While originally used in the 1940’s and 1950’s as a research tool in studies of mental illness, and once marketed as a cure from everything from criminal behavior, alcoholism, sexual perversions, and a wide range of other illnesses, LSD has no legitimate medical use in treatment, and is classified as such by the FDA. Although the study of LSD and other hallucinogens increased the awareness of how chemicals could affect the mind, its use in psychotherapy largely has been debunked. It produces no aphrodisiac effects, does not increase creativity, has no lasting positive effect in treating alcoholics or criminals, does not produce a “model psychosis,” and does not generate immediate personality change.
During the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, the drug culture adopted LSD as the “psychedelic” drug of choice. This lasted for a number of years until considerable negative publicity emerged on “bad trips”- psychotic psychological traumas associated with the LSD high. Bad trips included seeing one’s teeth fall out, feeling one was falling into glass shards, among other hallucinations.
LSD, or acid, is the strongest hallucinogenic substance known. In comparison, dosages of cocaine and heroin are measured in milligrams, or thousandths of a gram, but dosages of LSD are measured in micrograms, or millionths of a gram. LSD is 100 times more potent than psilocybin and psilocin, other hallucinogens, and 4,000 times more potent than mescaline. Fifty micrograms, or 50 millionths of a gram, is the standard dosage used.
“Flashbacks,” or uncontrollable recurring experiences, also started occurring. Days, weeks, even years after taking a hit of LSD, users could experience a recurring full-blown “trip”, in the most unexpected times.
LSD dramatically decreased in popularity in the mid-1970’s. Scientific study of LSD ceased circa 1980 as research funding declined.
As a casual drug of abuse, LSD has remained popular among certain segments of society, and is popular with high school and college students and other young adults. LSD also has been integral to the lifestyle of many individuals who follow certain rock music bands, most notably the Grateful Dead. Older individuals, introduced to the hallucinogen in the 1960’s, also still use LSD.
LSD most often is found in the form of small paper squares or, on occasion, in tablets. On occasion, authorities have encountered the drug in others forms-including powder or crystal, liquid, gelatin square, and capsule-and laced on sugar cubes and other substances. Some put the liquid into used inhalers and drop a few drops into their mouth to get “high”.
LSD is sold under more than 80 street names including acid, blotter, cid, doses, and trips, as well as names that reflect the designs on sheets of paper. More than 200 types of LSD tablets have been encountered since 1969 and more than 350 paper designs have been acquired since 1975. Designs range from simple five-point stars in black and white to exotic artwork in full four-color print. Inexpensiveness (prices range from $2 to $5 per dosage unit or “hit,”; wholesale lots often sell for as little as $1 or less), ready availability, alleged “mind-expanding” properties, and intriguing paper designs make LSD especially attractive to junior high school and high school students.
However, drug studies have confirmed that the powerful hallucinogenic effects of this drug can produce profound adverse reactions, such as acute panic reactions, psychotic crises, and flashbacks, especially in users ill-equipped to deal with such trauma.
Signs of LSD Abuse:
• A person who has take LSD or other psychedelics will manifest glassy eyes and have a blank, vacant stare.
• Often they appear to be daydreaming and needs to be spoken to several times before responding.
• They will be found to have inappropriate and extended interest in common objects. For example, examining an ashtray or a drawing for a long time, turning it, viewing it from different angles.
• The person may also have a similar interest in body parts, such as a finger, hand or food.
• Conversation tends to be esoteric, like a “head trip.”
• They will hallucinate.
• They will experience anxiety for no apparent reason.
• They may have dilated pupils and may be inexplicably high-strung.
For more information on drug addiction rehabilitation or drug education, call The Atlanta Recovery Center of Georgia at 1-877-326-3981.
