD comes from its early code name ''LSD-25'', which is an abbreviation for the German "Lysergsäure-diethylamid" followed by a sequential number.<ref name="problem-child">Hofmann, Albert. ''[http://www.psychedelic-library.org/child.htm LSD—My Problem Child]'' (McGraw-Hill, 1980). ISBN 0-07-029325-2.</ref><ref name="tihkal" /> LSD is sensitive to [[oxygen]], [[ultraviolet|ultraviolet light]], and [[chlorine]], especially in [[solution]], though its potency may last for years if it is stored away from light and moisture at low temperature. In pure form it is a colorless, odorless, and mildly bitter solid.<ref>{{cite book |title= [[PiHKAL]] |publisher= Transform Press |author1= Shulgin, Alexander |author2= Shulgin, Ann |year=1991 |edition=1st |chapter=Burt |page=21 |isbn= 978-0-9630096-0-9}}</ref> LSD is typically delivered orally, usually on a substrate such as absorbent [[Blotting paper|blotter paper]], a [[sugar|sugar cube]], or [[gelatin]]. In its liquid form, it can also be administered by intramuscular or intravenous injection. LSD is very potent, with 20&ndash;30 [[kilogram#SI multiples|µg]] (micrograms) being the threshold dose.<ref name="greiner" />

Introduced by [[Sandoz Laboratories]], with trade-name '''Delysid''', as a drug with various [[psychiatric]] uses in 1947, LSD quickly became a [[psychedelic psychotherapy|therapeutic agent]] that appeared to show great promise. However, the emerging recreational use of the drug by [[youth culture]] in the [[Western world]] during the 1960s led to a political firestorm that resulted in its [[Psychedelics, dissociatives and deliriants#Legal status and attitudes|prohibition]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/Issues/2006/January/LSD.asp |title=LSD: cultural revolution and medical advances |accessdate=2007-09-27 |work=Royal Society of Chemistry }}</ref> A number of organizations—including [[Beckley Foundation|the Beckley Foundation]], [[Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies|MAPS]], [[Heffter Research Institute]] and the [[Albert Hofmann|Albert Hofmann Foundation]]—exist to fund, encourage and coordinate research into its medicinal and spiritual uses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hofmann.org/ |title=The Albert Hofmann Foundation |accessdate=2007-09-27 |work=Hofmann Foundation }}</ref>
{{TOC limit|limit=4}}

== Chemistry and structure ==
[[Image:LSD isomers.png|thumb|The four possible stereoisomers of LSD. Only LSD is psychoactive.]]
[[Image:LSD tautomers and enantiomers.png|thumb|right|325px|Acid-catalysed and base-catalysed routes to various isomers of LSD.]]

LSD is an [[ergoline]] derivative. It is commonly synthesised by reacting [[diethylamine]] with an activated form of [[lysergic acid]]. Activating reagents include [[phosphoryl chloride]]<ref name="synth1">{{cite journal |author=Monte AP, Marona-Lewicka D, Kanthasamy A, Sanders-Bush E, Nichols DE |title=Stereoselective LSD-like activity in a series of d-lysergic acid amides of (R)- and (S)-2-aminoalkanes |journal=J. Med. Chem. |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=958–66 |year=1995 |month=March |pmid=7699712 |doi=10.1021/jm00006a015 |url=}}</ref> and [[peptide coupling reagent]]s.<ref name="synth2">{{cite journal |author=Nichols DE, Frescas S, Marona-Lewicka D, Kurrasch-Orbaugh DM |title=Lysergamides of isomeric 2,4-dimethylazetidines map the binding orientation of the diethylamide moiety in the potent hallucinogenic agent N,N-diethyllysergamide (LSD) |journal=J. Med. Chem. |volume=45 |issue=19 |pages=4344–9 |year=2002 |month=September |pmid=12213075 |doi=10.1021/jm020153s |url=}}</ref> Lysergic acid is made by alkaline [[hydrolysis]] of lysergamides like [[ergotamine]], a substance derived from the [[ergot]] [[fungus]] on [[rye]], or from [[ergine]] (lysergic acid amide, LSA), a compound that is found in [[morning glory]] (''Ipomoea tricolor'') and [[hawaiian baby woodrose]] (''Argyreia nervosa'') seeds.

LSD is a [[chirality (chemistry)|chiral]] compound with two [[stereocenter]]s at the [[carbon]] atoms C-5 and C-8, so that theoretically four different [[optical isomerism|optical isomers]] of LSD could exist. LSD, also called (+)-<small>D</small>-LSD, has the [[absolute configuration]] (5''R'',8''R''). The C-5 [[isomer]]s of lysergamides do not exist in nature and are not formed during the synthesis from <small>D</small>-lysergic acid. [[Retrosynthesis|Retrosynthetically]], the C-5 chiral center could be analysed as having the same chirality of the alpha carbon of the biological amino acid L-[[tryptophan]], the precursor to all biosynthetic ergoline compounds.

However, LSD and iso-LSD, the two C-8 isomers, rapidly interconvert in the presence of [[base (chemistry)|base]], as the alpha proton is especially acidic and can be removed to catayse conversion to [[enol|enol or enolate]] form. The enolate and enol forms are stabilised by resonance interactions with the aromatic indole ring. Non-psychoactive iso-LSD which has formed during the synthesis can be removed by [[chromatography]] and can be isomerized to LSD.

Though acid nominally also activates a carbonyl compound's enol form, LSD has a tertiary amine group and [[enamine]]-like system, both which compete as basic sites for protonation. Acid also triggers unwanted isomerisation of the ring-adjacent double bond via tertiary [[carbocation]] intermediate. (This isomerisation also eliminates the sensitive chiral center next to the tertiary amino group.) The carbocation is especially resonance-stabilised, as the carbocation position is next to an electron-donating indole ring. The presence of nucleophiles triggers a rich array of degradation pathways in the presence of acid.

A totally pure salt of LSD will emit small flashes of white light when shaken in the dark.<ref name="tihkal" /> LSD is strongly [[fluorescent]] and will glow bluish-white under [[UV light]].

=== Reactivity and degradation ===

"LSD," writes the chemist [[Alexander Shulgin]], "is an unusually fragile molecule."<ref name="tihkal" /> It is stable for indefinite time if stored as a solid salt or dissolved in water, at low temperature and protected from air and light exposure.

LSD has two sensitive chiral tertiary protons at the C5 and C8 positions that are prone to racemisation. The C8 proton is more labile due to the electron-withdrawing carboxamide attachment, but removal of the chiral proton at the C5 position (which actually was once also an alpha proton of the parent molecule [[tryptophan]]) is assisted by the inductively-withdrawing nitrogen and pi electron delocalisation with the indole ring.

LSD also has [[enamine]]-type reactivity because of the electron-donating effects of the indole ring. Because of this, [[chlorine]] destroys LSD molecules on contact; even though chlorinated tap water typically contains only a slight amount of chlorine, because a typical LSD solution only contains a small amount of LSD, dissolving LSD in tap water is likely to completely eliminate the substance.<ref name="tihkal" /> The [[covalent bond|double bond]] between the 8-position and the [[aromatic hydrocarbon|aromatic ring]], being conjugated with the indole ring, is susceptible to nucleophilic attacks by water or alcohol, especially in the presence of light. LSD often converts to "lumi-LSD", which is totally inactive in human beings (to the best of current knowledge).

A controlled study was undertaken to determine the stability of LSD in pooled urine samples.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Li Z., McNally A. J., Wang H., Salamone S. J.
| url = http://www.jatox.com/abstracts/1998/october/226mcn.htm
| title=Stability study of LSD under various storage conditions.
| journal=J. Anal. Toxicol.
| volume=22
| issue=6
| pages=520–5
| month=October
| year=1998
| pmid=9788528 | format={{Dead link|date=March 2010}}}}</ref>
The concentrations of LSD in urine samples were followed over time at various temperatures, in different types of storage containers, at various exposures to different wavelengths of light, and at varying pH values. These studies demonstrated no significant loss in LSD concentration at 25 °C for up to four weeks. After four weeks of incubation, a 30% loss in LSD concentration at 37 °C and up to a 40% at 45 °C were observed. Urine fortified with LSD and stored in amber glass or nontransparent polyethylene containers showed no change in concentration under any light conditions. Stability of LSD in transparent containers under light was dependent on the distance between the light source and the samples, the wavelength of light, exposure time, and the intensity of light. After prolonged exposure to heat in alkaline pH conditions, 10 to 15% of the parent LSD epimerized to iso-LSD. Under acidic conditions, less than 5% of the LSD was converted to iso-LSD. It was also demonstrated that trace amounts of metal ions in buffer or urine could catalyze the decomposition of LSD and that this process can be avoided by the addition of [[EDTA]].

