Overview:
Lysergic acid diethylamide is also commonly called LSD, LSD-25, or acid. LSD is an entheogen, or hallucinogen that some people use during spiritual practices.
It is synthesized from lysergic acid derived from ergot, a grain fungus that typically grows on rye. The short form LSD comes from its early codename LSD-25, which is an abbreviation for the German "Lysergsäure-diethylamid" followed by a sequential number.
LSD is sensitive to oxygen, ultraviolet light, and chlorine, especially in solution, though its potency may last years if it is stored away from light and moisture at low temperature. In pure form it is colorless, odorless and mildly bitter. LSD is typically delivered orally, usually on a substrate such as absorbent blotter paper, a sugar cube, or gelatin. In its liquid form, it can be administered by intra muscular or intravenous injection. The threshold dosage level for an effect on humans is of the order of 20 to 30 µg (micrograms). more...
Introduced by Sandoz Laboratories as a drug with various psychiatric uses, LSD quickly became a therapeutic agent that appeared to show great promise. However, the extra-medical use of the drug in Western society in the middle years of the twentieth century led to a political firestorm that resulted in the banning of the substance for medical as well as recreational and spiritual uses. more...
Research:
Response of Cluster Headache to Psilocybin and LSD
Hallucinogen Persisting Perception Disorder: what do we know after 50 years?
Flashback: Psychiatric Experimentation with LSD in Historical Perspective
LSD and the phenethylamine hallucinogen DOI are potent partial agonists at 5-HT2A receptors on interneurons in rat piriform cortex
LSD, Meditation and Music
'Hitting Highs at Rock Bottom': LSD Treatment for Alcoholism, 1950-1970
