Albert Hofmann, LSD Chemist, Died

[quote]entheogens wrote:

[quote]SeanT wrote:

LSD cheap and easy to make? When did this happen?[/quote]

It is reasonably easy to make for someone with, say, a Masters Degree in Chemistry (provided they are able to get hold of the precursors). I have verified this with Chemist friends. It’s always been fairly cheap. Somebody like Owsley was almost giving the stuff away and, in fact, Ken Kesey (author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”) and his band of Merry Prankster’s toured around the country in their bus, basically doing just that. As you probably know, Leary had a research project using LSD (often with undergraduates…that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, I believe, and got him fired) at Harvard and I believe he was getting free research materials (LSD-25) directly from Sandoz, the Swiss chemical company where Hofmann worked.

[/quote]

Exactly. In HS a brother of a kid I grew up with was a chemist and made it frequently. From what I am told, pure liquid LSD is a much different animal than most blotter products because compounds like strychnine are added to blotter acid among a few other things that contribute to the speedy effect sometimes felt and also the heavier visual effects.

It’s probably one of the cheapest drugs to make, just don’t get caught with any.

[quote]entheogens wrote:

Somebody like Owsley was almost giving the stuff away…

[/quote]

Whatever happened to Owsley, you know, since he got off the bus?

Oh, yeah. And, kids…don’t do LSD.
Look what happened to me.

[quote]Yo Momma wrote:
Whatever happened to Owsley, you know, since he got off the bus?

Oh, yeah. And, kids…don’t do LSD.
Look what happened to me.

[/quote]

Here’s an article about him in the San Francisco Chronicle from a few months back, detailing his present and past life. Enjoy:

[quote]Dedicated wrote:
Entheogens, do you recall the study on LSD treating alcoholism? [/quote]

There were a number of studies to that effect. I haven’t read those studies and I really don’t know how solid was the evidence. However, you can probably find information about those studies over at MAPS, which funds serious research studies on psychedelics and MDMA: http://www.maps.org

Now, Bill Wilson, the guy who started Alcoholics Anonymous, was a big fan of LSD and thought that it was an important therapeutic tool for treating alcoholism:

[quote]entheogens wrote:
Yo Momma wrote:
Whatever happened to Owsley, you know, since he got off the bus?

Oh, yeah. And, kids…don’t do LSD.
Look what happened to me.

Here’s an article about him in the San Francisco Chronicle from a few months back, detailing his present and past life. Enjoy:

[/quote]

Thanks.

[quote]Bujutsuka wrote:
haha. LSD can’t kill you no matter how much you take, but it can open your eyes to how much you don’t notice about life.
.[/quote]

You’re right. But, it is a drug that deserves a lot of RESPECT. You know, there is this ongoing debate. On the one side, you had people like Hofmann and Aldous Huxley who argued that LSD should have been reserved for use by a small group of people, like some intellectuals, artists or, at least, people under close clinical supervision. On the other hand, you had people like Leary, Alpert (now Ram Dass) or, more recently, Terence Mckenna who argued for psychedelics for the masses. I believe Dr. Andrew Weil-the famous health guru- was probably more in the former camp. He became converted to LSD research after having been initially critical of it.

In any case, I think everyone agrees that LSD should not be given to people whose family has a history of schizophrenia. Also, obviously, people should not be secretly dosed. There was one famous case of a CIA/DOD? scientist being secretly dosed and he did throw himself off a building. People should pay close attention to setting. I wouldn’t want to do LSD around a bunch of strangers. Although there is that case of “Doc” Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching a “no-hitter” while under the influence of LSD: Did Dock Ellis Pitch a No-Hitter on LSD? | Snopes.com (scroll down a few paragraphos for the story.)

Even with those precautions, people do have bad trips. I have had my share of them. But, if you pay attention to the information coming through on the bad trip (rather than just trying to ignore it), you will be so much wiser.
Actually what usually happens to me is that the trip will start off bad and as I pay attention to it, it at some point turns into a “good trip”…usually after much anxiety.

I have met some burnt-out acid heads. I don’t know if that comes from over use of acid (possible, since not enough research has been done on LSD due to its scheduling), or if these were just dumb people to begin with.

So, yeah, like you said, it won’t kill you and AS FAR AS WE KNOW, it does not appear to be bad for you (that may change as more research is done…some of the earlier accusations about it damagining chromosones was bullshit research. That ONE study was done with a few patients from a mental hospital who were using thorazine-which does damage chromosones. Actually Leary,
Metzner, Allan Watts, Alan Ginsberg and a bunch of other well-known LSD users got examined for this and none of them had chromosone damage).