== Dosage ==
[[Image:10 strip.jpg|thumb|White on White blotters (WoW)]]

[[Image:Pink_Elephant_LSD_Blotter.JPG|thumb|Pink Elephant blotters of LSD containing 100μg]]

A single dose of LSD may be between 100 and 500 micrograms — an amount roughly equal to one-tenth the mass of a grain of sand.
Threshold effects can be felt with as little as 25 micrograms of LSD.<ref name="greiner">{{cite journal | author=Greiner T, Burch NR, Edelberg R | title=Psychopathology and psychophysiology of minimal LSD-25 dosage; a preliminary dosage-response spectrum | journal=AMA Arch Neurol Psychiatry | year=1958 | pages=208–10 | volume=79 | issue=2 | pmid=13497365}}</ref><ref name="greiner" /><ref>Stoll, W.A. (1947). Ein neues, in sehr kleinen Mengen wirsames Phantastikum. Schweiz. Arch. Neur. 60,483.</ref> Dosages of LSD are measured in [[kilogram#SI multiples|micrograms]] (µg), or millionths of a [[gram]]. By comparison, dosages of most drugs, both recreational and medicinal, are measured in [[milligram]]s (mg), or thousandths of a gram. For example, an active dose of [[mescaline]], roughly 0.2 to 0.5g, has effects comparable to 100&nbsp;µg or less of LSD.<ref name="problem-child" />

Typical doses in the 1960s ranged from 200 to 1000&nbsp;µg while street samples of the 1970s contained 30 to 300&nbsp;µg. By the 1980s, the amount had reduced to between 100 to 125&nbsp;µg, lowering more in the 1990s to the 20–80&nbsp;µg range.<ref name="henderson-glass">{{cite book | author= Henderson, Leigh A.; Glass, William J. | title=LSD: Still with us after all these years | year=1994 | isbn = 978-0787943790 | publisher= Jossey-Bass | location= San Francisco }}</ref>

Estimates for the lethal dosage ([[LD50|LD<sub>50</sub>]]) of LSD range from between 200&nbsp;µg/kg to more than 1&nbsp;mg/kg of human body mass, though most sources report that there are no known human cases of such an overdose. Other sources note one report of a suspected fatal overdose of LSD occurring in November 1975 in [[Kentucky]] in which there were indications that ~1/3 of a gram (320&nbsp;mg or 320,000&nbsp;µg) had been injected intravenously. (This is a very extraordinary amount, particularly when compared to the average LSD dosage of ~100&nbsp;µg).<ref name="erowid-dosage">{{cite web| url = http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_dose.shtml
| title = LSD Vault: Dosage | date = 2006-07-06 | accessdate = 2007-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDocPartFrame&ID=1389&DocPartID=1151
| title = LSD Toxicity: A Suspected Cause of Death | publisher = Journal of the Kentucky Medical Association | accessdate = 2007-11-26}}</ref> Experiments with LSD have also been done on animals; in 1962, an elephant named [[Tusko#Tusko: "The elephant on LSD"|Tusko]] died shortly after being injected with 297&nbsp;mg, but whether the LSD was the cause of his death is controversial.<ref>{{cite web
| author = Erowid & R. Stuart
| year = 2002
| title = LSD Related Death of an Elephant - Controversy surrounding the 1962 death of an elephant after an injection of LSD
| url = http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_history4.shtml
| publisher = Erowid
| accessdate = 2008-07-28
}}</ref>

== History ==
{{Main|History of LSD}}
LSD was first synthesized on November 16, 1938<ref>Dr. Albert Hofmann; translated from the original German (LSD Ganz Persönlich) by J. Ott. [http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v06n3/06346hof.html MAPS-Volume 6 Number 69 Summer 1969]</ref> by Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann at the Sandoz Laboratories in [[Basel]], [[Switzerland]] as part of a large research program searching for medically useful [[ergoline|ergot alkaloid]] derivatives. LSD's [[psychedelic]] properties were discovered 5 years later when Hofmann accidentally ingested an unknown quantity of the chemical.<ref name=hyponichols>{{cite web|url=http://www.erowid.org/general/conferences/conference_mindstates4_nichols.shtml |title=Hypothesis on Albert Hofmann's Famous 1943 "Bicycle Day" |accessdate=2007-09-27 |last=Nichols |first=David |date=2003-05-24 |work=Hofmann Foundation }}</ref> The first intentional ingestion of LSD occurred at 4:20 PM on April 19, 1943<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.psychedelic-library.org/child1.htm| author=Dr. ALbert Hoffman | title=LSD My Problem Child|accessdate=2010-04-19}}</ref>, when Dr. Hofmann ingested 250 [[micrograms|µg]] of LSD. He hypothesized this would be a threshold dose based on the dosages of other ergot alkaloids. Hofmann found the effects to be much stronger than he anticipated.<ref name=histlsd>{{cite web|url=http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/lsd01.htm |title=History Of LSD |accessdate=2007-09-27 |last=Hofmann |first=Albert }}</ref> Sandoz Laboratories introduced LSD as a psychiatric drug in 1947.<ref>[http://web.petabox.bibalex.org/web/20011116091659/www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/lsd/lsd-4.htm LSD: The Drug]</ref>

Beginning in the 1950s the US [[Central Intelligence Agency]] began a research program code named [[Project MKULTRA]]. Experiments included administering LSD to CIA employees, military personnel, doctors, other government agents, prostitutes, mentally ill patients, and members of the general public in order to study their reactions, usually without the subject's knowledge. The project was revealed in the US congressional [[United States President's Commission on CIA activities within the United States|Rockefeller Commission report]] in 1975.

In 1963 the Sandoz patents expired on LSD.<ref name="henderson-glass"/> Also in 1963, the [[US Food and Drug Administration]] classified LSD as an [[Investigational New Drug]], which meant new restrictions on medical and scientific use.<ref name="henderson-glass"/> Several figures, including [[Aldous Huxley]], [[Timothy Leary]], and [[Alfred Matthew Hubbard|Al Hubbard]], began to advocate the use of LSD. LSD became central to the counterculture of the 1960s. On October 24, 1968, possession of LSD was made illegal in the United States.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/law/law_fed_staggers-dodd.pdf| author=United States Congress | title=Staggers-Dodd Bill, Public Law 90-639 | date=1968-10-24 | accessdate=2009-09-08}}</ref> The last [[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]] approved human study with LSD, for use in dying cancer patients, ended in 1980. Legally approved and regulated psychiatric use of LSD continued in Switzerland until 1993.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maps.org/news-letters/v05n3/05303psy.html| last=Gasser | first=Peter | title=Psycholytic Therapy with MDMA and LSD in Switzerland | year=1994 | accessdate=2009-09-08}}</ref> Today, medical research is resuming around the world.<ref>[http://www.maps.org/research/cluster/psilo-lsd/ MAPS Psychedelic Research]</ref>

== Effects ==
=== Physical ===
LSD reliably causes [[Mydriasis|pupil dilation]], reduced appetite, and wakefulness. Other physical reactions to LSD are highly variable and nonspecific, and some of these reactions may be secondary to the psychological effects of LSD. The following symptoms have been reported: numbness, weakness, nausea, [[hypothermia]] or [[hyperthermia]] (decreased or increased body temperature), elevated [[blood sugar]], [[goose bumps]], increase in heart rate, jaw clenching, perspiration, [[saliva]] production, [[mucus]] production, [[sleep]]lessness, [[hyperreflexia]], and [[tremor]]s. [[uterus|Uterine]] contractions have been reported in animals.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}} Some users, including Albert Hofmann, report a strong metallic taste for the duration of the effects. <ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.psychedelic-library.org/child5.htm
|title = LSD: My Problem Child
|author = Albert Hofmann
|quote = "taste of metal on the palate"
}}</ref>

LSD is not considered addictive by the medical community.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Lüscher C, Ungless MA |title=The mechanistic classification of addictive drugs |journal=PLoS Med. |volume=3 |issue=11 |pages=e437 |year=2006 |month=November |pmid=17105338 |pmc=1635740 |doi=10.1371/journal.pmed.0030437 |url="http://www.plosmedicine.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030437"}}</ref> Rapid tolerance build-up prevents regular use, and there is cross-tolerance shown between LSD, [[mescaline]]<ref name="isbell_mescaline">{{cite journal
| author = Wolbach AB Jr, Isbell H, Miner EJ
| title = Cross tolerance between mescaline and LSD-25, with a comparison of the mescaline and LSD reactions
| journal= Psychopharmacologia
| year= 1962
| volume = 3
| pages= 1–14
| url = http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDocPartFrame&C=ref&ID=2032&DocPartID=1893
| pmid = 14007904
| doi = 10.1007/BF00413101
}}</ref>
and [[psilocybin]].<ref name="isbell_psilocybin">{{cite journal
| author = Isbell H, Wolbach AB, Wikler A, Miner EJ
| title = Cross Tolerance between LSD and Psilocybin
| journal= Psychopharmacologia
| year= 1961
| volume = 2
| page = E353
| url = http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDocPartFrame&C=ref&ID=1979&DocPartID=1843
| pmid = 13717955
| doi = 10.1007/BF00407974
}}</ref> This tolerance diminishes after a few days without use and is probably caused by downregulation of [[5-HT2A receptor|5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptors]] in the brain<!-- PMID 2803482, PMID 1969270 -->.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}

=== Psychological ===

LSD's psychological effects (colloquially called a "trip") vary greatly from person to person, depending on factors such as previous experiences, state of mind and environment, as well as dose strength. They also vary from one trip to another, and even as time passes during a single trip. An LSD trip can have long-term psychoemotional effects; some users cite the LSD experience as causing significant changes in their personality and life perspective. Widely different effects emerge based on what [[Timothy Leary]] called ''[[set and setting]]''; the "set" being the general mindset of the user, and the "setting" being the physical and social environment in which the drug's effects are experienced.

