LSD: What You Need to Know - Complete Educational Summary

LSD

MITÄ SINUN ON TIEDETTÄVÄ

by Narconon

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Mitä LSD on?

LSD (LYSERGIC ACID DIETHYLAMIDE) IS ONE OF THE MOST POTENT, MOOD-CHANGING CHEMICALS. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in the ergot fungus that grows on rye and other grains.

It is produced in crystal form in illegal laboratories, mainly in the United States. These crystals are converted to a liquid for distribution. It is odorless and colorless and has a slightly bitter taste.

Known by acid and many other names, LSD is sold on the street in small tablets (microdots), capsules or gelatin squares (window panes). It is sometimes added to absorbent paper, which is then divided into small squares decorated with designs or cartoon characters (looney tunes). Occasionally it is sold in liquid form. But no matter what form it comes in, LSD leads the user to the same place—a serious disconnection from reality.

What is a Hallucinogen?

Hallucinogens are drugs that cause hallucinations. Users see images, hear sounds and feel sensations that seem very real but do not exist. Some hallucinogens also produce sudden and unpredictable changes in the mood of those who use them. LSD is one of the major drugs making up the hallucinogen class.

Signs and Symptoms of LSD Use

WHILE LSD CAN BE A DANGEROUS DRUG THAT IS MOSTLY USED BY YOUNG PEOPLE, there is an advantage to parents or loved ones: the signs of taking LSD are so distinctive that it's easy to detect this type of drug use.

Within an hour or so of consuming this drug, a person's perceptions and sense of reality begin to change. This may frighten a person who is going through it for the first time or someone who is emotionally unstable. But to a person who knows what is coming, this is considered a desirable change.

A person using LSD may feel relaxed and more sociable. Going through the experience of using LSD is called a trip. On the other hand, bad trips are quite possible, meaning that the person becomes frightened and panicky. But if the person panics, there is no escape from the altered universe he finds himself in.

Shifted perceptions can include these:

  • Distortions of time, depth, space, size and shape.
  • Hallucinations of things that are not there or stationary items that are moving. In most cases, the person is aware of the unreality of these effects, but in those situations where this is not true, injury or death can occur.
  • Altered perceptions of speed.
  • A blended sensory experience, such as "hearing" colors or "seeing" music.
  • Intensified senses of sound, touch or sight. Visual hallucinations may range from color intensification or flashes of light, to moving geometric or other patterns that can be seen with eyes open or shut.
  • The sensation that a person has left his body or that his body has changed shape.

A person on an LSD trip may feel that he is gaining some special understanding or insight that was not available without the drug. An effort to understand life better or continue these insights may drive a person to repeat the experience.

TESTIMONIAL - Justin

"I started drinking at the age of fifteen. Then I progressed to taking Ecstasy, speed, cocaine and LSD.

I found it difficult to hold down a job and became depressed and thought I would never overcome my obsession with drugs. I attempted suicide twice by overdosing on pills. I was put under psychiatrists who gave me even more drugs, antidepressants and tranquilizers, which just made matters worse.

As an outlet for my feelings I turned to self-harm—I started cutting and burning myself." —Justin

Physical signs of LSD use include these:

  • Dilated (widened) pupils
  • Salivation or dry mouth
  • Tingling fingers or toes
  • Weakness
  • Negative effects, including emotional distress, anxiety, depression, disorientation or paranoia
  • Dizziness, nausea, rapid heart rate and convulsions
  • Sweating or chills
  • Blurred vision
  • Erratic behavior

An LSD trip may last as long as twelve hours. The person on an LSD trip may experience increased body temperature, heart rate and blood pressure. They may not feel tired and may not want to eat.

Because of the effects of the drug, a person tripping may experience rapid emotional swings, including panic, despair and terrifying thoughts.

TESTIMONIAL - Michelle

"We got acid from this guy who was visiting our college and it was on a blotter. And there was a whole group of us that took that acid who got very sick. I just remember sitting there next to the toilet in a stall on the bathroom floor, just in tears, wondering when it was going to stop—praying to make it just stop. I was in that much pain." —Michelle

Health Hazards of LSD

THE EFFECTS OF LSD ARE UNPREDICTABLE. They depend on the amount taken; the strength and purity of the dose; the user's personality, mood and expectations; and the surroundings in which the drug is used. Usually, the user feels the first effects of the drug thirty to ninety minutes after taking it.

Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than the physical signs. The user may feel several emotions at once, or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user's sense of time and self changes. Sensations may seem "to cross over," giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.

Some LSD users experience severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings, fear of losing control, fear of insanity and death, and despair while using LSD. Some fatal accidents have occurred during states of LSD intoxication.

Some LSD users also experience flashbacks, recurrences of certain aspects of their LSD experience, without the user having taken the drug again. A flashback occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or even years after LSD use. Flashbacks usually occur in people who use hallucinogens chronically or have an underlying personality problem. Otherwise-healthy people who use LSD occasionally may also have flashbacks. Bad trips and flashbacks are only part of the risks of LSD use. Users may manifest long-lasting psychoses, such as schizophrenia or severe depression.

Many LSD users voluntarily decrease or stop its use over time. LSD is not considered an addictive drug since it does not produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior as do cocaine, amphetamine, heroin, alcohol and nicotine.

However, like many of the addictive drugs, LSD produces tolerance, so some users who take the drug repeatedly must take progressively higher doses to achieve the high that they had previously.

LSD Street Names

Of the dozens of street terms for LSD in use today, these are the most common:

Acid
Battery Acid
Blue Cheers
Boomers
Doses
Dots
Golden Dragon
Hippie
Looney Toons
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Microdot
Pane
Purple Haze
Superman
Tabs
Window Pane
Yellow Sunshine
Zen

Slang Terms for LSD Combined with Other Substances:

  • CANDY-FLIPPING • TROLL » the use of LSD and Ecstasy
  • FRISCO SPECIAL • FRISCO SPEEDBALL » LSD, cocaine, and heroin
  • OUTER LIMITS • SHEET ROCKING » crack and LSD
  • BLACK ACID » LSD and PCP
  • BANANA SPLIT » combination of 2C-B or Nexus (synthetic drugs) with LSD or other drugs

Slang Terms for LSD Users:

  • ACID FREAK
  • ACID HEAD
  • EXPLORER'S CLUB » group of LSD users

Harmful Effects of LSD

Physical Effects

  • Dilated pupils
  • Higher or lower body temperature
  • Sweating or chills (goose bumps)
  • Loss of appetite
  • Sleeplessness
  • Dry mouth
  • Tremors

Mental Effects

  • Delusions
  • Visual hallucinations
  • An artificial sense of euphoria or certainty
  • Distortion of one's sense of time and identity
  • Impaired depth perception
  • Impaired time perception, distorted perception of the size and shape of objects, movements, color, sounds, touch and the user's own body image
  • Severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings
  • Fear of losing control
  • Panic attacks
  • Flashbacks, or a recurrence of the LSD trip, often without warning, long after taking LSD
  • Severe depression or psychosis

Testimonials

I had no control over my mind and body - Edith

"At the age of sixteen I was introduced to a drug that I abused for over three years—LSD. What I was unaware of was the fact that LSD is the most potent hallucinogen known to man.

The drug came on a small piece of paper no bigger than my index finger, called a blotter. Fifteen minutes after putting the paper on my tongue, my entire body got hot and I began to sweat.

Some other reactions that I experienced while on the drug included dilated pupils, nausea and goose bumps.

While high on LSD, I felt like there was a huge distortion both in my mind and body. The visual changes as well as the extreme changes in mood were like some strange scary trip—one in which I felt like I had no control over my mind and body." —Edith

From alcohol to LSD addiction - Donna

"At thirteen years of age I took my first drink and soon after was introduced to marijuana. Then LSD quickly fell into my hands and I became addicted, eating it like candy. One night during one of my binges, I blacked out and awoke with blood all over my face and vomit coming out of my mouth. By some miracle I pulled myself awake and cleaned myself up. I got into the car, shaking, and drove to my parents' house. I climbed into bed with my mom and cried. By the age of twenty one, I checked into my first rehab." —Donna

Hallucinations of my own death - Jenny

"After taking the acid, I imagined that we had driven head-on into an eighteen-wheeler and were killed. I could hear the screeching metal, then a dark and evil quiet. I was terrified at this point; I actually thought we were dead. For a year I wouldn't go into any cemetery because I was terrified I would find my own grave." —Jenny