Entheogens, on a somewhat related note to that post, I’ve always like the song Timothy Leary by the Moody Blues. Written in homage to the man.

D

[quote]entheogens wrote:
Bujutsuka wrote:
haha. LSD can’t kill you no matter how much you take, but it can open your eyes to how much you don’t notice about life.
.

You’re right. But, it is a drug that deserves a lot of RESPECT. You know, there is this ongoing debate. On the one side, you had people like Hofmann and Aldous Huxley who argued that LSD should have been reserved for use by a small group of people, like some intellectuals, artists or, at least, people under close clinical supervision. On the other hand, you had people like Leary, Alpert (now Ram Dass) or, more recently, Terence Mckenna who argued for psychedelics for the masses. I believe Dr. Andrew Weil-the famous health guru- was probably more in the former camp. He became converted to LSD research after having been initially critical of it.

In any case, I think everyone agrees that LSD should not be given to people whose family has a history of schizophrenia. Also, obviously, people should not be secretly dosed. There was one famous case of a CIA/DOD? scientist being secretly dosed and he did throw himself off a building. People should pay close attention to setting. I wouldn’t want to do LSD around a bunch of strangers. Although there is that case of “Doc” Ellis of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitching a “no-hitter” while under the influence of LSD: Did Dock Ellis Pitch a No-Hitter on LSD? | Snopes.com (scroll down a few paragraphos for the story.)

Even with those precautions, people do have bad trips. I have had my share of them. But, if you pay attention to the information coming through on the bad trip (rather than just trying to ignore it), you will be so much wiser.
Actually what usually happens to me is that the trip will start off bad and as I pay attention to it, it at some point turns into a “good trip”…usually after much anxiety.

I have met some burnt-out acid heads. I don’t know if that comes from over use of acid (possible, since not enough research has been done on LSD due to its scheduling), or if these were just dumb people to begin with.

So, yeah, like you said, it won’t kill you and AS FAR AS WE KNOW, it does not appear to be bad for you (that may change as more research is done…some of the earlier accusations about it damagining chromosones was bullshit research. That ONE study was done with a few patients from a mental hospital who were using thorazine-which does damage chromosones. Actually Leary,
Metzner, Allan Watts, Alan Ginsberg and a bunch of other well-known LSD users got examined for this and none of them had chromosone damage).
[/quote]

you mean it can’t kill you directly… and if you don’t overdose by a factor of 30.

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_history4.shtml

Is there actually any data (more likely anecdote) on this in humans?

[quote]el0gic wrote:
you mean it can’t kill you directly… and if you don’t overdose by a factor of 30.

http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_history4.shtml

Is there actually any data (more likely anecdote) on this in humans?[/quote]

Yes, we mean that it can’t kill you directly (to the best of my knowledge). As I said, people with schizoid tendancies should probably leave it alone. But really it doesn’t disorient you quite as much as sensationalizers would make you believe. This fear that you are going to think you can fly and attempt to launch off a building is rather far-fetched, though not impossible if the person taking it has scizophrenic tendancies. Now, something like datura can disorient you pretty badly. In fact, I’ll never touch that stuff again. With some of the DMT stuff or even Salvia Divinorum, I would definitely opt to have a sitter with me. Obviously it would be unwise to drive or operate dangerous machinery while on LSD.

I don’t know about human data on the matter. As that article on erowid suggested, the death of the elephant may not have been the LSD but the thorazine. When another elephant was given the same amount of LSD, it didn’t die.

I would say that the best place to research such a question would be over at Maps http://www.maps.org
Maps is much more scientifically oriented than erowid, which is more experiential/anecdotal.

[quote]entheogens wrote:
Actually Leary, Metzner, Allan Watts, Alan Ginsberg and a bunch of other well-known LSD users got examined for this and none of them had chromosone damage).
[/quote]

Listening to Alan Watts Sunday morning lectures on WZBC was my substitute for church when I got old enough to be in control of my own philosophy.

[quote]apwsearch wrote:

Exactly. In HS a brother of a kid I grew up with was a chemist and made it frequently. From what I am told, pure liquid LSD is a much different animal than most blotter products because compounds like strychnine are added to blotter acid among a few other things that contribute to the speedy effect sometimes felt and also the heavier visual effects.

It’s probably one of the cheapest drugs to make, just don’t get caught with any.

[/quote]

Actually pure LSD is a crystalline substance, it’s similar to cocaine in appearance. It’s usually dissolved in a solution, usually ethanol, to be put on blotters.