Some psychological effects may include an experience of radiant colors, objects and surfaces appearing to ripple or "breathe," colored patterns behind the eyes, a sense of time distorting (time seems to be stretching, repeating itself, changing speed or stopping), crawling geometric patterns overlaying walls and other objects, morphing objects, a sense that one's thoughts are spiraling into themselves, loss of a sense of identity or the ego (known as "[[ego death]]"), and other powerful psycho-physical reactions.<ref>{{cite web
|author = The Good Drugs Guide
|title = LSD psychedelic effects
|url = http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/lsd/psychedelic.htm
|accessdate = 2008-03-03}}</ref> Many users experience a dissolution between themselves and the "outside world".<ref name="linton-langs">Linton, Harriet B. and Langs, Robert J. "[http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1962/1962_linton_2052_1.pdf Subjective Reactions to Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD-25)]". ''Arch. Gen. Psychiat.'' Vol. 6 (1962): 352–68.</ref> This unitive quality may play a role in the spiritual and religious aspects of LSD. The drug sometimes leads to disintegration or restructuring of the user's historical personality and creates a mental state that some users report allows them to have more choice regarding the nature of their own personality.

If the user is in a hostile or otherwise unsettling environment, or is not mentally prepared for the powerful distortions in perception and thought that the drug causes, effects are more likely to be unpleasant than if he or she is in a comfortable environment and has a relaxed, balanced and open mindset.<ref>{{cite web
| title = LSD dangers
| url = http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/lsd/dangers.htm
| publisher = The Good Drugs Guide
|accessdate = 2008-10-20
}}</ref>

==== Sensory / perception ====

LSD causes expansion and an altered experience of [[sense]]s, [[emotion]]s, [[memory|memories]], [[time]], and [[awareness]] for 6 to 14 hours, depending on dosage and tolerance. Generally beginning within thirty to ninety minutes after ingestion, the user may experience anything from subtle changes in perception to overwhelming [[cognitive shift]]s. Changes in auditory and visual perception are typical.<ref name="linton-langs" /><ref>{{cite journal
| author=Katz MM, Waskow IE, Olsson J
| year=1968
| title=Characterizing the psychological state produced by LSD
| journal=J Abnorm Psychol
| volume=73
| issue=1
| pages=1–14
| pmid=5639999 | doi = 10.1037/h0020114
}}</ref> Visual effects include the illusion of [[motion aftereffect|movement of static surfaces]] ("walls breathing"), [[after image]]-like trails of moving objects ("tracers"), the appearance of moving colored geometric patterns (especially with closed eyes), an intensification of colors and brightness ("sparkling"), new textures on objects, blurred vision, and shape suggestibility. Users commonly report that the inanimate world appears to animate in an unexplained way; for instance, objects that are static in three dimensions can seem to be moving relative to one or more additional spatial dimensions.<ref>See, ''e.g.,'' Gerald Oster's article "[http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1966/1966_oster_3875_1.pdf Moiré patterns and visual hallucinations]". ''Psychedelic Rev.'' No. 7 (1966): 33–40.</ref> Many of the basic visual effects resemble the [[phosphene]]s seen after applying pressure to the eye and have also been studied under the name "[[form constant]]s". The auditory effects of LSD may include [[Echo (phenomenon)|echo]]-like distortions of sounds, changes in ability to discern concurrent auditory stimuli, and a general intensification of the experience of music. Higher doses often cause intense and fundamental distortions of sensory perception such as [[synaesthesia]], the experience of additional spatial or temporal dimensions, and temporary [[Dissociation (psychology)|dissociation]].

==Potential use==
LSD has been used in psychiatry for its perceived therapeutic value, in the treatment of alcoholism, pain and cluster headache relief, for spiritual purposes, and to enhance creativity. However, government organizations like the [[Drug Enforcement Administration|United States Drug Enforcement Administration]] maintain that LSD "produces no aphrodisiac effects, does not increase creativity, has no lasting positive effect in treating alcoholics or criminals, does not produce a 'model psychosis', and does not generate immediate personality change."<ref>[http://web.petabox.bibalex.org/web/20011116091659/www.usdoj.gov/dea/pubs/lsd/lsd-4.htm DEA - Publications - LSD in the US - The Drug<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref></blockquote>

=== Psychotherapy ===
In the 1950s and 1960s LSD was used in psychiatry to enhance psychotherapy. Some psychiatrists believed LSD was especially useful at helping patients to "unblock" repressed subconscious material through other psychotherapeutic methods,<ref>Cohen, S. (1959). The therapeutic potential of LSD-25. ''A Pharmacologic Approach to the Study of the Mind,'' p251–258.</ref> and also for treating alcoholism. One study concluded, "The root of the therapeutic value of the LSD experience is its potential for producing self-acceptance and self-surrender,"<ref>{{cite journal | author=Chwelos N, Blewett D.B., Smith C.M., Hoffer A. | title=Use of d-lysergic acid diethylamide in the treatment of alcoholism | journal=Quart. J. Stud. Alcohol | year=1959 | pages=577–90 | volume=20 | pmid=13810249}}</ref> presumably by forcing the user to face issues and problems in that individual's psyche.

In December 1968, a survey was made of all 74 UK doctors who had used LSD in humans, 73 replied, 1 had moved overseas and was unavailable. Of the 73 replies, the majority of UK doctors with clinical experience with LSD felt that LSD was effective and had acceptable safety: 41 (56%) continued with clinical use of LSD, 11 (15%) had stopped because of retirement or other extraneous reasons, 9 (12%) had stopped because they found LSD ineffective, and 5 (7%) had stopped because they felt LSD was too dangerous.<ref name="Malleson 1971" />

=== Alcoholism ===
Some studies in the 1950s that used LSD to treat alcoholism professed a 50% success rate,<ref>Maclean, J.R.; Macdonald, D.C.; Ogden, F.; Wilby, E., "LSD-25 and mescaline as therapeutic adjuvants." In: Abramson, H., Ed., ''The Use of LSD in Psychotherapy and Alcoholism,'' Bobbs-Merrill: New York, 1967, pp. 407–426; Ditman, K.S.; Bailey, J.J., "Evaluating LSD as a psychotherapeutic agent," pp.74–80; Hoffer, A., "A program for the treatment of alcoholism: LSD, malvaria, and nicotinic acid," pp. 353–402.</ref> five times higher than estimates near 10% for [[Alcoholics Anonymous]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Minogue SJ |title=Alcoholics Anonymous |journal=Med. J. Aust. |volume=1 |issue=19 |pages=586 |year=1948 |month=May |pmid=18868217 |doi= |url=}}</ref> These studies were criticized for methodological flaws, and different groups had inconsistent results. M. Mangini's 1998 paper reviewed this history. She concluded that the efficacy of LSD in treating alcoholism remains an open question.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Mangini M | title=Treatment of alcoholism using psychedelic drugs: a review of the program of research | journal=J Psychoactive Drugs | year=1998 | pages=381–418 | volume=30 | issue=4 | pmid=9924844}}</ref>

=== Pain ===
LSD was studied in the 1960s by Eric Kast as an [[analgesic]] for serious and chronic [[pain]] caused by [[cancer]] or other major trauma.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Kast, Eric | title=Attenuation of anticipation: a therapeutic use of lysergic acid diethylamide | journal=Psychiat. Quart. | year=1967 | pages=646–57 | volume=41 | issue=4 | pmid=4169685 | url=http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1967/1967_kast_3881_1.pdf | doi = 10.1007/BF01575629|format=PDF}}</ref> Even at low (sub-psychedelic) dosages, it was found to be at least as effective as traditional opiates, while being much longer lasting pain reduction (lasting as long as a week ''after'' peak effects had subsided). Kast attributed this effect to a decrease in anxiety. This reported effect is being tested (though not using LSD) in an ongoing (as of 2006) study of the effects of the [[Psychedelic drug|psychedelic]] [[tryptamine]] [[psilocybin]] on [[anxiety]] in terminal cancer patients.

=== Cluster headaches ===
LSD has been used as a treatment for [[cluster headache]]s, an uncommon but extremely painful disorder. Researcher Peter Goadsby describes the headaches as "worse than natural childbirth or even amputation without anesthetic."<ref>Dr. Goadsby is quoted in "[http://www.maps.org/research/cluster/psilo-lsd/ Research into psilocybin and LSD as cluster headache treatment]", and he makes an equivalent statement in [http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/8.30/helthrpt/stories/s42434.htm an ''Health Report'' interview] on Australian [[Radio National]] (August 9, 1999). Pages accessed 2007-01-31.</ref> Although the phenomenon has not been formally investigated, case reports indicate that LSD and [[psilocybin]] can reduce cluster pain and also interrupt the cluster-headache cycle, preventing future headaches from occurring. Currently existing treatments include various [[ergoline]]s, among other chemicals, so LSD's efficacy may not be surprising. A dose-response study testing the effectiveness of both LSD and psilocybin was planned at [[McLean Hospital]], although the current status of this project is unclear. A 2006 study by McLean researchers interviewed 53 cluster-headache sufferers who treated themselves with either LSD or psilocybin, finding that a majority of the users of either drug reported beneficial effects.<ref name="sewell-etal2006">{{cite journal | last=Sewell | first=R. A. | coauthors=Halpern, J. H.; Pope, H. G. Jr. | title=Response of cluster headache to psilocybin and LSD | journal=Neurology|date=2006-06-27 | volume=66 | issue=12 | pages=1920–2
| doi= 10.1212/01.wnl.0000219761.05466.43 | pmid=16801660 }}</ref> Unlike use of LSD or [[MDMA]] in [[psychotherapy]], this research involves non-psychological effects and often sub-psychedelic dosages.<ref>Summarized from "[http://www.maps.org/research/cluster/psilo-lsd/ Research into psilocybin and LSD as cluster headache treatment]" and [http://www.clusterbusters.com/ the Clusterbusters website]. Pages accessed 2007-01-31.</ref>

