Recreational use of LSD increased in the 1960s as its “mind-expanding” qualities were promoted by influential role models such as Harvard scientist Timothy Leary and novelist Ken Kesey.Ĭoncerns about the possible long-term effects of LSD led to new laws aimed at restricting its use. LSD also captured the attention of the CIA, who tested its potential for use in psychological warfare. These studies included investigating the therapeutic potential of the “psychedelic” experience in treating chronic alcoholism and mental illness, and in helping patients with terminal illnesses to accept death. LSD was the subject of numerous research studies in the 1950s and early 1960s. In the 1950s, intellectuals such as Aldous Huxley experimented with the drug for its alleged ability to induce a state of “cosmic consciousness.”

Early studies exploring potential use of the drug focused on what insight it might offer into certain kinds of mental illness. Albert Hofmann, a Swiss research chemist working at a pharmaceutical company. The hallucinogenic effect of LSD was first discovered in 1943 by Dr. LSD was originally derived from “ergot,” a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) is a potent hallucinogen-that is, a drug that can alter a person’s perception of reality and vividly distort the senses. LSD, acid, blotter, microdot, window pane What is it? Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Street Name

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