What is LSD?
LSD stands for lysergic acid diethylamide but is commonly referred to as "acid" and sometimes "tripping". It is one of the best known and most researched psychedelics. It is active even at extremely low doses and works by binding to your serotonin receptors, those which control and regulate the emotional and sensory systems of the brain. Although it's chemical properties are among the least harmful, LSD carries many psychological risks.
What does LSD look like?
LSD is taken orally and is most commonly available in either on blotters (tabs) or in liquid form. It is odorless and tasteless.
What does LSD do to you?
LSD alters your perception of sound, color and objects. Time will seem to either slow down or speed up and you will experience hallucinations (seeing things that aren't real) after taking a high dose of the drug. These changes and hallucinations can cause severe feelings of panic, anxiety or distress which become overwhelming
EFFECTS INCLUDE: dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure as well as higher body temperature, insomnia, loss of appetite, increase or decrease in saliva, dizziness and unusual body sensations such as skin rashes or flushed cheeks
SYMPTOMS THAT MAKE YOU THINK: Difficulty focusing, confusion, quickly changing emotions, hightened consciousness or understanding, over sensitivity to stimulation (light or sound), paranoia, indecisive judgement, rambling, overwhelming and unwanted feelings, anxiety, panic, fear, feeling of dying, distress, flashbacks and life changing realizations (either wanted or unwanted).
An LSD trip lasts for approximately 6-12 hours, beginning an hour after have been taken, peaking at 3-4 hours and continuously increasing until about 6-7 hours. However, more than one tab can induce a trip which can last over 18 hours.
EFFECTS INCLUDE: dilated pupils, increased heart rate and blood pressure as well as higher body temperature, insomnia, loss of appetite, increase or decrease in saliva, dizziness and unusual body sensations such as skin rashes or flushed cheeks
SYMPTOMS THAT MAKE YOU THINK: Difficulty focusing, confusion, quickly changing emotions, hightened consciousness or understanding, over sensitivity to stimulation (light or sound), paranoia, indecisive judgement, rambling, overwhelming and unwanted feelings, anxiety, panic, fear, feeling of dying, distress, flashbacks and life changing realizations (either wanted or unwanted).
An LSD trip lasts for approximately 6-12 hours, beginning an hour after have been taken, peaking at 3-4 hours and continuously increasing until about 6-7 hours. However, more than one tab can induce a trip which can last over 18 hours.
What are the risks?
Taking LSD in a situation where you are uncomfortable or feeling panicked will induce a bad trip, causing overwhelming feelings of depression, anxiety, agitation or confusion. In this situation, it is best to get the person to a safe, comfortable and familiar place to calm down.
Although LSD is not chemically harmful to the body, people can cause harm to themselves while on LSD, their feelings of depression amplified by the drug and it can have serious and long term consequences on people with underlying mental health issues, setting off a mental condition that had previously gone unnoticed.
LSD users may experience flashbacks in which they relive the trauma or sensation of a trip. These flashback can occur within weeks of using acid, or can strike months, even years after a trip. These flashbacks come without warning and vary in severity.
Although LSD is not chemically harmful to the body, people can cause harm to themselves while on LSD, their feelings of depression amplified by the drug and it can have serious and long term consequences on people with underlying mental health issues, setting off a mental condition that had previously gone unnoticed.
LSD users may experience flashbacks in which they relive the trauma or sensation of a trip. These flashback can occur within weeks of using acid, or can strike months, even years after a trip. These flashbacks come without warning and vary in severity.
LSD and the Law
LSD is a Schedule III drug and is illegal almost all over the world. In Canada, it carries a penalty of up to 3 years imprisonment for possession of the drug and up to 10 years of imprisonment for the trafficking of LSD.
User's Story
29 Years Of Flashbacks From A Bad Trip by Chris T.
I am presently aged 45, and took LSD at aged 16, during 1972. I can honestly say that the trip experience was so profound and real, that it has affected me ever since.
My parents were on holiday, and I tripped at home, with a work colleague, who was not a good friend, just somebody I knew. I thought LSD was going to be all flowers and pretty lights, etc., and was looking forward to the experience. We bought the black microdot tabs from a dealer that he knew, who warned us that the tabs were strong, and to make sure we were somewhere safe. On the way home on a bus, we dropped the tabs. We got home OK, and decided to go to a local shop. The time was around 5-6pm. After about half an hour, we started to feel a bit light headed, and giggly. We returned home, and sat in the front room, and put on some Deep Purple on the hi fi. I can remember moving my hands, and seeing the fingertips trailing behind, and the seeing the walls swaying. Also, sounds coming out of the hi fi speakers were in colour. Then, bang. I lost an hour or two here, my colleague said that I just wandered round and round in circles, in a trance state. I can vaguely remember seeing my mind on different planes and levels, shooting out into infinity.
I then came round, and noticed the guy with me staring at me in an all-knowing way. He had tripped before, and I began to get the AWFUL feeling that he had tricked me into taking the tab. As the time went on, I began to get paranoid, and started to realize that this trip was going to last for eternity, and, in fact, my whole life previous to this, was also part of the trip. I saw my parents sitting on the sofa laughing at me, “you've been conned again” on their faces. I looked at the guy with me, yes, I now realized I knew him, I'd always known him, for eternity, I was in a death trip now, I was sucked into a spiral, everything I looked at, I knew what was coming, DEJA VU on a massive scale. Fear is not a good description of the horror of this experience.