=== Spiritual ===
LSD is considered an [[entheogen]] because it can catalyze intense spiritual experiences, during which users may feel they have come into contact with a greater spiritual or cosmic order. Users claim to experience lucid sensations where they have "out of body" experiences. Some users report insights into the way the mind works, and some experience permanent shifts in their life perspective. LSD also allows users to view their life from an introspected point of view. From this point of view, a user can travel back in time to a specific moment or memory and relive that moment again. Some users report using introspection to resolve unresolved or negative feelings towards an individual or incident that occurred in the past. Some users consider LSD a religious sacrament, or a powerful tool for access to the divine. Dr. [[Stanislav Grof]] has written that religious and mystical experiences observed during LSD sessions appear to be phenomenologically indistinguishable from similar descriptions in the sacred scriptures of the great religions of the world and the secret mystical texts of ancient civilizations.<ref name="Grof1979">{{cite book | last = Grof | first = Stanislav | authorlink = Stanislav Grof | coauthors = Joan Halifax Grof| title = Realms of the Human Unconscious (Observations from LSD Research) | publisher = Souvenir Press (E & A) Ltd|year=1979| location = London| pages = 13–14| url = http://www.csp.org/chrestomathy/realms_of3.html| doi = | id = | isbn = 0 285 64882 9}}</ref>
<!--This example is not of LSD use, but of psilocybin use.

Such experiences under the influence of LSD have been observed and documented by researchers such as [[Timothy Leary]] and Stanislav Grof.<ref name="sgrof"/>For example, Walter Pahnke conducted the Good Friday [[Marsh Chapel Experiment]] in 1962 under Leary's supervision, performing a [[double blind]] experiment on the administration of psilocybin to volunteers who were students in religious graduate programs, ''e.g.,'' divinity or theology.<ref>Video of the experiment can be viewed [http://www.yoism.org/?q=node/52 here].</ref> That study provided evidence that psychotropics may induce mystical religious states.<ref>Pahnke, Walter N., ''[http://www.erowid.org/entheogens/journals/entheogens_journal3.shtml Drugs and Mysticism]: An Analysis of the Relationship between Psychedelic Drugs and the Mystical Consciousness''. A thesis presented to the Committee on Higher Degrees in History and Philosophy of Religion, Harvard University, June 1963. Cited in Masters, R.E.L., & Houston, Jean., ''The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience'' (Turnstone Books, 1973).</ref>-->

===Creativity ===
In the 1950s and 1960s, psychiatrists like [[Oscar Janiger]] explored the potential effect of LSD on creativity. Experimental studies attempted to measure the effect of LSD on creative activity and aesthetic appreciation.<ref name="PMID18562421">{{cite journal | last=Sessa | first=B. | coauthors= | title=Is it time to revisit the role of psychedelic drugs in enhancing human creativity? | journal=J Psychopharmacol|year=2008 | volume=22 | issue=8 | pages=821–7 | doi= 10.1177/0269881108091597| pmid=18562421 }}</ref><ref name="PMID2723891">{{cite journal | last=Janiger | first=O. | coauthors= Dobkin de Rios M.| title=LSD and creativity | journal=J Psychoactive Drugs|year=1989 | volume=21 | issue=1 | pages=129–34 | url= http://www.erowid.org/culture/characters/janiger_oscar/janiger_oscar.shtml| pmid=2723891 }}</ref><ref name="Stafford-Golightly">{{cite book | last = Stafford | first = Peter G. | coauthors = B. H. Golightly | title = LSD, the problem-solving psychedelic | year=1967| url = http://www.psychedelic-library.org/staf3.htm | unused_data = |ASIN: B0006BPSA0}}</ref><ref name="PMID6054248">{{cite journal | last=McGlothlin | first=W. | coauthors=Cohen S, McClothlin MS | title=Long lasting effects of LSD on normals | journal=Arch Gen Psychiat|year=1967 | volume=17 | issue= 5| pages= 521–532| url= http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1967/1967_mcglothlin_4655_1.pdf|doi= | pmid=6054248 }}</ref>
One patient of Dr. Janiger, bipolar and alcoholic artist Frank Murdoch,<ref>{{citebook|title=Looking For Frank Murdoch: The LSD Experiments|author= Lynn Svensson|year=2006|http://}}</ref> was given a controlled, experimental dose of LSD for several months in an attempt to cure his late stage alcoholism. Janiger had Murdoch paint still-lives both on and off LSD, including a Kachina doll (that he reportedly had 70 other patients also paint).<ref name="fusionanomaly.net">http://fusionanomaly.net/oscarjaniger.html Oscar Janiger</ref> The artists/ patients produced some 250 paintings and drawings after ingesting LSD).<ref name="fusionanomaly.net"/>.

== Dangers ==
[[Image:Drug danger and dependence.png|thumb|480px|
Chart of dependence potential and effective dose/lethal dose of some psychoactive drugs. Data was taken from <ref>
{{Cite book
| last = Fish
| first = Jefferson M.
| title = Drugs and Society: U.S. Public Policy
| pages = 149–162
| publisher = Rowman & Littlefield
| location = Lanham, MD
| year = 2006
| url = http://www.amazon.com/Drugs-Society-U-S-Public-Policy/dp/0742542459
| isbn = 0742542459
}}
</ref> via <ref>http://web.cgu.edu/faculty/gabler/drug_toxicity.htm</ref>]]

LSD may temporarily impair the ability to make sensible judgments and understand common dangers, thus making the user more susceptible to accidents and personal injury and cause signs of organic brain damage-impaired memory and attention span, mental confusion or difficulty with abstract thinking.<ref>LSD AND ORGANIC BRAIN IMPAIRMENT S Cohen, AE Edwards - Drug dependence, 1969</ref> However LSD is physiologically well tolerated and there is no evidence for long-lasting effects on brain and other parts of the human organism.<ref>http://www.maps.org/research/cluster/psilo-lsd/cns-neuroscience+therapeutics_2008-passie.pdf</ref>

=== Adverse Drug Interactions ===
There is some indication that LSD may trigger a [[fugue state|dissociative fugue]] state in individuals who are taking certain classes of [[antidepressants]] such as [[lithium salt]]s and [[tricyclic antidepressant|tricyclics]]. In such a state, the user has an impulse to wander, and may not be aware of his or her actions, which can lead to physical injury. Anonymous anecdotal reports have attributed seizures and one death to the combination of LSD with lithium.<ref name="lsd-antidepressants">"[http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_health3.shtml LSD and Antidepressants]" (2003) via [[Erowid]].</ref> [[Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor|SSRIs]] noticeably reduce LSD's subjective effects.<ref>Kit Bonson, "[http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/maois/maois_info4.shtml The Interactions between Hallucinogens and Antidepressants]" (2006).</ref> [[MAOI]]s are also reported to reduce the effects of LSD.<ref name="lsd-antidepressants" />

=== Panic/Anxiety ===
LSD may bring out [[panic attack]]s or feelings of extreme anxiety, colloquially referred to as a "[[bad trip]]". <ref>http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_heath1.shtml</ref>

=== Psychosis ===
There are some cases of LSD inducing a [[psychosis]] in people who appeared to be healthy prior to taking LSD.<ref>{{cite journal | author=[Rick Strassman | title=Adverse reactions to psychedelic drugs. A review of the literature | journal=J Nerv Ment Dis | year=1984 | pages=577–95 | volume=172 | issue=10|pmid=6384428 | unused_data=|Strassman RJ]}}</ref> In most cases, the psychosis-like reaction is of short duration, but in other cases it may be chronic. It is difficult to determine whether LSD itself induces these reactions or if it triggers latent conditions that would have manifested themselves otherwise. The similarities of time course and outcomes between putatively LSD-precipitated and other psychoses suggest that the two types of syndromes are not different and that LSD may have been a nonspecific trigger.

Estimates of the prevalence of LSD-induced prolonged psychosis lasting over 48 hours have been made by surveying researchers and therapists who had administered LSD:
* Cohen (1960) estimated 0.8 per 1,000 volunteers (the single case among approximately 1250 study volunteers was the identical twin of a schizophrenic and he recovered within 5 days) and 1.8 per 1,000 psychiatric patients (7 cases among approximately 3850 patients, of which 2 cases were "preschizophrenic" or had previous hallucinatory experience, 1 case had unknown outcome, 1 case had incomplete recovery, and 5 cases recovered within up to 6 months).<ref name="Cohen 1960">{{cite journal|author=Cohen, Sidney|url=http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1960/1960_cohen_1848_1.pdf|title=Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Side Effects and Complications|journal=Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease|volume=130|issue=1| pages=30–40|month=January|year=1960|pmid=13811003|format=PDF}}</ref>
* Malleson (1971) reported no cases of psychosis among experimental subjects (170 volunteers who received a total of 450 LSD sessions) and estimated 9 per 1,000 among psychiatric patients (37 cases among 4300 patients, of which 8 details are unknown, 10 appeared chronic, and 19 recovered completely within up to 3 months).<ref name="Malleson 1971">{{cite journal|author=Malleson, Nicholas|url=http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1971/1971_malleson_5136_1.pdf|title=Acute Adverse Reactions to LSD in Clinical and Experimental Use in the United Kingdom|journal=Br J Psychiatry |volume=118|pages=229–30|pmid=4995932|issue=543|year=1971|format=PDF|doi=10.1192/bjp.118.543.229}}</ref>

However, in neither survey study was it possible to compare the rate of lasting psychosis in these volunteers and patients receiving LSD with the rate of psychosis found in other groups of research volunteers or in other methods of psychiatric treatment (for example, those receiving placebo).

