The Truth About LSD

By: Jason NicholsChristy

Kelly Ramirez

Introduction

LSD is definitely a powerful drug and quite capable, like anything powerful. of doing a lot of damage, but what do we really know about it? There are all types of propaganda about how it eats holes in your brain, or permanently turns the most stable of people into raving schizophrenics. Others say everyone should be taking it at any opportunity in order to expand their minds.

The truth, as always, lies somewhere in between.

DANGER

We will be discussing this drug in a manner that may seem to some as encouraging the use of LSD. This is NOT the case. LSD is a very powerful psychoactive substance. In order to understand the risks associated with LSD, first a little must be known about how it works.

What DOES LSD do?

-Binds to Seratonin and Dopamine Receptors giving a feeling of euphoria.

-Inhibits your mind's ability to block or filter sensory input. +colors appear deeper and more vivid +vision is actually noticeably enhanced as are the other senses (this isn't just perceived)

- The brain becomes overstimulated

Normally the brain automatically filters out most of what is seen, heard, felt etc., processing only what is necessary for the task at hand. LSD stops that from happening.

Without those filters, the brain cannot process all the information it receives Minor hallucinations start to occur as the brain starts to overload and misinterpret signals. People report to sometimes “see” sounds and “hear” colors. Since the brain is so overwhelmed, sometimes there is confusion and/or slight nervousness at this stage, but normally the euphoria is strong enough to compensate.

- There are more “filters” or “walls” in the mind than just those that make it easy to cope with what's going on around you

Most of us have a pretty firm grip on our imagination. Most of us have things buried that we'd rather not think about. We stop thinking about ideas once they become too fanciful abstract. LSD attacks all those barriers.

If we take one brain that is SO flooded with a massive stream useless information that it's no longer sure it ever truly knew which way was up in the first place, Add to that, an unfettered imagination and some repressed (or just forgotten) memories, and we have a recipe for hallucination.

Problems with illicit use:

1) Too frequent use can make one become completely withdrawn or disassociated with reality whenever they “trip”. Rapid tolerance development tends to minimize this issue, though

2) Improper Dosage- How much to take depends on a great number of factors and varies from person to person.

3)Over Enthusiastic Response- Some people lose ALL sense of reality and need to be taken care of.

4) Improper SupportThis point will be reiterated multiple times, and should probably be more so.

-LSD does not produce experiences, but rather inhibits repressive mechanisms in the brain, allowing the patient to explore their mind and see things more openly

-Since life is uncensored for a few hours, there are three aspects to keep in mind: 1)current mental state 2)Preparaion for the session 3)ENVIRONMENT!!!

Failure to do so can lead to a bad trip, which, in turn, can result in Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with flashbacks and everything.

Also, some times someone decides to try to fly...off of a ten story building (or something equally ridiculous)...and they really think they can fly, too.

History

-First synthesized from ergot by Dr. Albert Hofmann in 1938

-1943:Hoffman was trying to isolate another compound to make migrain medication when he was accidentally exposed to LSD

-Shortly thereafter, Hofmann experimented on himself with 0.25 mg of pure LSD

Understanding Schitzophrenia

- Initially, psychiatrists were taking LSD in order to better understand the mind of a schitzophrenic. +better understanding brought better treatment

-in the 1950's, LSD was used in the treatment of patients in mental institutions

-releases repressed memories and mental conflicts

Alcoholics Program

-Did not go quite as planned: doctors initially intended to take advantage of confusion and fear caused by the drug to scare people sober. As it turns out, the LSD broke down the walls of resistance and forced the alcoholic to actually think about what they were doing to friends/family

-Very high success rate-- reports vary from program to program, but ranged between 30%-50% recovery

-AA works for about 10%

Memory Resurfacing

-LSD broke down walls that would have otherwise taken months or years of conventional therapy

-LSD forced people to face what they were blocking

-There were a small number of people who experienced flashbacks after these sessions due to the trauma associated with reliving those memories

United States Testing

-United States testing was handled mainly by the CIA— they were interested in potential use as a chemical agent for counter intelligence and warfare.

-LSD was administered to diplomats and politicians without their knowledge before speeches in order to see it's effects.

-Water supplies for several small towns in rural areas were dosed to see how the populace would react under the influence of the drug.

-Troops were given LSD, occasionally without their knowledge and then told to run drills over, and over again.

-1960: CIA paid students $40/day to take LSD in an empty room...Ken Kesey, author of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” was one of those students. His key also fit the doctor's office door, so he started giving it away.

-Civilians exposed to LSD began to do “Strange things”

-Well, the '60's was a crazy time and we all did a lot of things to our minds and bodies...

Lessons Learned:

There is some difference in the lessons the US learned and those the Europeans learned. Experimentation overseas stopped for a while, but LSD has always been recognized as having useful properties— even if we're not quite sure what they were yet. Recently, new experimentation has begun investigating several different effects of this chemical.

The United States government has deemed this drug extremely dangerous and of NO medical value. Both viewpoints directly reflect the data gathered through the studies done in their respective countries. Why?

Conclusion:

Due to the nature of how we (the US) handled this drug, we have a skewed view. Others showed some good results. By improperly using LSD, we caused a lot of damage to a lot of people. Just because we misused a powerful tool and got stung, doesn't mean we can't figure out how to handle it properly in the future.