Strychnine in LSD is a myth. Out of all the LSD that has been tested in the history of LSD, only one has been found to contain strychnine and only that one has led to a death. LSD has a very powerful stimulant effect on it’s own, in the order of 3 times that of methamphetamine. If LSD is very speedy, it usually means you got a good dose of some relatively pure stuff.

[quote]Bujutsuka wrote:
SSC wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Cut down in the prime of life. I blame LSD for his early demise.

It’s easy to point the finger, but I’m not so sure bodybuilding is such a healthier alternative. It’s just a bit more… surreal?

Fuck it, I’m going to die at some point anyway. I can’t wait until I try some.

haha. LSD can’t kill you no matter how much you take, but it can open your eyes to how much you don’t notice about life.

Albert Hofmann was a brilliant man in a lot of ways other than a chemist, he was also a brilliant thinker. He also discovered psilocybin and psilocin as the active components of the sacred mushroom and figured out how to extract and synthesize them along with a whole lot of other entheogenic compounds. RIP brother.[/quote]

You guys do realize I was being sarcastic I hope. He lived over a hundred years!

[quote]Zap Branigan wrote:
Bujutsuka wrote:
SSC wrote:
Zap Branigan wrote:
Cut down in the prime of life. I blame LSD for his early demise.

It’s easy to point the finger, but I’m not so sure bodybuilding is such a healthier alternative. It’s just a bit more… surreal?

Fuck it, I’m going to die at some point anyway. I can’t wait until I try some.

haha. LSD can’t kill you no matter how much you take, but it can open your eyes to how much you don’t notice about life.

Albert Hofmann was a brilliant man in a lot of ways other than a chemist, he was also a brilliant thinker. He also discovered psilocybin and psilocin as the active components of the sacred mushroom and figured out how to extract and synthesize them along with a whole lot of other entheogenic compounds. RIP brother.

You guys do realize I was being sarcastic I hope. He lived over a hundred years![/quote]

yeah, hence the “haha.” I just figured I’d throw that in there for any haters who may of read the thread.

[quote]Bujutsuka wrote:

Actually pure LSD is a crystalline substance, it’s similar to cocaine in appearance. It’s usually dissolved in a solution, usually ethanol, to be put on blotters.

Strychnine in LSD is a myth. Out of all the LSD that has been tested in the history of LSD, only one has been found to contain strychnine and only that one has led to a death. LSD has a very powerful stimulant effect on it’s own, in the order of 3 times that of methamphetamine. If LSD is very speedy, it usually means you got a good dose of some relatively pure stuff.[/quote]

Hmmm. Very interesting. I have only seen it in liquid form. These guys I referenced earlier only used it in liquid form as they claimed it was ‘more pure’ and provided a different effect than blotter.

Guess they were wrong.

[quote]Bujutsuka wrote:
Strychnine in LSD is a myth. Out of all the LSD that has been tested in the history of LSD, only one has been found to contain strychnine and only that one has led to a death. .[/quote]

Why in the hell would anybody put strychnine in LSD anyway?
I mean, I can understand, from a purely profit-making point of view, why someone would add crap to cocaine, but what sense does this make with a substance whose dosage is in the 200-500 microgram range???

[quote]Loose Tool wrote:
Listening to Alan Watts Sunday morning lectures on WZBC was my substitute for church when I got old enough to be in control of my own philosophy.

[/quote]

What a speaker! Always interesting to listen to. I even liked what he said about why he no longer took LSD. Evidently he felt, and Hofmann felt the same way about himself, that he had learned what he needed to from LSD. So Watts explained his reason thusly:

<<When you get the message, hang up the phone>>

Just a little more LSD trivia. Wasn’t one of the plots considered by the CIA to harm Castro getting him some LSD laced cigars? (Maybe not cigars but getting him on LSD somehow).

D

[quote]Dedicated wrote:
Just a little more LSD trivia. Wasn’t one of the plots considered by the CIA to harm Castro getting him some LSD laced cigars? (Maybe not cigars but getting him on LSD somehow).

D [/quote]

The CIA succeeded but the unintended consequence was that Castro became a communist!

[quote]beebuddy wrote:
Dedicated wrote:
Just a little more LSD trivia. Wasn’t one of the plots considered by the CIA to harm Castro getting him some LSD laced cigars? (Maybe not cigars but getting him on LSD somehow).

D

The CIA succeeded but the unintended consequence was that Castro became a communist![/quote]

Aw hell. The best laid plains go a rye.

D