Cohen (1960) noted:<ref name="Cohen 1960" />
:"The hallucinogenic experience is so striking that many subsequent disturbances may be attributed to it without further justification. The highly suggestible or hysterical individual would tend to focus on his LSD experience to explain subsequent illness. Patients have complained to Abramson that their LSD exposure produced migraine headaches and attacks of influenza up to a year later. One Chinese girl became paraplegic and ascribed that catastrophe to LSD. It so happened that these people were all in the control group and had received nothing but tap water."

=== Flashbacks and HPPD ===
{{See also|Flashback (psychological phenomenon)}}
"Flashbacks" are a reported psychological phenomenon in which an individual experiences an episode of some of LSD's subjective effects long after the drug has worn off, usually in the days after typical doses. In some rarer cases, flashbacks have lasted longer, but are generally short-lived and mild compared to the actual LSD "trip". Flashbacks can incorporate both positive and negative aspects of LSD trips, and are typically elicited by triggers such as alcohol or cannabis use, stress, or sleepiness. Flashbacks have proven difficult to study and are no longer officially recognized as a psychiatric syndrome. However, colloquial usage of the term persists and usually refers to any drug-free experience reminiscent of psychedelic drug effects, with the typical connotation that the episodes are of short duration.

No definitive explanation is currently available for these experiences. Any attempt at explanation must reflect several observations: first, over 70 percent of LSD users claim never to have "flashed back"; second, the phenomenon does appear linked with LSD use, though a causal connection has not been established; and third, a higher proportion of psychiatric patients report flashbacks than other users.<ref name="abrahart">{{cite web
| url = http://www.maps.org/research/abrahart.html#chp1
| title = A Critical Review of Theories and Research Concerning Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) and Mental Health
| author = David Abrahart
|year=1998
| accessdate = 2007-02-02}}</ref> Several studies have tried to determine how likely a user of LSD, not suffering from known psychiatric conditions, is to experience flashbacks. The larger studies include Blumenfeld's in 1971<ref>{{cite journal | author=Blumenfield M | title=Flashback phenomena in basic trainees who enter the US Air Force | journal=Military Medicine | year=1971 | pages=39–41 | volume=136 | issue=1 | pmid=5005369}}</ref> and Naditch and Fenwick's in 1977,<ref>{{cite journal | author=Naditch MP, Fenwick S | title=LSD flashbacks and ego functioning | journal=Journal of Abnormal Psychology | year=1977 | pages=352–9 | volume=86 | issue=4 | pmid=757972 | doi = 10.1037/0021-843X.86.4.352}}</ref> which arrived at figures of 20% and 28%, respectively.

Although flashbacks themselves are not recognized as a medical syndrome, there is a recognized syndrome called [[hallucinogen persisting perception disorder|Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder]] (HPPD) in which LSD-like visual changes are not temporary and brief, as they are in flash-backs, but instead are persistent, and cause clinically significant impairment or distress. The syndrome is a [[Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders|DSM-IV]] diagnosis. Several scientific journal articles have described the disorder.<ref>See, for example, {{cite journal | author=Abraham HD, Aldridge AM | title=Adverse consequences of lysergic acid diethylamide | journal=[[Addiction (journal)|Addiction]] | year=1993 | pages=1327–34 | volume=88 | issue=10 | pmid=8251869 | doi=10.1111/j.1360-0443.1993.tb02018.x}}</ref>

HPPD differs from flashbacks in that it is persistent and apparently entirely visual (although mood and anxiety disorders are sometimes diagnosed in the same individuals). A recent review suggests that [[hallucinogen persisting perception disorder|HPPD]] (as defined in the DSM-IV) is rare and affects only a distinctly vulnerable subpopulation of users.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Halpern JH, Pope HG Jr | title=Hallucinogen persisting perception disorder: what do we know after 50 years? | journal=Drug Alcohol Depend | year=2003 | pages=109–19 | volume=69 | issue=2 | pmid=12609692 | doi = 10.1016/S0376-8716(02)00306-X}}; {{cite journal | author=Halpern JH | title=Hallucinogens: an update | journal=Curr Psychiatry Rep | year=2003 | pages=347–54 | volume=5 | issue=5 | pmid=13678554 | doi = 10.1007/s11920-003-0067-4}} [http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=6224]</ref> However, it is possible that the prevalence of HPPD is underestimated because most of the diagnoses are applied to people who are willing to admit to their health care practitioner that they have previously used psychotropics, and presumably many people are reluctant to admit this.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cpdd.vcu.edu/Pages/Meetings/Meetings_PDFs/2006abstractbook.pdf |author= Baggott et al. |year=2006 |title= Prevalence of chronic flashbacks in hallucinogen users: a web-based questionnaire |format=PDF |accessdate=2009-09-25}}</ref>

There is no consensus regarding the nature and causes of HPPD (or flashbacks). A study of 44 HPPD subjects who had previously ingested LSD showed [[EEG]] abnormalities.<ref>{{cite journal | author=Abraham, H. D., & Duffy, F. H. |year=(1996) | title=Stable quantitative EEG difference in post-LSD visual disorder by split-half analysis: Evidence for disinhibition | journal=Psychiatry Research | volume=67 | issue=3 | pages= 173–187 | doi=10.1016/0925-4927(96)02833-8 | pmid=8912957}}</ref> Given that some symptoms have environmental triggers, it may represent a failure to adjust visual processing to changing environmental conditions. There are no explanations for why only some individuals develop HPPD. Explanations in terms of LSD physically remaining in the body for months or years after consumption have been discounted by experimental evidence.<ref name="abrahart" /> Some say HPPD is a manifestation of [[post-traumatic stress disorder]], not related to the direct action of LSD on brain chemistry, and varies according to the susceptibility of the individual to the disorder. Many emotionally intense experiences can lead to flashbacks when a person is reminded acutely of the original experience. However, not all published case reports of HPPD appear to describe an anxious hyper-vigilant state reminiscent of post-traumatic stress disorder. Instead, some cases appear to involve only visual symptoms.<ref name="abrahart" />

=== Uterine contractions ===
Early pharmacological testing by Sandoz in laboratory animals showed that LSD can stimulate uterine contractions, with efficacy comparable to [[Ergoline#Lysergic acid amides|ergobasine]], the active uterotonic component of the [[ergot]] fungus. (Hofmann's work on ergot derivatives also produced a modified form of [[Ergonovine|ergobasine]] which became a widely accepted medication used in [[obstetrics]], under the trade name [[Ergoline#Lysergic acid amides|Methergine]].) Therefore, LSD use by pregnant women could be dangerous and is [[contraindication|contraindicated]].<ref name="problem-child" /> However, the relevance of these animal studies to humans is unclear, and a 2008 medical reference guide to drugs in pregnancy and lactation stated, "It appears unlikely that pure LSD administered in a controlled condition is an [[abortifacient]]."<ref name="Briggs2008">{{cite book | author = Gerald G. Briggs,Roger K. Freeman,Sumner J. Yaffe | title = Drugs in pregnancy and lactation | year = 2008 | publisher = Lippincott Williams & Wilkins | isnb = 9780781778763 | url = http://books.google.com/books?id=YOEV2w3XTxsC}}</ref>

=== Genetic ===
Beginning in 1967, studies raised concerns that LSD might produce genetic damage<ref name="dishotsky">{{cite journal | author=Dishotsky NI, Loughman WD, Mogar RE, Lipscomb WR | title=LSD and genetic damage | journal=Science | year=1971 | pages=431–40 | volume=172 | issue=982| url=http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1971/1971_dishotsky_5148_1.pdf | doi = 10.1126/science.172.3982.431|format=PDF | pmid=4994465}}</ref> or developmental abnormalities in fetuses. However, these initial reports were based on ''in vitro'' studies or were poorly controlled and have not been substantiated. In studies of [[chromosome|chromosomal]] changes in human users and in monkeys, the balance of evidence suggests no increase in chromosomal damage. For example, [[white blood cell]]s of people who had been given LSD in a clinical setting were examined for visible chromosomal abnormalities; overall, there appeared to be no lasting changes.<ref name="dishotsky"/> Several studies have been conducted using illicit LSD users and provide a less clear picture. Interpretation of this data is generally complicated by factors such as the unknown chemical composition of street LSD, concurrent use of other [[psychoactive drug]]s, and diseases such as [[hepatitis]] in the sampled populations. It seems possible that the small number of genetic abnormalities reported in users of street LSD is either coincidental or related to factors other than a toxic effect of pure LSD.<ref name="dishotsky" /> A 2008 medical review concluded, "The available data suggest that pure LSD does not cause chromosomal abnormalities, spontaneous abortions, or congenital malformations."<ref name="Briggs2008"/>

