Everyone has heard of LSD and the popularity that surrounded it in the 1960s. Many musicians, like The Beatles and Pink Floyd, as well as many writers and artist used LSD to create the art we today call masterpieces. Although many people know of the popularity of the drug, they may not know of how LSD came into effect.
In 1938 a scientist named Albert Hofmann created the drug in a Switzerland chemical laboratory (Grof, 1994). The drug LSD, whose full name is lysergic acid diethylamide, was originally created to be part of a series of drugs used for psychiatric reasons. Scientists were hoping to create a drug that could be used to simulate the effects of a mental illness so that the illnesses could be study. It was also a hope to use the drug for curing alcoholism. Over time though the true effects of LSD were stumbled upon by Hofmann and the drug soon became popular for recreational uses (Winkel, 2010). The link below is a link to a video containing a short interview with Hofmann and Timothy Leary about what LSD does to a person's body.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Al45Yu_pKfg
LSD became a popular recreational drug because of the out of body experience it allowed its users to experience. Generally LSD causes a pleasure filled experience of "hearing colors" and "seeing sounds". Although this experience is very common to have when taking the drug there are also times where the experience can be much more horrific. The delusions that are seen when under this drug can cause panic and fear in its users, as well as feelings of trauma ( LSD addiciton, 2009). The drug was much more popular in the 1960s though then it is now. Starting in 1966 California began the trend of banning LSD and making it a Schedule I drug (Winkel, 2010). Since the 1960s the rate of usage has greatly decreased. Current statistics show that only 3.5% of high school seniors report abusing LSD in the past year. This rate is even lower in 8th and 10th graders at 1.9% and 2.5%. Although rates of students in high school are lower, the rates of use in those 18 to 25 is averaging at about 12.1% (LSD addiction, 2009).
An important fact to know about LSD is that it is not considered an addictive drug. Most people who try LSD only do it on a one time basis. The problem with LSD though is that in repeat users they are able to develop a sort of tolerance to the drug. This tolerance causes the person using to need a much higher dosage in order to feel the same effect as someone trying it for the first time (LSD addiction). An increased tolerance could lead to a person to possibly overdose or have a higher chance of having a bad experience that could cause physical or psychological harm.
Through my research of this drug I learned a lot of facts that I never knew before. From my own experiences in high school I heard of many different people trying LSD on the weekends and so I always thought that the rate of usage would be a lot higher then it is for high school seniors. It shocked me to see that the rate of usage has decreased so much since the 1960s. Through personal experiences I have heard and seen how people see LSD as an attractive drug to try, but all of these facts about the long term effects it can have on your body does not make it seem like a drug worth even trying. The fact that LSD was originally created in order to study mental illnesses was also surprising to me to read.
The government has very strict rules and regulations on the usage, making, and selling of LSD. The fine for being caught on a first offensive of possession of LSD is one year in prison or a minimum fine of $1000. The fine for being caught making or selling LSD is dependent upon the amount of the drug involved. For example, a person caught with ten grams of LSD can be sentenced with five to forty years in prison or a fine of two million dollars (Freeman, 2013). These strict regulations may be one of the reasons why the average usage of LSD has been dropping throughout the past decade. With such harsh fines and sentences not many people are going to want to risk their future on this drug.
References
Freeman, S. (2013). How lsd works. Retrieved from http://science.howstuffworks.com/lsd8.htm
Grof, S. (1994). History of lsd therapy. Retrieved from http://www.psychedelic-library.org/grofhist.htm
LSD addiction. (2009). Retrieved from http://www.lsdaddiction.us/content/what-is-lsd.html
Winkel, B. (2010, Oct 27). The history of lsd. Retrieved from http://www.treatmentsolutions.com/the- history-of-lsd/
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