LSD And Drug Abuse

     The modern world’s first glimpse into the world of psychedelics was through d-lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD. LSD was first synthesized in 1938 by two Swiss chemists from the alkaloid lysergic acid found in ergot, a parasitic fungus that grows on rye and other grains. Five years later, on April 19, 1943 Albert Hoffman, one of LSD’s co-discoverers

Drugs such as: marijuana, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy, and others are known to disable the body in different ways. These substances are illegal for many reasons, it can affect the body in a negative way by impairing the hearing, the sight, someone’s touch, their taste, and most important can cause death upon someone. Being caught with the use of an illegal substance can cause the person jail time or even greater consequences. The main drug being focused on right now is ecstasy. Ecstasy is MDMA psychoactive drug which is consumed for its euphoric and empathogenic effects. It was developed in 1912 by a man who studied pharmacy. In 1953 the US Army used ecstasy in psychological warfare tests, and then in the 1970’s it started being used as an abusive drug. In the 1980s, people promoted ecstasy as “the in thing to search for happiness” and the new “party drug”. The dangers of using ecstasy is very high, it is usually consumed by a pill form but can also be injected. Consuming to much ecstasy can cause life time affects and possibly even

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide or LSD is a hallucinogenic drug that can be taken orally, injected or even absorbed through the skin. Once LSD has entered the body, it starts to take effects on the levels of serotonin in the brain which can cause; hallucinations, mood change, and even sensory distortion. After taking LSD, the effects on the brain usually last from 6 to 9 hours depending on multiple factors; the dosage of LSD taken, the subject taking LSD, and even the user 's mood can affect the duration of LSD use. LSD is a non-lethal, non-addictive, and a non-habit forming drug that has little to no effect on the long-term health of an individual. However, LSD has been illegal since the 1960 's. Not only did availability of LSD become scarce with the criminalization of the substance, but the legislation also put a halt on the research of the chemical as well. Much of the way LSD interacts with the brain has been left unknown. This derivative from the rye fungus Ergot has been the source of controversy that has left many people wondering why LSD has been classified as a drug that is just as dangerous to use as heroin. It becomes difficult for an individual to understand how legislation could criminalize a chemical without completely understanding how it functions and affects people. LSD should be legalized for scientific, medical and recreational usage.

After World War II ended, the age of baby-booming and urban sprawling began. During this time, many American soldiers came home from the war; married, and had five or six children. This created the largest generation ever. Could this new generation change the social world of America? In 1964, most of the baby-boomer's children were in their late teens. This was the beginning of a major social change in the United States. With the birth of rock-n-roll not far in the past, and a growing liberalism of the normally conservative American Society, it is no wonder that a powerful hallucinogenic drug called LSD gained so much popularity.

Thus creating the LSD and hallucinogen craze. This phenomenon brought thousands of teenagers, “into San Francisco for a life based on LSD and the psychedelic thing,” (Wolfe 11). Some people saw the LSD movement as the future, considering that thousands of people moved just to take part in it. However, others only saw this as a "current fantasy”. They are, if not playing the "cops and robbers game," playing at being outlaws.

Psychedelics have become so common in America that 8% of high school seniors report having used LSD [Nation 1]. LSD is also known as “acid,” is a chemical compound lysergic acid diethylamide. The effects range from an altered state of reality to strong visual hallucinations. LSD first became popular in the 1960’s, seemingly overnight. Because it was such a new drug, it remained legal until 1966 [Riser]. Many thought of acid as a spiritual aid, and used it to meditate. It was often compared to the drugs peyote and mescaline that were used in Native American religious ceremonies [Riser]. During this time period there were social reforms taking place all over the country.

It later transformed into what would be called psychedelic rock. Experimenting with marijuana and LSD became an active attribute to the lives of teenagers. Drugs let them disconnect from their parents and live freely for a period of time. There has been a survey done to show relatively the amount of students in school who had taken pot and acid; “By 1969, 31 percent of students said they had smoked pot, and between 10 and 15 percent had experimented with LSD. At least 10 to 12 million smoked marijuana and between 1 and 2 million dropped acid.”

Although the English word “drug” was only coined in the early 1300’s, humans have been partaking in the recreational use of substances since prehistoric times. Hallucinogens, alcohol, and opium existed before 6,000 BC; alcohol and tobacco use were common in the 1600’s ; and cocaine, LSD, marijuana, and heroin use rampaged in the last century despite harsh laws put in place.