=== "Antidotes" ===
Adverse effects of psychotropics are often treated with fast-acting [[benzodiazepine]]s like [[diazepam]] or [[triazolam]] that have calming and antianxiety effects but do not directly affect the specific actions of psychotropics. Theoretically, specific [[5-HT2A receptor|5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptor]] [[Receptor antagonist|antagonist]]s, which most commonly means [[atypical antipsychotics]] ([[quetiapine]], [[olanzapine]], [[risperidone]], etc.) or other 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> antagonist such as [[trazodone]] or [[mirtazapine]], would be direct [[antidote]]s, although some anecdotal reports claim otherwise.<ref>Huxley, Aldous ''The Doors of Perception and Heaven & Hell'', Harper & Row, 1954.</ref> Also, some people have reported that taking an [[SSRI]] such as [[fluoxetine]] will counteract the effects of LSD.<ref>{{cite web
| author = Bonson, Kit
| year = 1994
| title = The Interactions between Hallucinogens and Antidepressants - Summary of Results from Online Survey and Online Interviews
| url = http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/maois/maois_info4.shtml
| publisher = Erowid
| accessdate = 2008-07-28
}}</ref> Some reports indicate that although administration of [[chlorpromazine]] (Thorazine) or similar [[typical antipsychotic]] tranquilizers will not end an LSD trip, it will either lessen the intensity or immobilize and numb the patient, a side effect of the medication.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Gilberti, F. and Gregoretti, L. L.|url=http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1955/1955_giberti_3993_1.pdf|title=Prime esperienze di antaonismo psicofarmacologico|journal=Sistema Nervoso|volume=4|year=1955|pages=301–309|format=PDF}}</ref> While it also may not end an LSD trip, the best chemical treatment for a "bad trip" is an [[anxiolytic]] agent such as [[diazepam]] (Valium) or another [[benzodiazepine]]. As the effect of the drug is psychological as well as physical, any treatment should focus on calming the patient. Limiting stimuli such as bright lights and loud noises can help in the event of an ill reaction.

Many [[rumor]]s about [[home remedy|home remedies]] to counteract psychedelic effects are circulated, including orange juice, vanilla essence, vitamin C, and anti-histamines. These may have a placebo effect, working by making the taker think they have done something to make it better.<ref>{{cite web
| author = RaveSafe
| year = 1999
| title = RaveSafe Q&A - Can you actually end an acid trip?
| url = http://www.ravesafe.org/qna/qna-2.htm
| accessdate = 2008-07-28
}}</ref>

== Pharmacokinetics ==
LSD's effects normally last from 6–12 hours depending on dosage, tolerance, body weight and age<ref name="tihkal">[[Alexander Shulgin|Alexander]] and [[Ann Shulgin]]. "[http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/tihkal/tihkal26.shtml LSD]", in ''[[TiHKAL]]'' (Berkeley: Transform Press, 1997). ISBN 0-963-00969-9.</ref> The Sandoz prospectus for "Delysid" warned: "intermittent disturbances of affect may occasionally persist for several days."<ref name="problem-child" /> Contrary to early reports and common belief, LSD effects do not last longer than the amount of time significant levels of the drug are present in the blood. Aghajanian and Bing (1964) found LSD had an elimination half-life of only 175 minutes.<ref name="Aghajanian">
{{cite journal
|last1=Aghajanian
|first1=George K.
|last2=Bing
|first2=Oscar H. L.
|title=Persistence of lysergic acid diethylamide in the plasma of human subjects
|year=1964
|journal=Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
|volume=5
|pages=611–614
|url=http://www.maps.org/w3pb/new/1964/1964_aghajanian_2224_1.pdf
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2009-09-17
|pmid=14209776}}</ref> However, using more accurate techniques, Papac and Foltz (1990) reported that 1&nbsp;µg/kg oral LSD given to a single male volunteer had an apparent plasma half-life of 5.1 hours, with a peak plasma concentration of 5&nbsp;ng/mL at 3 hours post-dose.<ref name="Papac">
{{cite journal
|last1=Papac
|first1=DI
|last2=Foltz
|first2=RL
|title=Measurement of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in human plasma by gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry
|year=1990
|month=May/June
|journal=Journal of Analytical Toxicology
|volume=14
|issue=3
|pages=189–190
|url=http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDocPartFrame&C=ref&ID=6265&DocPartID=6624
|format=PDF
|accessdate=2009-09-17
|pmid=2374410}}</ref>

===Detection in biological fluids===
LSD may be quantified in urine as part of a drug abuse testing program, in plasma or serum to confirm a diagnosis of poisoning in hospitalized victims or in whole blood to assist in a forensic investigation of a traffic or other criminal violation or a case of sudden death. Both the parent drug and its major metabolite are unstable in biofluids when exposed to light, heat or alkaline conditions and therefore specimens should be protected from light, stored at the lowest possible temperature and analyzed quickly to minimize losses.<ref>R. Baselt, ''Disposition of Toxic Drugs and Chemicals in Man'', 8th edition, Biomedical Publications, Foster City, CA, 2008, pp. 871-874.</ref>

== Pharmacodynamics ==
[[Image:LSDaffinities.GIF|thumb|300px|Affinity of LSD for various receptors. The lower the affinity, the more strongly LSD binds to that receptor. The horizontal line represents an approximate value for human plasma concentrations of LSD, and hence, receptor affinities that are below the line are unlikely to be involved in LSD's effect. Data averaged from data from the [[Ki Database|K<sub>i</sub> Database]]]]

LSD affects a large number of the [[G protein coupled receptor|G protein coupled]] [[receptor (biochemistry)|receptors]], including all [[dopamine receptor]] subtypes, and all [[Adrenergic receptor|adrenoreceptor]] subtypes, as well as many others. LSD binds to most [[5-HT receptor|serotonin receptor]] subtypes except for [[5-HT3 receptor|5-HT<sub>3</sub>]] and [[5-HT4 receptor|5-HT<sub>4</sub>]]. However, most of these receptors are affected at too low affinity to be sufficiently activated by the brain concentration of approximately 10–20&nbsp;nM.<ref name="nichols">{{cite journal | author=Nichols, David E. | title=Psychotropics | journal=Pharmacology & Therapeutics | year=2004 | pages=131–81 | volume=101 | issue=2 | url=http://www.erowid.org/references/refs_view.php?A=ShowDoc1&ID=6318|pmid=14761703 | doi=10.1016/j.pharmthera.2003.11.002}}</ref> In humans, recreational doses of LSD can affect [[5-HT1A receptor|5-HT<sub>1A</sub>]], [[5-HT2A receptor|5-HT<sub>2A</sub>]], [[5-HT2C receptor|5-HT<sub>2C</sub>]], [[5-HT5A receptor|5-HT<sub>5A</sub>]], and [[5-HT6 receptor|5-HT<sub>6</sub> receptor]]s.<ref name="Aghajanian" /><ref>{{cite web
| url=http://pdsp.cwru.edu/pdsp.php
| accessdate=2009-11-02
| title=PDSP database}}</ref> [[5-HT5B receptor|5-HT<sub>5B</sub> receptors]], which are not present in humans, also have a high affinity for LSD.<ref>{{cite journal
| author = Nelson, DL
| title = 5-HT5 receptors
| journal= Current drug targets. CNS and neurological disorders
| year = 2004
| month = February
| volume = 3
| issue = 1
| pages = 53&ndash;8
| pmid = 14965244
| doi = 10.2174/1568007043482606}}</ref> The psychedelic effects of LSD are attributed to its strong [[partial agonist]] effects at 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> receptors as specific 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> [[agonist]]s are psychedelics and largely 5-HT<sub>2A</sub> specific [[Receptor antagonist|antagonist]]s block the psychedelic activity of LSD.<ref name="nichols" /> Exactly how this produces the drug's effects is unknown, but it is thought that it works by increasing [[glutamic acid|glutamate]] release in the [[cerebral cortex]] and therefore [[EPSP|excitation]] in this area, specifically in layers IV and V.<ref>BilZ0r. "[http://www.erowid.org/psychoactives/pharmacology/pharmacology_article2.shtml The Neuropharmacology of Hallucinogens: a technical overview]". [[Erowid]], v3.1 (August 2005).</ref> LSD, like many other drugs, has been shown to activate [[DARPP-32]]-related pathways.<ref>{{cite journal
| author = Svenningsson P. , Nairn A. C., Greengard P.
| title = DARPP-32 Mediates the Actions of Multiple Drugs of Abuse.
| journal= AAPS Journal
| year= 2005
| volume = 07
| issue = 02
| pages= E353–E360
| doi = 10.1208/aapsj070235
| url = http://www.aapsj.org/view.asp?art=aapsj070235
}}</ref>

== Production ==
[[Image:LSDLabGlassware.jpg|left|thumb|Glassware seized by the DEA]]

