Erowid References Database
|
Mace S.
“LSD”.
CLINICAL TOXICOLOGY. 1979;15(2):219-224.
|
|
Abstract
The lure of D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is the chance for the heralded psychedelic experience. The attraction of LSD is the opportunity to smell a color, see a sound, to become a bird and soar, or to become the invincible force that knows immortality. LSD in pure form is colorless, odorless, and tasteless; pharmaceutically it's prepared as a crystal clear solution or in distinctive bright colored tablets. In the street trade LSD circulates under many names (acid, sunshine, lysergide, and LSD-25) and has been a long standing favorite. A consistent drug of choice, LSD is among the three most popular drugs, ranking behind cocaine and amphetamines (based on PharmChem data). The street buyer sees LSD in a number of formsÐthe traditional sugar cube, the vibrant oranges and purples of the microdot tablet (some a mere 2 to 3 mm in diameter), and the blotter paper square bearing such intricate designs that they qualify as works of art. The long-standing popularity of LSD has created such a wealth of myths and street lore about its properties that the documented facts are only beginning to catch up now. From a historical point of view, LSD can be traced back to some very early antecedentsÐ the interaction of fungus on rye. This interaction produces a purple curved body called a sclerotium. The fungus penetrates through the wall of the grain and into the ovary with filaments or hyphae. The purple tissue formation from this action engulfs the entire grain and gives rise to the commercial source of ergotamide and one of its derivatives, LSD. This psychedelic derivative is in fact a semisynthetic. A portion of the process takes place through nature while the remainder takes
|
| # |
| Submit Comment |
|
[
Cite HTML ]
