This essay will mainly be about the drug D-lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or for short LSD

stimuli. The effects were not enough to further investigate the drug so it was forgotten, except for one person. In the spring of 1943, Albert felt a "a peculiar presentiment, the feeling that this substance could possess properties other than those established in the first investigation, induced me, five years after the first synthesis, to produce LSD-25 again." This feeling made him synthesize enough LSD-25 to begin new pharmacological testing. It was very unusual that compounds that had no apparent effects in the first tests were tested again; they were usually dropped from the company¡¦s research program. During the purification and crystallization steps in the synthesis process, Albert´s work was interrupted by unusual physical and mental sensations: ¡§Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination. In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours, this condition faded away.¡¨- Albert HofmannThat experience made Albert very curious to the compound he had synthesized. He begun testing the compound on himself and thus began the ¡§adventures¡¨ into his inner self.The Effects of LSDLSD is one of the most common ¡§psychedelic¡¨ or ¡§hallucinogenic¡¨ substances. It comes in all kinds of forms, but is almost always taken orally. Today, LSD is most commonly found in the form of small squares of paper called blotter, which are soaked in liquid LSD. Blotters are generally decorated with different designs, such as comic figures or intricate patterns. Other forms of LSD can be pills, gelatin sheets and as a white odorless powder. The standard dose of LSD is about 50-150 ƒÝg (micrograms, one thousand of a gram). The lethal dose of LSD is several thousand times higher than the standard dose. LSD has a very low addiction potential. There is no physical addiction after heavy use, although people can be mentally habituated as with any other substance. Overdosing LSD will generally end in respiratory arrest.The effects of LSD seem to be very hard to understand for a person who hasn¡¦t taken the substance. LSD is likely to cause a sort of indefinably feeling similar to anticipation or anxiety. There is often a slight feeling of energy in the body. Lights appear to twinkle and have big coronas around them. As the effects become stronger, a wide variety of perceptual changes may occur; non-specific mental and physical stimulation, pupil dilation, closed and open eye patterning and visuals, objects that are dead might seem to be alive, feelings of insight, confusion, or paranoia, and quickly changing emotions (happiness, fear, anxiety, anger, joy, irritation).¡§Imagine the most gorgeous stain glass window you have ever seen, and then multiply it by a million, both in terms of complexity and artistic intensity. There is no way to convey this experience with words. You literally see colors and geometric patterns you have never seen before.¡¨-Mahan Atma (erowid.org experience vaults)¡§Ego loss¡¨ is something people who take high doses of LSD experience. It¡¦s often life changing experience because you see yourself from the outside, evaluating yourself. The inner voice that is always in you talking (your ego) is suddenly quiet. As the ego fights for its existence, LSD creates a living hell; it becomes a ¡§Bad Trip¡¨ (see Medical Properties of LSD & Psilocybin).A "bad trip" is when an individual uses all his energies into combating the pending loss of ego control. The ego, in fighting to stay identified with what is ´known,´ creates a living hell - everything turns to negations, everything is experienced as threatening and dangerous. All of the rejected aspects of the self are projected onto the external world and one experiences ´reality´ as demonic - such is the stuff of psychosis.¡¨- Gary Fisher, Ph.D. (MAPS Bulletin)The so-called set and setting plays a big role in the outcome of an LSD session or a trip. The set is the mental condition of the person who is going to take LSD. If the person is mentally unstable, taking LSD would enhance the feelings and the ¡§bad trip¡¨ would be a fact. If instead the person would be mentally stable, he or she would run a smaller risk of having a ¡§bad trip¡¨.The setting is also very important in predicting the outcome of a session or a trip. If a person who has taken sits alone in a graveyard in the middle of the night, the ¡§bad trip¡¨ would most probably be a fact. But if a person on LSD were accompanied with his best friend in his home, he or she would surely not have a ¡§bad trip¡¨.Women that are pregnant should avoid using LSD, since it creates uterine contractions. Also people that have a family history of schizophrenia or early onset mental illness should take not take LSD since it is know that LSD might trigger