Because an active dose of LSD is very minute, a large number of doses can be synthesized from a comparatively small amount of raw material. Beginning with [[ergotamine]] [[tartrate]], for example, one can manufacture roughly one kilogram of pure, crystalline LSD from five kilograms of the ergotamine salt. Five kilograms of LSD — 25 kilograms of ergotamine tartrate — could provide 100 million doses, according to the DEA, more than enough to meet what is believed to be the entire annual U.S. demand. Since the masses involved are so small, concealing and transporting illicit LSD is much easier than smuggling other illegal drugs like [[cocaine]] or [[cannabis (drug)|cannabis]].<ref name="DEA-pub">{{cite web
|author = DEA
|year = 2007
|title = LSD Manufacture - Illegal LSD Production
|url = http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/dea/product/lsd/lsd-5.htm
|work = LSD in the United States
|publisher = U.S. Department of Justice Drug Enforcement Administration
|archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070829023659/http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/dea/product/lsd/lsd-5.htm
|archivedate = 2007-08-29
}}</ref>

Manufacturing LSD requires laboratory equipment and experience in the field of [[organic chemistry]]. It takes two to three days to produce 30 to 100&nbsp;grams of pure compound. It is believed that LSD is not usually produced in large quantities, but rather in a series of small batches. This technique minimizes the loss of precursor chemicals in case a step does not work as expected.<ref name="DEA-pub" />

=== Forms of LSD ===
[[Image:AciD.jpg|thumb|Cheshire LSD Blotter]]
LSD is produced in crystalline form and then mixed with [[excipient]]s or redissolved for production in ingestible forms. Liquid solution is either distributed in small vials or, more commonly, sprayed onto or soaked into a distribution medium. Historically, LSD solutions were first sold on sugar cubes, but practical considerations forced a change to [[tablet]] form. Appearing in 1968 as an orange tablet measuring about 6&nbsp;mm across "Sunshine" acid was the first largely available form of LSD after its possession was made illegal. Tim Scully, a prominent chemist, made some of it, but said that most "Sunshine" in the USA came by way of Ronald Stark, who imported approximately thirty-five million doses from Europe.<ref name=Stafford1992>{{
cite book
|last = Stafford
|first = Peter
|year = 1992
|title = Psychedelics Encyclopaedia
|chapter = Chapter 1 - The LSD Family
|page = 62
|edition = Third Expanded
|publisher = Ronin Publishing Inc
|isbn = 0-914171-51-8
}}</ref>

Over a period of time, tablet dimensions, weight, shape and concentration of LSD evolved from large (4.5-8.1&nbsp;mm diameter), heavyweight (≥150&nbsp;mg), round, high concentration (90-350&nbsp;µg/tab) dosage units to small (2.0-3.5&nbsp;mm diameter) lightweight (as low as 4.7&nbsp;mg/tab), variously shaped, lower concentration (12-85&nbsp;µg/tab, average range 30-40&nbsp;µg/tab) dosage units. LSD tablet shapes have included cylinders, cones, stars, spacecraft and heart shapes. The smallest tablets became known as "Microdots".<ref name=Laing2003>{{
cite book
|last = Laing
|first = Richard R.
|coauthors = Barry L. Beyerstein, Jay A. Siegel
|year = 2003
|title = Hallucinogens: A Forensic Drug Handbook
|chapter = Chapter 2.2 - Forms of the Drug
|chapterurl = http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=l1DrqgobbcwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_summary_r&cad=0#PPA39,M1
|pages = 39–41
|publisher = Academic Press
|isbn = 0124339514
}}</ref>

After tablets came "computer acid" or "blotter paper LSD," typically made by dipping a preprinted sheet of [[blotting paper]] into an LSD/water/alcohol solution.<ref name=Stafford1992/><ref name=Laing2003/> More than 200 types of LSD tablets have been encountered since 1969 and more than 350 blotter paper designs have been observed since 1975.<ref name=Laing2003/> About the same time as blotter paper LSD came "Windowpane" (aka "Clearlight"), which contained LSD inside a thin [[gelatin]] square a quarter of an inch across.<ref name=Stafford1992/> <!-- Please do not add any street names here unless you can provide evidence for their notability and importance! Additions not referenced to a reliable source will be removed immediately. The goal of an encyclopedia is to provide a "ready reference" of key concepts, not give an exhaustive list of every detail.--> LSD has been sold under a wide variety of often short-lived and regionally restricted street names including Acid, Trips, Uncle Sid, Blotter, [[Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds|Lucy]], Alice and doses, as well as names that reflect the designs on the sheets of blotter paper.<ref name="erowid-faq">Honig, David. [http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_faq.shtml Frequently Asked Questions] via [[Erowid]]</ref><ref>{{cite web
| url = http://www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/streetterms/ByType.asp?intTypeID=6
| title = Street Terms: Drugs and the Drug Trade
| publisher = [[Office of National Drug Control Policy]]
| date = 2005-04-05
| accessdate = 2007-01-31
}}</ref> Authorities have encountered the drug in other forms — including powder or crystal, and capsule.<ref>{{cite web
| author = DEA
| year = 2008
| title = Photo Library (page 2)
| url = http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/photo_library2.html#lsd
| publisher = US Drug Enforcement Administration
| accessdate = 2008-06-27
}}</ref>

=== Modern distribution ===

LSD manufacturers and traffickers in the United States can be categorized into two groups: A few large-scale producers, and an equally limited number of small, clandestine chemists, consisting of independent producers who, operating on a comparatively limited scale, can be found throughout the country.<ref>^ Maclean, J.R.; Macdonald, D.C.; Ogden, F.; Wilby, E., "LSD-25 and mescaline as therapeutic adjuvants." In: Abramson, H., Ed., The Use of LSD in Psychotherapy and Alcoholism, Bobbs-Merrill: New York, 1967, pp. 407–426; Ditman, K.S.; Bailey, J.J., "Evaluating LSD as a psychotherapeutic agent," pp.74–80; Hoffer, A., "A program for the treatment of alcoholism: LSD, malvaria, and nicotinic acid," pp. 353–402.</ref> As a group, independent producers are of less concern to the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] than the larger groups, as their product reaches only local markets.<ref>^ LSD: The Drug</ref>

=== LSD Mimics ===
[[Image:Docpsychadelic.jpg|thumb|right|LSD blotter acid mimic actually containing DOC]]
[[Image:Lysergic.JPG|thumb|Different Blotters possibly mimics]]
In recent years, law enforcement in the United States and elsewhere has seized several chemicals and combinations of chemicals in blotter paper which were sold as LSD mimics, including [[2,5-dimethoxy-4-bromoamphetamine|DOB]],<ref name="microgram october 2005">
{{Cite journal
| journal=Microgram Bulletin
| date=October 2005
| year=2005
| author=United States Drug Enforcement Administration
| volume=38
| issue=10
| url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg1005/mg1005.html
| accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref><ref name="microgram november 2006">
{{Cite journal
| journal=Microgram Bulletin
| date=November 2006
| year=2006
| volume=39
| issue=11
| author=United States Drug Enforcement Administration
| url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg1106/mg1106.html
| accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> [[2C-I]],<ref name="microgram february 2007">
{{Cite journal
| journal=Microgram Bulletin
| date=February 2007
| year=2007
| volume=40
| issue=2
| author=United States Drug Enforcement Administration
| url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0207/mg0207.html
| accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref><ref name="microgram december 2007">
{{Cite journal
| journal=Microgram Bulletin
| date=December 2007
| year=2007
| volume=40
| issue=12
| author=United States Drug Enforcement Administration
| url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg1207/mg1207.html
| accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> [[2,5-dimethoxy-4-chloroamphetamine|DOC]],<ref name="microgram december 2007" /> a mixture of DOC and [[2,5-dimethoxy-4-iodoamphetamine|DOI]],<ref name ="microgram march 2008">
{{Cite journal
| journal=Microgram Bulletin
| date=March 2008
| year=2008
| volume=41
| issue=3
| author=United States Drug Enforcement Administration
| url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0308/mg0308.html
| accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> and a mixture of DOC and DOB.<ref name="microgram march 2009">
{{Cite journal
| journal=Microgram Bulletin
| date=March 2009
| year=2009
| volume=42
| issue=3
| author=United States Drug Enforcement Administration
| url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg0309/mg0309.html
| accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> Street users of LSD are often under the impression that blotter paper which is actively hallucinogenic can only be LSD because that is the only chemical with low enough doses to fit on a small square of blotter paper. While it is true that LSD requires lower doses than most other hallucinogens, blotter paper is capable of absorbing a much larger amount of material. The DEA performed a [[chromatography|chromatographic]] analysis of blotter paper containing [[2C-C]] which showed that the paper contained a much greater concentration of the active chemical than typical LSD doses, although the exact quantity was not determined.<ref name="microgram november 2005">
{{Cite journal
| journal=Microgram Bulletin
| date=November 2005
| year=2005
| volume=38
| issue=11
| author=United States Drug Enforcement Administration
| url=http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/programs/forensicsci/microgram/mg1105/mg1105.html
| accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> Blotter LSD mimics can have relatively small dose squares; a sample of blotter paper containing DOC seized by [[Concord, California]] police had dose markings approximately 6&nbsp;mm apart.<ref name="microgram december 2007" />

== Legal status ==
The [[United Nations]] [[Convention on Psychotropic Substances]] (adopted in 1971) requires its parties to prohibit LSD. Hence, it is illegal in all parties to the convention, which includes the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Europe. However, enforcement of extant laws varies from country to country. Medical and scientific research with LSD in humans is permitted under the 1971 UN Convention.

