LSD: Myth Vs. Reality + History of LSD Videos

I’m not condoning or advocating the use of drugs, but it is my job to expose lies and the government lies about drugs - a lot.

From: Erowid

LSD does not form “crystals” that reside in the body to be “dislodged” later, causing flashbacks. LSD is a crystalline solid (though it is unlikely that one would ever have enough to be visible to the naked eye) but it is easily water soluble, thus cannot form bodily deposits. Furthermore, it is metabolized and excreted in hours. The bogus “loosened crystal” description in not necessary to explain flashbacks, which are psychological phenomena (see FLASHBACKS).

LSD does not cause chromosome damage.

In Science 30 April 1972, Volume 172 Number 3982 p. 431-440 there was an article by Norman I. Dishotsky, William D. Loughman, Robert E. Mogar and Wendell R. Lipscomb titled “LSD and Genetic Damage - Is LSD chromosome damaging, carcinogenic, mutagenic, or teratogenic?”. They reviewed 68 studies and case reports published 1967-1972, concluding “From our own work and from a review of literature, we believe that pure LSD ingested in moderate doses does not damage chromosomes in vivo, does not cause detectable genetic damage, and is not a teratogen or carcinogen in man.”

Well, there’s the study by Sidney Cohen which was cited here recently, Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 130, 1960. The following is from Jay Stevens’ Storming Heaven: “Cohen surveyed a sample of five thousand individuals who had taken LSD twenty-five thousand times. He found and average of 1.8 psychotic episodes per thousand ingestions, 1.2 attempted suicides, and 0.4 completed suicides. ‘Considering the enormous scope of the psychic responses it induces,’ he concluded, ‘LSD is an astonishingly safe drug.’”

Some urban legends: I’ve heard two “stories” about people blinding themselves on “drugs”. One was revealed as a hoax by the person who perpetrated it (apparently it was intended to “illustrate” the dangers of LSD), another is trotted out by anti-drug speakers at high schools:

1. Staring at the Sun: Seven people on LSD stared at the sun and lost 90% of their reading vision. See Erowid’s LSD Myth Page
2. Plucking Out Eyeballs: A teenager arrested while on LSD plucked out his eyeballs in his jail cell, and felt no pain. This may come from Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas where the main character, Duke, reads about a similar episode involving PCP. See Erowid’s LSD Myth Page.

While these are bogus, the drug has powerful effects on the mind and the consumer should be aware of the hazards, and act appropriately.

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There is an occasionally circulated fake warning from some police department about LSD-laced “tattoos” or stickers (the “blue star tattoo” story) being given to children. This probably originated with some hick cop or ignorant and panicky parent not understanding some children-cartoon (eg, mickey mouse in sorcerer’s garb) printed on a sheet of blotter.
ADDICTION POTENTIAL:Zero physical addiction potential. Not something that makes you want to do it again immediately.

Rarely people use it to escape in a negative way or as part of “polydrug abuse” behavior or pattern of behavior. Usually in this case other drugs are causing more harm, and the fundamental problem is a personal difficulty; the escapism/distraction is a symptom.

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ADULTERANTS:Several problems are associated with street drugs: their unknown purity and their unknown strength. Because of its extreme cheapness and potency, the purity of LSD in blotter form is not an issue: either it’s lsd or untreated paper. The purity of powders, pills, and liquids cannot be assumed as safe. With regards to uncertain strength, the strength of hits these days is low, 100 micrograms or so. One should be careful and assume that the smallest square in a tiling of a sheet is a dose, even if a printed pattern covers several. An experienced person could judge the strength of a dose, and if it is assumed all doses on a sheet have been processed equivalently, those doses would be calibrated for others, much like anything else.

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From _Psychedelic Chemistry_ by M.V.Smith, 2nd edition p 5:”There is a great deal of superstition regarding purification of psychedelics. Actually, any impurities which may be present as a result of synthetic procedures will almost certainly be without any effect on the trip. If there are 200 micrograms of LSD in a tablet, there could only be 200 mics of impurities present even if the LSD was originally only 50% pure (assuming nothing else has been added), and few compounds will produce a significant effect until a hundred to a thousand times this amount has been ingested. Even mescaline, which has a rather specific psychedelic effect, requires about a thousand thimes this amount.”

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Note that:

1. on a piece of paper, vs. a tablet, you can’t even add significant amounts of adulterants
2. adulterants would cost, whereas blank paper will rip someone off just as well.

LSD itself has some “body-kinks” on some people some times. Nausea is one of them. its usually mild and transient. It also has speedlike (ie, adrenergic stimulation) effects, etc.

(It is common for the uninformed to harbor fears (e.g., about adulterants) instilled by ignorance and the current hysteria/propoganda. That’s why this FAQ exists.)

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[Referring to strychnine] 15 mg has been fatal, but a more typical fatal dose is on the order of 50mg. [Another post indicates 25 mg. as the LD50] 1 mg of strychnine orally probably has no observable pharmacological effects in a typical adult. [1 mg being ten times the effective dose of LSD, by the way.]From: Handbook of Poisoning, 10th ed, R.H. Dreisbach, M.D., PhD, Lange Med. Pub. Co. Los Altos, Ca.: strychnine is lethal in 15-30 mg amounts to adult humans. (Pure nicotine is fatal at 40 mg./person; cyanide salts are fatal at about 100 mg./person) Strychnine causes death by respitory failure, via increased spinal reflex excitability.

Actually, I think the fact that PharmChem analyzed something on the order of 2,000 LSD samples between 1972 and 1979 and never found one with strychnine in it would be better. I’m going over all their data with a toothpick and I’ll get back to you on exactly what I find. It looks like the percent of LSD with strychnine in it is, however, at least under .05%.
Here is the study on LSD that is mentioned in the above paragraph - as it says, no strychnine was ever found.