Several times in the trip, I became 'aware' and tried to tell myself, this is stupid, you are you, I repeated my name over and over. At one stage, I decided to go for a walk. It was dark, about 11pm. We caught a bus, God knows how. Walked round a town centre. It was raining. The rain hit my face and felt like acid burning holes. I looked at the guy with me, yes, his name, everything, he was the bastard that always tricks me into taking LSD, and I fall for it every time, for infinity -whoosh - away again down the deja vu spiral, horrendous sickening fear. At one stage in town, I looked at an EXIT sign. Yes, ex it, this is it, it is the trip, whoosh - away again. Managed to get home safely by walking home. We had left the front door unlocked, but got lucky. I then spent the next 2-3 hours battling with my sanity, as time and time again I suffered the realization, and gut-wrenching fear, that I had done this millions of times before, and could never escape it. I eventually came down at about 4 am, staring at a gas fire, in a state of shock.
The following days I wandered round in a daze, trying to come to terms with what had happened to me. I only took LSD one more time after that, a half a tab. To convince myself it was OK. It wasn’t. I went to rock concert at a stadium, it was dark, I saw the EXIT signs, I was back on the same trip, panicked, left early, and went home, lay in bed in a state of fear.
The following year, I smoked some weed, became paranoid, and suddenly flash backed, I was still on the trip. I ran panicking, it’s all I can do for a few seconds, then the feeling goes. I tried sniffing solvent, bang, whilst high, I got the same feeling, still on the trip, panicked and ran again. People look at me strange, I’m not surprised. The years went on. I married and had children, got a good job. Whilst at work, I had to go into a dark hall, with an illuminated exit sign, bang, - you’ve guessed it, I flash backed again, deja vu, the people with me are all part of the conspiracy. And it goes on. I’ve had about 7 or 8 flashbacks, some being as far as 8 years apart. The last one was last week. I was in a panicky situation involving my job, involving danger. I was dealing with something, when I had the realisation, deja vu feeling again, OH NO, is what I say. Christ, it’s a nightmare.
My advice to anybody reading this who hasn’t tripped yet, DON’T.
I am presently aged 45, and took LSD at aged 16, during 1972. I can honestly say that the trip experience was so profound and real, that it has affected me ever since.
My parents were on holiday, and I tripped at home, with a work colleague, who was not a good friend, just somebody I knew. I thought LSD was going to be all flowers and pretty lights, etc., and was looking forward to the experience. We bought the black microdot tabs from a dealer that he knew, who warned us that the tabs were strong, and to make sure we were somewhere safe. On the way home on a bus, we dropped the tabs. We got home OK, and decided to go to a local shop. The time was around 5-6pm. After about half an hour, we started to feel a bit light headed, and giggly. We returned home, and sat in the front room, and put on some Deep Purple on the hi fi. I can remember moving my hands, and seeing the fingertips trailing behind, and the seeing the walls swaying. Also, sounds coming out of the hi fi speakers were in colour. Then, bang. I lost an hour or two here, my colleague said that I just wandered round and round in circles, in a trance state. I can vaguely remember seeing my mind on different planes and levels, shooting out into infinity.
I then came round, and noticed the guy with me staring at me in an all-knowing way. He had tripped before, and I began to get the AWFUL feeling that he had tricked me into taking the tab. As the time went on, I began to get paranoid, and started to realize that this trip was going to last for eternity, and, in fact, my whole life previous to this, was also part of the trip. I saw my parents sitting on the sofa laughing at me, “you've been conned again” on their faces. I looked at the guy with me, yes, I now realized I knew him, I'd always known him, for eternity, I was in a death trip now, I was sucked into a spiral, everything I looked at, I knew what was coming, DEJA VU on a massive scale. Fear is not a good description of the horror of this experience.
Several times in the trip, I became 'aware' and tried to tell myself, this is stupid, you are you, I repeated my name over and over. At one stage, I decided to go for a walk. It was dark, about 11pm. We caught a bus, God knows how. Walked round a town centre. It was raining. The rain hit my face and felt like acid burning holes. I looked at the guy with me, yes, his name, everything, he was the bastard that always tricks me into taking LSD, and I fall for it every time, for infinity -whoosh - away again down the deja vu spiral, horrendous sickening fear. At one stage in town, I looked at an EXIT sign. Yes, ex it, this is it, it is the trip, whoosh - away again. Managed to get home safely by walking home. We had left the front door unlocked, but got lucky. I then spent the next 2-3 hours battling with my sanity, as time and time again I suffered the realization, and gut-wrenching fear, that I had done this millions of times before, and could never escape it. I eventually came down at about 4 am, staring at a gas fire, in a state of shock.
The following days I wandered round in a daze, trying to come to terms with what had happened to me. I only took LSD one more time after that, a half a tab. To convince myself it was OK. It wasn’t. I went to rock concert at a stadium, it was dark, I saw the EXIT signs, I was back on the same trip, panicked, left early, and went home, lay in bed in a state of fear.
The following year, I smoked some weed, became paranoid, and suddenly flash backed, I was still on the trip. I ran panicking, it’s all I can do for a few seconds, then the feeling goes. I tried sniffing solvent, bang, whilst high, I got the same feeling, still on the trip, panicked and ran again. People look at me strange, I’m not surprised. The years went on. I married and had children, got a good job. Whilst at work, I had to go into a dark hall, with an illuminated exit sign, bang, - you’ve guessed it, I flash backed again, deja vu, the people with me are all part of the conspiracy. And it goes on. I’ve had about 7 or 8 flashbacks, some being as far as 8 years apart. The last one was last week. I was in a panicky situation involving my job, involving danger. I was dealing with something, when I had the realisation, deja vu feeling again, OH NO, is what I say. Christ, it’s a nightmare.
My advice to anybody reading this who hasn’t tripped yet, DON’T.