=== Canada ===
In Canada, LSD is a controlled substance under Schedule III of the [[Controlled Drugs and Substances Act]].<ref name="cdasa">{{cite web
| url = http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/showdoc/cs/C-38.8//20070705/en?command=HOME&caller=SI&fragment=lsd&search_type=all&day=5&month=7&year=2007&search_domain=cs&showall=L&statuteyear=all&lengthannual=50&length=50|title=Controlled Drugs and Substances Act
| accessdate=2007-07-05
| publisher=Canadian Department of Justice
| year=1996
| author=Canadian government
| work=Justice Laws}}</ref> Every person who seeks to obtain the substance, without disclosing authorization to obtain such substances 30 days prior to obtaining another prescription from a practitioner, is guilty of an indictable offense and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years. Possession for purpose of trafficking is an indictable offense punishable by imprisonment for 10 years.

=== United Kingdom ===
In the United Kingdom, LSD is a class A drug. This means that possession of the drug without a license is punishable with 7 years imprisonment and/or an unlimited fine, and trafficking is punishable with life imprisonment and an unlimited fine (''see main article on drug punishments [[Misuse of Drugs Act 1971]]).''

In 2000, after consultation with members of the [[Royal College of Psychiatrists]]' Faculty of Substance Misuse, the UK Police Foundation issued the [[Runciman Report]] which recommended ''"the transfer of LSD from Class A to Class B"''.<ref>[http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/Library/studies/runciman/pf3.htm Drugs and the law: Report of the inquiry into the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971] London: Police Foundation, 2000, [[Runciman Report]]</ref>

In Nov 2009, the UK [[Transform Drug Policy Foundation]] released in the House of Commons a guidebooks to the legal regulation of drugs, ''After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation'', which details options for regulated distribution and sale of LSD and other psychedelics.<ref>[http://www.tdpf.org.uk/blueprint%20download.htm After the War on Drugs: Blueprint for Regulation] Transform Drug Policy Foundation 2009</ref>

=== United States===

LSD is Schedule I in the United States, according to the [[Controlled Substances Act]] of 1970.<ref>From [http://www.usdoj.gov/dea/concern/lsd.html]: ''LSD is a Schedule I substance under the Controlled Substances Act.''</ref> This means LSD is illegal to manufacture, buy, possess, process, or distribute without a DEA license. By classifying LSD as a Schedule I substance, the [[Drug Enforcement Administration]] holds that LSD meets the following three criteria: it is deemed to have a high potential for abuse; it has no legitimate medical use in treatment; and there is a lack of accepted safety for its use under medical supervision. Note, there are very few or no documented deaths due to chemical toxicity, most LSD deaths are a result of [http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1011615-overview behavioral toxicity].

There can also be substantial discrepancies between the amount of chemical LSD that one possesses and the amount of possession with which one can be charged in the U.S. This is because LSD is almost always present in a medium (e.g. blotter or neutral liquid), and the amount that can be considered with respect to sentencing is the total mass of the drug and its medium. This discrepancy was the subject of 1995 [[United States Supreme Court]] case, ''Neal v. U.S.''<ref>{{cite court
| litigants=Neal v. United States
| reporter=U.S.
| volume=516
| opinion=284
| pinpoint=
| court=
|year=1996
| url=http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/94-9088.ZO.html
}}, originating from U.S. v. Neal, 46 F.3d 1405 (7th Cir. 1995)</ref>

Lysergic acid and lysergic acid amide, LSD precursors, are both classified in [[Controlled Substances Act#Schedule III drugs|Schedule III]] of the Controlled Substances Act. Ergotamine tartrate, a precursor to lysergic acid, is regulated under the [[Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act]].

== Notable individuals ==
Many notable individuals have commented publicly on their experiences with LSD.<ref>{{cite web
| title = Famous LSD users
| url = http://www.thegooddrugsguide.com/articles/famous_users/lsd.htm
| publisher = The Good Drugs Guide
|accessdate = 2008-10-20
}}</ref> Some of these comments date from the era when it was legally available in the US and Europe for non-medical uses, and others pertain to [[psychiatric]] treatment in the 1950s and 60s. Still others describe experiences with illegal LSD, obtained for philosophic, artistic, therapeutic, spiritual, or recreational purposes.

== See also ==
*[[ALD-52]], chemical analogue of LSD
*[[Lysergic acid amide|LSA]], chemical analogue of LSD
*[[Methysergide]], headache medication, chemically related to LSD
*[[Psychedelic drug]]
*[[Psychedelic experience]]
*[[Drug_urban_legends#Urban_legends_about_LSD|Urban legends about LSD]]

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

== Further reading ==

* Bebergal, Peter, [http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/62230-Will-Harvard-drop-acid-again/ "Will Harvard drop acid again? Psychedelic research returns to Crimsonland"], [[The Phoenix (newspaper)|The Phoenix]] (Boston), June 2, 2008
* Grof, Stanislav. ''LSD Psychotherapy''. (April 10, 2001)
* Lee, Martin A. and Bruce Shlain. ''Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond'' (1992) ISBN 9780802130624
* Marks, John. ''The Search for the Manchurian Candidate: The CIA and Mind Control'' (1979), ISBN 0812907736
* Roberts, Andy. ''Albion Dreaming: A Popular History of LSD in Britain'' (2008), Marshall Cavendish,U.K, ISBN 1905736274
* Stevens, Jay. ''Storming Heaven: LSD And The American Dream'' (1998) ISBN 9780802135872
* Hofmann, Albert. [http://books.google.com/books?id=U6uhAAAACAAJ ''LSD My Problem Child: Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science''] (1983) ISBN 9780966001983
* Henderson, Leigh A. and William J. Glass. ''LSD: Still With Us After All These Years: Based on the National Institute of Drug Abuse Studies on the Resurgence of Contemporary LSD Use'' (1st edition 1994, 2nd edition 1998) ISBN 9780787943790
* de Rios, Marlene Dobkin and Oscar Janiger. [http://books.google.com/books?id=BSLGKvZpe8QC&dq ''LSD, spirituality, and the creative process''] (2003, Inner Traditions) ISBN 9780892819737 - "An exploration of how LSD influences imagination and the creative process. Based on the results of one of the longest clinical studies of LSD that took place between 1954 and 1962, before LSD was illegal. Includes personal reports, artwork, and poetry from the original sessions as testimony of the impact of LSD on the creative process."
* Passie T, Halpern JH, Stichtenoth DO, Emrich HM, Hintzen A. [http://www.maps.org/sys/w3pb.pl?mode=search&c_pkey=23067&displayformat=allinfo&type=citation The pharmacology of lysergic acid diethylamide: a review.] CNS Neurosci Ther. 2008 Winter;14(4):295-314. PMID 19040555

== External links ==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons|LSD}}
{{Wikinews|Drug website surveys LSD users and culture}}
* [http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd.shtml Erowid Vaults: LSD-25]
* [http://leda.lycaeum.org/?ID=10 The Lycaeum Archive: LSD]
* [http://www.erowid.org/library/books_online/tihkal/tihkal26.shtml TIHKAL entry for LSD-25]
* [http://tihkal.info/read.php?domain=tk&id=25 LSD entry in TiHKAL • info]
* [http://www.maps.org/sys/w3pb.pl WWW Psychedelic Bibliography], [[Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies|MAPS]] - large database of scientific publications on LSD and other psychedelics, fulltext PDFs
* [http://www.maps.org/research/cluster/psilo-lsd/ Current LSD Research – MAPS]
* [http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/hallucinogens.html InfoFacts - Hallucinogens] [[NIDA]]
* [http://www.talktofrank.com/drugs.aspx?id=192 Talk to Frank] UK government anti-drug site on LSD
* [http://ahp.yorku.ca/?p=97 Scholarly bibliography on the histories of LSD use]
* [http://books.google.com/books?id=ASoDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA60 ''My LSD Trip: a non-cop, non-hippie report of the unvarnished facts''], by Robert Gannon, [[Popular Science]] Magazine, December 1967.
* [http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=return-of-a-problem-child LSD Returns--For Psychotherapeutics (Scientific American Magazine article)]

'''Documentaries'''
* [http://www.nfb.ca/film/hofmanns_potion ''Hofmann's Potion''] a documentary on the origins of LSD
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZdz0G4lG6k ''Power & Control LSD in The Sixties''], documentary film directed by [[Aron Ranen]], 2006<!-- This video was uploaded to YouTube by the director -->
* [http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/explorer/4094/Overview ''Inside LSD''] National Geographic Channel, 2009

{{drug use}}
{{Hallucinogenic lysergamides}}
{{TiHKAL}}
{{Serotonergics}}
{{Ergolines}}

<!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:InChI]] -->
{{InChI
|InChI=1/C20H25N3O/c1-4-23(5-2)20(24)14-9-16-15-7-6-8-17-19(15)13(11-21-17)10-18(16)22(3)12-14/h6-9,11,14,18,21H,4-5,10,12H2,1-3H3/t14-,18-/m1/s1
|InChIKey=VAYOSLLFUXYJDT-RDTXWAMCBY
|CASRN=50-37-3
|PIN=Lysergic acid diethylamide
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lysergic Acid Diethylamide}}
[[Category:Eli Lilly and Company]]
[[Category:Light-sensitive chemicals]]
[[Category:LSD|LSD]]
[[Category:Mind control]]
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[[Category:Serotonin receptor agonists]]
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[[Category:Swiss inventions]]

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