Let me say, not to brag or condescend, but to assure you that I have a modicum of credibility when it comes to this subject, that I have a degree in psychology that included courses in behavior, drugs & behavior, perception, cognition, abnormal psychology, and social psychology.

I have also sampled a few psychedelics and can tell you both objectively and subjectively how they operate.

Chemically, LSD resembles serotonin, specifically 5-HT2A. When it bonds with 5-HT2A receptors, it causes them to multiply drastically. We end up with way more serotonin receptors than we need. This is important because 5-HT2A is a FILTER (inhibitor) for both mood and sensation/perception. Serotonergic neurons inhibit other neurotransmitters and extend to almost every organ system in the body.

When we have too much serotonin for our receptors, we get depressed (serotonin re-uptake). When we have an excess of receptors, we are more resistant to depression because our senses and mood are more “turned on.” The inhibitive or filtering effect of serotonin is neutralized by an excess of receptors. Remember, most psychedelics (including both LSD and psilocybin) increase 5-HT2A receptors and thereby reduce the inhibiting effect of serotonergic neurons on other transmitters. This effect is temporary but can also be LEARNED (which is where both “flashbacks” and “sober” trips come from). Mind over matter, anyone?

Our brains are normally tossing around images and constructs, assembling them as we go along and comparing them to experience for validity. Inside our brains there is a never-ending flow of data that we normally aren’t aware of. We commonly refer to this as subconscious or unconscious activity, and it includes everything from sensation to body control to memory to fantasy (”what if”).

When serotonin’s inhibitory effect is neutralized even partially, we are made aware on the conscious level of many of those hidden mental processes. Memories become more vivid; we become super-sensitive; we can feel our own bodies working, and yes even our brains; we may be forced to face fears that we have long subdued but never overcame; our emotions become much stronger; and yes, images from our imaginations can be superimposed on reality.

Translation: Psychedelics “open your mind,” i.e. deconstruct defense mechanisms and other barriers that have been acquired and reinforced socially. Most of the things we react to on psychedelics are things we have been conditioned to not react to, or even think about.

The powerful and hidden truth about all of this is that serotonin does not equal “self control.” We DO NOT LOSE CONTROL SIMPLY BY TAKING A PSYCHEDELIC. This is a product of our extremely powerful imaginations. When one or more of our fears (which we never learned to counteract properly) is the only thing we can think about, we FORGET THAT WE STILL HAVE CONTROL.

A huge fear for many people is simply losing control. When your mind can imagine the chance that you might lose control, you may hover on the edge or even push yourself over.

The remedy? SMILE. Genuinely. Chill out. Go with the flow. Change what you’re doing if it’s really bothering you. Surf the internet. Flip through the channels. Listen to the deepest and most positive music you have, or look for some. Talk to a close friend, not about how you are tripping out but about what is going through your mind. Above all, relax and remember that it’s YOUR BRAIN and you just took a little substance to unlock it for a while. You’ll still have the same tissues and organs you had before you started tripping when you’re done. What happens is YOUR CHOICE.

Everything I have explained here is supported by experiments in neuroscience and psychotherapy as well as statistical data and personal experience. I have seen people “start to wig out” and then suddenly become lucid and perfectly in control after I explained to them what was happening.

Over 80% of the LSD users questioned over the years have claimed that LSD gave them some sort of insight. This ranged from understanding how their brains worked to being connected to everything around them to having “communicated with God.” I do not name the last one lightly as I have experienced all three of those examples of “insight” and by “God” I do not mean a magic man in the sky.

My overall point here is that the dangers of LSD are not inherent to LSD. They are human fears and ignorance suppressed by lifetimes of socialization, unlocked by a chemical that removes some of the filters in our minds. Too much murder, madness and mystery has existed without LSD for me to blame a few freak-outs on the drug. LSD “casualties” (hospitalization or death) amount to something like 1 in 10,000 people who try it (these statistics vary). This is a pathetic number, which is also probably highly correlated with its legal status and the stigma associated with psychedelics (a product of propaganda more than anything else). The same cannot be said for other drugs. Alcohol, cocaine, speed, and opiates are reliably addictive. These drugs in large enough or frequent enough doses are also reliably lethal. Not true with LSD, which by dose is one of the safest drugs known to man.

And yes, Lucy is still around. Research in psychedelics is making a comeback. Check out MAPS.org, erowid.org, or even wikipedia for more info.

I hear of mushrooms sometimes available in many larger N. American cities.

Disclaimer: I do not encourage or advocate use of illegal drugs, but recognize laws cannot always prevent their use.

I wonder if people here who know people who were damaged by tripping know how much or how frequently that person was tripping. I’d be very interested to hear of a “I took half a hit (or a hit) once, and it messed me up badly” story, even second hand (or even a reliable third hand).

I

In 1968 at only age 12, I took a half tablet of ‘green berkley’ flats LSD, supplied by my older brother who I was close to. He introduced me to it, but I didn’t need to be talked into trying it, I was very much interested myself, I thought I might die of curiosity if I did not at least try it. Taking it, I found it to be a worthwhile and very interesting experience (understated), even though it did not end the mystery of the universe, it seemed to tease about that mystery with hints (yet today I am not sure whether it really carried any special spiritual meaning or not).

By age 14 I bought another hit of acid from a girl at school, but this time I took it in an unfortunate setting, with a friend that I was supposed to spend the night with, but whose mom nixed that idea. Thus I had to walk home on a cold black and moody October night, growing increasingly worried about facing my dad while tripping on LSD.