Drifting more and more from reality - Andrea

"The days following my LSD use, I was filled with anxiety and extreme depression. Following my first 'trip' on LSD, I would eat it frequently, sometimes up to four or five times per week for an extended period. Each time I would take the drug, mentally I was drifting more and more out of reality. The eventual effect was the inability to feel normal in my own skin." —Andrea

LSD: Lysergic Acid Diethylamide - A Short History

1938 - Discovery

ALBERT HOFMANN, A CHEMIST WORKING FOR SANDOZ PHARMACEUTICAL, synthesized LSD for the first time in 1938, in Basel, Switzerland, while looking for a blood stimulant. However, its hallucinogenic effects were unknown until 1943, when Hofmann accidentally consumed some LSD. It was later found that an oral dose of as little as twenty five micrograms (equal in weight to a few grains of salt) is capable of producing vivid hallucinations.

1940s-1960s - Medical Experiments

Because of its similarity to a chemical present in the brain and its similarity in effects to certain aspects of psychosis, LSD was used in experiments by psychiatrists throughout the 1940s, '50s and '60s. While the researchers failed to discover any medical use for the drug, the free samples supplied by Sandoz Pharmaceuticals for the experiments were distributed broadly, leading to wide use of this substance.

1960s - Counterculture Movement

LSD was popularized in the 1960s by individuals such as Harvard psychologist Timothy Leary, who encouraged American students to "turn on, tune in, and drop out." This created an entire counterculture of drug abuse and spread the drug from America to the United Kingdom and the rest of Europe. Even today, use of LSD in the United Kingdom is significantly higher than in other parts of the world.

1951-1967 - Military Experiments

While the '60s counterculture used the drug to escape the problems of society, the Western intelligence community and the military saw it as a potential chemical weapon. In 1951, these organizations began a series of experiments. US researchers noted that LSD "is capable of rendering whole groups of people, including military forces, indifferent to their surroundings and situations, interfering with planning and judgment, and even creating apprehension, uncontrollable confusion and terror."

Experiments in the possible use of LSD to change the personalities of intelligence targets and to control whole populations, continued until the United States officially banned the drug in 1967.

1980s-1990s - Resurgence

Use of LSD declined in the 1980s, but picked up again in the 1990s. For a few years after 1998, it became more widely used at dance clubs and all-night raves by older teens and young adults.

What are Drugs?

LÄÄKKEET OVAT POHJIMMILTAAN MYRKKYJÄ. Vaikutus riippuu otetusta määrästä.

Pieni määrä

Toimii stimulantti (nopeuttaa sinua)

Suurempi määrä

Toimii rauhoittava (hidastaa sinua)

Vielä suurempi määrä

Myrkyt ja voi tappaa

Tämä pätee kaikkiin lääkkeisiin. Vain vaikutuksen aikaansaamiseksi tarvittava määrä on erilainen.

But many drugs have another liability: they directly affect the mind. They can distort the user's perception of what is happening around him. As a result, the person's actions may be odd, irrational, inappropriate and even destructive.

Drugs also block off all sensations, the desirable ones along with the unwanted. So while providing short-term relief from pain, they also wipe out ability and alertness and muddy a person's thinking.

Medicines are drugs that are intended to make your body work better by speeding up, slowing down or changing something about the way the body works. Sometimes they are necessary. But medicines are still drugs: they act as stimulants or sedatives and too much can kill you. If medicines are abused, they can be as dangerous as illegal drugs.

Tietoa Narcononista

NARCONON (TARKOITTAA "EI HUUMAUSAINEITA"). drug- and alcohol-rehabilitation program is open to all who desire to end their addictions and lead productive, drug-free lives.

The Narconon program not only addresses the debilitating effects of drug abuse on the mind and body, but also helps resolve why a person turned to drugs in the first place. As a result, tens of thousands have graduated from the Narconon Program to new lives free from drug use.

Beyond drug rehabilitation, Narconon's drug-prevention staff have educated millions of school children. Narconon has more than fifty years of drug-education experience with demonstrated effectiveness in keeping young people off drugs.

