I do not feel as if my mind is spiraling.
My emotions are not eating at my soul.
-An excerpt from the LSD poem "Cliché- by Goturuge .
To say that Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (henceforth LSD) is a powerful hallucinogenic would be the understatement of the century. Popularized in the 1960's, it has spread its bizarre roots throughout every decade since. From Albert Hofman's accidental ingestion in 1938 to Timothy Leary's expulsion from Harvard, LSD has been the most controversial hallucinogenic, if not the most controversial drug ever. A brief warning must be provided, however. This paper presents the use of LSD in a manner that can be considered glorifying, thus the reader is urged to maintain an open mind throughout. The purpose of this paper is not to add to the soccer-mom scare tactics about how all drugs are evil; instead, provide factual, unaltered evidence about the origin and effects of LSD and finally prove that LSD has no significant detriments to the human body, whether physiological or psychological.
Lockett 2.
To begin with, a brief definition of LSD is in order. LSD "is the most potent hallucinogenic substance known to man- (USDOJ). In more technical terms, LSD "is one of the most potent mood-changing chemicals. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains- (NIDA).
LSD was discovered in 1938 by Dr. Albert Hofman, but its hallucinogenic properties were not discovered until 1943, when Hofmann accidentally ingested a microscopic amount of LSD. LSD, while originally devised as a research tool to study mental illness, spread like wildfire throughout the nation during the free spirited 60's, largely in part by Timothy "The Pied Piper of LSD- (HOUSTON CHRONICLE 1C+) Leary's suggestion to "turn on, tune in, and drop out- (LOS ANGELES TIMES B3). In fact, according to http://www.phil-books.com, one of Leary's books (Your Brain is God) ranks 23,000 out of hundreds of thousands of books.