My dad was a good dad who loved me very much and we had always been best friends, but he was pure as the driven snow as to how he took care of his own body, and would have been gravely disappointed in me had he known that I was experimenting with drugs, let alone something like LSD. That guilt-laden encounter with my father while on LSD (I slept in the same room and in a bunk below him at that time) overpowered my mood and psyche, and threw me into a panic, sweating and with a racing heart (that I was sure he heard) while lying in bed at 11 PM. With guilt heavy as a building on my chest as I lay on that bunk below my dad, I was motionless and unable to sleep in a pool of sweat and hearing my heart beat loudly all night. Early on, my pop kept asking what was wrong, but I couldn’t answer for sheer mortification. Not able to sleep all night, I was dead sure I had ruined my physical frame and mind, and thus, my life. By morning I was like a different person; a major depression had solidly settled in that lasted a year, during which I hardly spoke to my friends at school. A year later I confessed my LSD use to my dad, and getting it off my chest seemed to cause that depression (the worst I’d known) to lift in only a few days. But then I immediately I rocketed into a state of high mania - because as I learned later I was now manic depressive (now commonly called bipolar disorder). I have manic depressive condition to this day. I don’t know if the LSD caused it or merely triggered something that would have shown up anyway at a later time (my mom also had this condition later in life).

Age 15 to 21 was a very intense period for me, in and out of the psychiatric floor of the local hospital no less than seven times, the first time for severe depression (catatonic with full blown auditory and visual hallucinations); the rest of the hospitalizations were for severe mania (the subsequent depressions were very bad but did not threaten the stability of the family as could a manic episode). Fortunately by my early 20’s lithium (a natural mineral salt mined from the ground) came into wide use and using it, my condition became manageable. Manic depression has impacted me very little since then, yet I know that I still have the condition.

One might think I’d be bitterly against hallucinogenic drug use because of all this. I’ve not taken LSD since that eventful time, but I have used psilocybin mushrooms on several trips to Amsterdam, tried LSA-containing seeds (like morning glory), and a powerful hallucinogenic sage plant, Salvia Divinorum (used by Indians in southern Mexico for Shamanistic purposes). And I still use pot on occasion, but very moderately (maybe less than 1/4 oz a year). Recently traveling in India I was able to sample some very powerful hashish.

My greatest enjoyment comes from adventure travel now (I’ve been to all the continents), not drugs, but I know life has risks and though I’ve had much trouble from drugs, I have escaped at least total ruination from them, for which I thank God. If we want to get near to the fire and have very great adventures, we may have to sometimes pay the price for it. Let everyone know of the dangers, which are definitely there, and let them (adults) make their own informed choice. It’s certainly not for everyone. In spite of my occasional (illegal) drug use I am sincerely a believer in Christ now for three decades, which may account for my earlier skepticism of spiritual value per se in hallucinogenic drugs. I guess I see them as just one more kind of (hopefully fun) adventure, like a roller coaster.

“whatever that wood is” = Hawaiian baby woodrose seeds, I assume? That’s not a wood; it’s flower seeds. The Hawaiian baby woodrose is a flower.

Albert Hofmann’s analysis says, “the seeds contained d-lysergic acid amide. This
differs from LSD only in that it has a NH2 where LSD has a N(C2H5)2, but
LSD is some 50 to 100 times as potent. The morning glory Turbina
corymbosa’s seeds also have other psychoactive alkaloids in
them: d-isolysergic acid amide, chanoclavine, elymoclavine, and lysergol.” If you read the link, you go on to discover that Ipomoea varieties contain a lot of ergotamine, which is a vasoconstrictor and uterine stimulator, and should be approached with caution. The extraction is supposed to eliminate a lot of this, naturally.

Some of the compounds in the seeds are soaplike: not poisonous, merely emetic. These should also be largely eliminated by the extraction.

Sorry if I’m belaboring a point, folks, but I think it’s irresponsible to post something like that.

Amp, what the hell made you think LSD was gone? It’s never been the most popular drug, but it’s never gone entirely out and it probably never well. People like mental-state altering drugs. Of course, since LSD acts on serotonin receptors, it’s likely that many of the people who once enjoyed it recreationally are now maintaining steady levels thanks to SSRIs like Paxil. (There’s a lot on LSD in the medical literature, mostly mouse studies).

too “lools”.. jacked off a few times on LSD, nothing special, LSD shrinks the penis :)

as far as preparing LSD, ha that’s a laugh. you’ll need at least 2 semesters of college organic chemistry, a lab, and associates that keep there mouths shut.

i kind of like that it’s not availble, keeps dumbasses from doing it and giving it a bad name. Aldous Huxley always said it should be an elitist thing… i agree. i love secret society stuff. if you want in, check out www.mindstates.org or maps.org or go to the annual bonnaroo festival in june

LSD is still going - you can get it in the north of scotland but it is more elusive than other drugs. and magic mushrooms grow wild everywhere, so its pointless. i did some that came up from leeds.

so i’d say its still about. most trip-heads i know have done acid.

(and they’re all young)

We recommend that you contact your local law enforcement officials before undertaking any project based upon any information obtained from this or any other web site.

Yeah, right.

not a good idea to say crap on the internet that you wouldnt say to your mom/the cops/any random person walking by.

Also, please be careful.