Sanasto

amphetamine: any of a group of powerful stimulant drugs that increase heart rate and blood pressure and have been used chiefly to make people feel happier or more energetic or to control appetite in cases of obesity. Amphetamines are sometimes called uppers and can cause dangerous side effects and addiction.

antidepressants: a group of drugs prescribed as a treatment for a wide range of symptoms, from depression to decreased appetite and fatigue. Antidepressants can deaden emotions and sometimes bring about a highly agitated state. Some of the side effects include dizziness, fainting, severe headaches, raised blood pressure, difficulty sleeping, interference with sexual function, as well as homicidal and suicidal thoughts and behavior.

cocaine: a powerful and highly addictive stimulant drug that increases heart rate and blood pressure while reducing fatigue. Prolonged use results in breathing problems, heart failure or bleeding in the brain. The drug is made from the leaves of the coca plant and is most often used as a white powder but can also be injected or smoked. It was originally developed as a painkiller.

counterculture: of or concerning a culture with values and customs that are opposite (counter) to those of established society.

debilitating: making someone physically or mentally weak.

delusion: a false or mistaken belief or idea about something.

dilated: with the pupil widened or expanded so that more light is admitted into the eye.

Ecstasy: an illegal amphetamine-based synthetic drug used to create an artificial feeling of well-being or joy. Amphetamines are any of a group of powerful, habit-forming drugs, called stimulants, that act on the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord), increasing heart rate and blood pressure while reducing fatigue. Serious mental problems can develop from repeated use. Ecstasy has numerous side effects, including depression, anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, etc.

euphoria: a feeling of great happiness and well-being.

heroin: a powerful and addictive drug that causes a temporary feeling of euphoria (extreme happiness) and a lessened sensation of pain, but then results in slowed breathing, depression and, when overdosed, death. Heroin is made from the sticky substance of the poppy plant, the same source as the drugs opium and morphine. In its purest form, heroin is a fine white powder, but it is often mixed with other substances. It can be injected, smoked or sniffed and because it is highly addictive, it is extremely painful to withdraw from.

liability: something that causes problems or makes someone less likely to succeed.

muddy up: make something confusing or less clear, figuratively as if stirring mud in water and making it less clear.

psychological: of the mind, mental.

psychosis: a severe form of mental illness in which someone cannot handle himself or his environment well enough to survive and must be cared for to protect others from him or to protect him from himself.

rational: thinking in a sensible, reasonable way.

rave: a large gathering featuring electronic dance music played by live DJs, often including drug use.

schizophrenia: a severe mental disorder in which someone disconnects from reality; the term is also used informally to refer to a condition in which someone has two or more apparent personalities, also known as a split personality, based on the Greek roots skhizein (split) and phren (mind).

sedative: a drug used to cause sleepiness and temporarily relieve pain and nervousness or agitation.

speed: slang for amphetamine, any of a group of powerful stimulant drugs that act on the central nervous system (the brain and the spinal cord), increasing heart rate and blood pressure while reducing fatigue. Because amphetamines can cause dangerous side effects and addiction, many countries prohibit their use unless prescribed by a physician, but they are often taken illegally.

stimulant: any substance that temporarily increases the activity of some vital process or of some organ.

synthetic drugs: drugs that are created using man-made chemicals rather than natural ingredients.

tranquilizer: any of certain drugs given to calm someone and control various emotional conditions.

tremors: involuntary shaking movements of the body.

wipe out: remove or eliminate something completely.

withdrawal symptoms: unpleasant physical and mental reactions that someone with an addiction experiences when he stops using drugs.

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Educational material provided by Narconon

Muista: If you or someone you know is struggling with drug abuse, help is available. Contact a qualified drug rehabilitation program for assistance.

Discover more educational articles about LSD

Understanding LSD: Questions You Might Be Asking

What is LSD and how is it used?

LSD is a hallucinogenic drug typically taken on blotter paper. It’s known for creating intense visual distortions, emotional shifts, and a loss of connection with reality.

 

Aiheuttaako LSD riippuvuutta?

LSD is not physically addictive, but some users become mentally dependent on its effects. They may chase altered states to avoid problems in real life.

 

What are the risks of using LSD?

LSD can trigger anxiety, panic attacks, paranoia, or dangerous behavior. Since effects are unpredictable, one trip may be pleasant while the next becomes terrifying.

 

Can LSD have long-term effects?

Yes. Some people experience flashbacks, mood changes, or confusion weeks after using it—even once.

 

Is there a way to stop using LSD without medication?

Yes. Narconon offers a drug-free program that helps people overcome LSD use by addressing the physical and emotional effects of drugs—without psychiatric substitutes.