The 1960s was a highly influential and cultural changing revolutionary time and LSD helped break through uptight conservative new and lifestyle. It is apparent that the use of LSD has evolved since its inception from a psychiatric drug to a recreational drug that gained its popularity during the 1960s counterculture. Without Albert Hofmann’s amazing discovery of LSD and its leaking about into the public, the Psychedelic Revolution of LSD would have never been born and bring about all the amazing change it came with to society. LSD is known as the drug that played a significant role in the 1960s counterculture, making it a subculture in its own entirety. This subcenter culture was the epitome of experimentation, rebellion, and the emergence

Since the 1930’s lysergic acid diethylamide, also known as the hallucinogen LSD, has been a topic of controversy and mystery. The components of LSD are lysergic acid and diethylamide. As part of the ergoline family, LSD is often classified as a synthetic drug because it is produced only in a laboratory (Petechuk 10). Users of LSD are people from solid middle- and upper-class backgrounds. They have many opportunities to pursue higher education and to have successful careers (Petechuk 9). To most, this statistic would seem unusual, but LSD is notorious for giving keen insights to life, which is the main interest for its atypical consumers. Another attraction of the drug is its lack of addictive properties. Addiction is a recurrence for

One of the first areas of LSD experimentation was in treating alcoholism (Dye, 1992, p.36). After extensive research, it was concluded that LSD was not effective on treating alcoholism and the research was discontinued.

By the 1960s, psychedelics saw widespread use within the hippie counterculture, with LSD becoming the most popular of all. LSD then became the face for the young, rebellious hippie movement, and lead to mind exploration and political dissent across the United States. This widespread recreational use ended up catching the eye of state and federal government and ended up being made an illegal substance in 1967. LSD was quickly deemed a drug of abuse and placed into Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act in 1968.Schedule I placement brands psychedelics as among the most dangerous drugs of abuse and are regarded as having no medical application. This means approval for research involving this class of drugs, especially with humans, is very difficult. To this day clinical trials have been very secluded and not many are approved. A recent resurgence of MDMA in the 90’s spurred a lift on bans for studies on psychedelics medical safety and possible uses as medical treatments. Psychedelics are effective as therapy assisted treatments for addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and should be legalized for clinical

It is such effects as the latter, synaesthesia, which introduces the cons and explicit dangers of ingesting a hallucinogenic drug. This is particularly mentioned when regarding the use of lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD or acid. LSD is rather infamous in the hallucinogenic drug world, known to induce extremely convincing hallucinations. Unlike ayahuasca, a hallucinogen that is discussed below, there have been many cases individuals using LSD and never properly recovering. This is evident in not only LSD users, but all hallucinogenic drugs. When an individual consumes a hallucinogenic substance, they run the risk of aspects of a specific trip reoccurring at later times that can last for years, even when in a completely sober state (Vale, 2007). This, of course, is a negative aspect of participating in recreational use of LSD, as it can happen to an individual even if they experiment with the drug once and once only. Hallucinogens have the power to not only alter conscious perception of surroundings when a person is sober, but also have the power to inflict grave physical harm when taken in large, pure amounts. Such harm includes complications regarding blood platelets, muscular twitches and tremors, respiratory arrest and uncontrolled seizures (Vale, 2007).

The world leads to the introduction of drugs and open up the minds. A population university professors were preaching “ tune and drop out”, they were promoting drug use in America. As most of us know, this path would lead us down the path to drug abuse and away from traditional family value. Not only where the musicians trying drugs, but also some of their fans were using it too, they would do it while listening to their music. Most of these people trying drugs were because bands were doing it. Also, they would write songs about drug wish encourage them to try it. Another music band was the Beatles. The Beatles music career has been difficult due to the drugs.First, the Beatles were taking pills In the 1960s the year people in America were showing discontentment and dissatisfaction with life thru music and protest.The 1960s, a professor named Timothy Leary, who teaches at Harvard begged people to try the drug (LSD).Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known as acid, is a “psychedelic drug known for its psychological effects.” Some popular drug in the 1960s was heroin, Marijuana, and LSD. Heroin is an “opioid drug that is synthesized from morphine.” Heroin usually appears as a white or brown powder or as a black sticky substance, known as “black tar heroin.”Marijuana was first used by jazz musicians and hip characters in the inner cities, this was known as the beat generation. The drug marijuana comes from the marijuana plant. Also Marijuana is used to elevate perception, affect mood, and relax. Also in 1960, the

For thousands of years people have spoke of all types of visions. Whether the visions were from religious groups, Indian tribes, or self proclaimed prophets; all types of people have seen things. This was more than likely occurring with the help of different types of hallucinogens. Hallucinogens have been around since the beginning of time. Some mushrooms, cactus flowers, and even different types of mold are all able to produce hallucinogenic effects. However, it was only within the last century that man actually started to produce his own. LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide-25, is a relatively new substance in society. All known effects show LSD, or acid, as the harmful drug most people know it as. There are people who believe