LSD is a drug which has had a bizarre inception and nuanced history. What began as a pharmacological experiment rapidly evolved into a substance which was used for a wide range of uses. From groundbreaking psychiatric work all the way to abuse in mind control military projects, let’s dive into some of the most significant examples of psychedelics’ use in society since its creation.

Hofmann’s Accidental Ingestion

Dubbed as the father of the psychedelic movement due to his work on the synthesis of LSD, Albert Hofmann was the first to produce and ingest LSD. Albert Hofmann first synthesised Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in November 1938 when studying the medicinal properties of the ergot fungus and the Mediterranean squill. Ergot is a fungus which grows on rye and can infect the grain causing muscle spasms, delusions, hallucinations, gangrenous symptoms and ultimately death to those who consume it. This process has been linked to plagues and famines which have killed hundreds of thousands of people in the past. 

Hofmann’s boss, Arthur Stoll, managed to isolate the toxic compounds in ergot: ergotamine and ergobasine. By utilising Aotamine, the medicinal compound in ergot, Stoll was able to produce medicines for his Swiss pharmaceutical company Sandoz. 

Hofmann originally intended for LSD to be used as a respiratory and circulatory stimulant. However, when he accidentally absorbed the drug in his lab in 1943, he discovered that it had a far more powerful impact on his state of consciousness. Hofmann originally was unsure of how he had experienced the effects, and believed that LSD couldn’t have been the cause for his symptoms as he had been meticulous in avoiding contamination due to his knowledge of the lethality of ergot. However, he attempted to reproduce his effects by consuming what he believed to be a miniscule dose of LSD to test whether it was the cause.

Keep reading