latent psychological and mental problems. Individuals in the midst of psychological or emotional problems should refrain from taking LSD since it would make things even worse (see Set and Setting). The Medical Properties of LSD The use of LSD in therapy has been proven very successful. LSD does not have many physical effects; one of them is that it causes uterine contractions.Something LSD hasn¡¦t been known for is to completely stop cluster headaches (suicide headaches) and migraine in their tracks. Cluster headache is different from migraine since it occurs in regular intervals for some period (1-4 weeks). People who has never had cluster headaches or migraine has hard to comprehend the pain the person who has it goes through. Many acute sufferers of cluster headaches often commit suicide. 10 ug of LSD is enough to stop any attacks from cluster headaches and migraine. LSD doesn¡¦t only stop the attacks; it also prevents them from happening for up to 12 months after ingestion.¡§When I was younger and still using Pot I found that it made the headaches worse. As did drinking and smoking. I avoided taking hallucinogenics during episodes because I was scared that combined with CH they might kill me! The strange thing was that I didn´t suffer from a CH episodes at all the years I took LSD. That´s what initially made me suspect there may be a link.¡¨ ¡V ¡§Flash¡¨ (erowid.org experience vaults) LSD has also been successful in treating people who had severe mental problems. David, a 27 year old man who almost never went from his house. Accompanied with a male nurse the only thing he did was to eat, listen to the radio, watch TV and sleep. He had been to two of the most prestigious private psychiatric institutions but after eleven years of hospitalization nothing had worked. The last option was LSD therapy. David was given 600ug (a very high dose) and was closely monitored for 10 hours. After the therapy session he refused emit that there was any change, but when the doctor called home to David¡¦s parents a week after the session to se if he had improved David¡¦s mother told the doctor that David had gone out. That was the first time in his whole life that David was out by himself. After a couple of months of this he moved out of his parents´ home to his own apartment and started to do volunteer work in a library. His mother contacted me, updating me on his new life and his father called me on two occasions, saying that one LSD treatment had produced more results than the previous fifteen years of psychotherapy. To his parents, LSD was a miracle drug. - Gary Fisher, Ph.D. (MAPS Bulletin)ConclusionBefore I started researching and writing about LSD I didn¡¦t know much about it. After reading sever articles and many experience reports I started to question the information I had been given before about LSD. I thought that LSD was just one of many other drugs such as heroin or amphetamine. Now I know that LSD doesn¡¦t even come close to those destructive drugs. Even though people experience ego loss and has very bad trips, many of them claim that they actually learned something from it. Some of them even call it a life changing experience. LSD has a very high potential as a medicine and as a stimulant and anti-depressant LSD could prove itself worthy on the market (if the psychedelic effects were taken away). The future of LSD is unknown; it might be the cure many different kinds of mental illnesses, but is the society ready to accept it?¡§I believe LSD can be used as a tool; helping one to delve into the outer reaches of human consciousness. I feel there is still much to be learned from psychoactives such as LSD; hopefully further study will unlock the mysteries associated with these substances, and mankind will take a different stand upon the usage of these gifts.¡¨- ¡§Jman¡¨ (erowid.org experience vaults) Works CitedSome information about my two primary sourcesMost of my sources were taken from erowid.org website. The organization¡¦s primary goal is as they put it:¡§Documenting the complex relationship between humans and psychoactives¡¨Another source which I frequently used is the website of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), maps.org. SourcesMichael Montagne, (April 1993). From Problem Child to Wonder Child: LSD turns 50. [Newsletter of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic StudiesMAPS - Volume 4 Number 1 spring 1993]. www.maps.orgMahan Atma, (March 2002). Heaven and Hell Plus-4. erowid.org experience vaults. www.erowid.org Gary Fisher, Ph.D., (Summer 1999). Nothing´s Happening. [From the MAPS Bulletin - Volume 9 Number 2 summer 1999 - pp. 11-14]. www.maps.org¡§Flash¡¨, (on November 08, 1999 at 04:34:28). Personal History & Comments about Psilocybin & LSD. www.erowid.org ¡§Jman¡¨, (July 2, 2002). First Psychedelic Encounter. www.erowid.org