The History of LSD

Holding the fascination of both hippies and government researchers alike in the 1960s, no other psychedelic has caused such wide scale cultural changes and controversy as LSD. The few decades that it's been around pale in comparison to natural hallucinogens that have been used for thousands of years, but the profound changes it has made to our society continue to effect us today.

1600 BC - The Greeks ritualistically consumed a hallucinogen drink known as Kykeon, now suspected to have been wine laced with Ergot, a precursor to LSD.

1938 - LSD-25 is unintentionally synthesized by Albert Hofmann while researching medical applications of ergot alkaloids.

1943 - Hofmann intentionally ingests what he considers to be a tiny amount of the chemical, 250 micrograms, and experiences powerful psychoactive effects.

1949 - The first LSD studies in America are performed by psychiatrists Dr. Max Rinkel and Dr. Robert Hyde.

1950 - Countless scientific papers are published on the effects of LSD and its use in alternative therapy.

1951 - CIA experiments on LSD and mind control begin.

1953 - The first LSD clinic in England opens.

1955 - Aldous Huxley takes LSD for the first time.

1960 Timothy Leary begins psychedelic research at Harvard University.

1962 - LSD research and use becomes restricted in the United States around the same time that it first gains popularity as a recreational street drug. In one of the last approved human psychedelic studies done in the US, LSD is successfully used to treat alcoholism.

1963 - Timothy Leary is fired from Harvard, along with Richard Alpert (now Ram Dass) and Leary goes on to form the League of Spiritual Development church.

1966 - Sandoz recalls all LSD produced for research purposes.

1968 - LSD becomes illegal in the United States.

1970 - Illegal drugs are placed in a scheduling system, with LSD and most other psychedelics labeled as Schedule I, the strictest category. Some estimates place the number of Americans that have used LSD at 2 million.

2006 - Research on the medical applications of LSD and other psychedelics begins again for the first time in decades. Studies are again showing that LSD treatment can be beneficial for alcoholism, cluster headaches, and other conditions.

http://www.naturalnews.com/026015.html

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-10/uoa-ltf100606.php

"Because I wanted to gain insight into the structure and essence of matter, I became a research chemist. Intrigued by the plant world since early childhood, I chose to specialize in research on the constituents of medicinal plants. In the course of this career I was led to the psychoactive, hallucination-causing substances, which under certain conditions can evoke visionary states similar to the spontaneous experiences just described. The most important of these hallucinogenic substances has come to be known as LSD. Hallucinogens, as active compounds of considerable scientific interest, have gained entry into medicinal research, biology, and psychiatry, and later—especially LSD also obtained wide diffusion in the drug culture. "

- Albert Hofmann, from "LSD: My Problem Child"