LSD

{Acid, Tab, Lucy, Lysergic acid diethylamide}

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Set and setting

Plan your trip carefully and make adequate preparations to enhance your experience and avoid a 'bad trip'.

1

Trip sitter

Try to have a trip-sitter (ideally someone sober, had previous psychedelic experience and has read this guide!) or let a friend know when and where you will take it.

2

Dose sensibly

Although LSD doesn’t cause dependence or addiction, don't take higher acid doses than recommended. Save your trips for special and meaningful occasions.

3

In collaboration with The Beckley Foundation.

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a psychedelic drug that was first synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hofmann. It normally comes as a "tab", a small piece of blotter paper which is placed under the tongue. Acid takes about an hour to kick in. It literally takes you on a ‘trip’ to the deepest parts of human consciousness. People report things like having heightened sensations, spiritual experiences, altered time perception, and music feeling heavenly. However, bad thoughts can also turn into extremely disturbing experiences (a "bad trip").

This guide explains everything there is to know about LSD, from tolerance to dosage, with lot of harm reduction peppered in! Start by clicking on our top tips below to learn how to take acid more safely.

The Beckley Foundation is a pioneer institution conducting cutting-edge research on the therapeutic potential of this psychedelic. Their scientists also believe LSD is a master key to unravel the inner workings of consciousness.

References

¹ Carhart-Harris, R. L., Kaelen, M., Bolstridge, M., Williams, T. M., Williams, L. T., Underwood, R., ... & Nutt, D. J. (2016). The paradoxical psychological effects of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD). Psychological medicine, 46(07), 1379-1390.

² Carbonaro, T. M., Bradstreet, M. P., Barrett, F. S., MacLean, K. A., Jesse, R., Johnson, M. W., & Griffiths, R. R. (2016). Survey study of challenging experiences after ingesting psilocybin mushrooms: Acute and enduring positive and negative consequences. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(12), 1268-1278.

³ Murray, R. M., Paparelli, A., Morrison, P. D., Marconi, A., & Di Forti, M. (2013). What can we learn about schizophrenia from studying the human model, drug?induced psychosis?. American Journal of Medical Genetics Part B: Neuropsychiatric Genetics, 162(7), 661-670.

⁴ Network, NEPTUNE. Guidance on the clinical management of acute and chronic harms of club drugs and novel psychoactive substances. 2015 http://neptune-clinical-guidance.co. uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/03.NEPTUNE-Guidance-March-2015.pdf)

⁵ Kaelen, M., Barrett, F. S., Roseman, L., Lorenz, R., Family, N., Bolstridge, M., ... & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2015). LSD enhances the emotional response to music. Psychopharmacology, 232(19), 3607-3614.

⁶ Kaelen, M., Roseman, L., Kahan, J., Santos-Ribeiro, A., Orban, C., Lorenz, R., ... & Wall, M. B. (2016).LSD modulates music-induced imagery via changes in parahippocampal connectivity. European Neuropsychopharmacology, 26(7), 1099-1109.

⁷ Lebedev, A. V., Kaelen, M., Lövdén, M., Nilsson, J., Feilding, A., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart‐Harris, R. L. (2016). LSD‐induced entropic brain activity predicts subsequent personality change. Human brain mapping, 37(9), 3203-3213.

⁸ Speth, J., Speth, C., Kaelen, M., Schloerscheidt, A. M., Feilding, A., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2016). Decreased mental time travel to the past correlates with default-mode network disintegration under lysergic acid diethylamide. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 30(4), 344-353.

⁹ Leary, T., Metzner, R., & Dass, R. (1966).The psychedelic experience.Smithsonian Folkways Recordings.

¹⁰ Carhart-Harris, R. L., Kaelen, M., Whalley, M. G., Bolstridge, M., Feilding, A., & Nutt, D. J. (2015). LSD enhances suggestibility in healthy volunteers. Psychopharmacology, 232(4), 785-794.

¹¹ Tagliazucchi, E., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M., Orban, C., Muthukumaraswamy, S. D., Murphy, K., ... & Bullmore, E. (2016).Increased global functional connectivity correlates with LSD-Induced ego dissolution. Current Biology,26(8), 1043-1050.

¹² Carhart-Harris, R. L., Muthukumaraswamy, S., Roseman, L., Kaelen, M., Droog, W., Murphy, K., ... & Leech, R. (2016). Neural correlates of the LSD experience revealed by multimodal neuroimaging.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(17), 4853-4858.

¹³ Roseman, L., Sereno, M. I., Leech, R., Kaelen, M., Orban, C., McGonigle, J., ... & Carhart‐Harris, R. L. (2016). LSD alters eyes‐closed functional connectivity within the early visual cortex in a retinotopic fashion.Human brain mapping, 37(8), 3031-3040.

¹⁴ Terhune, D. B., Luke, D. P., Kaelen, M., Bolstridge, M., Feilding, A., Nutt, D., ... & Ward, J. (2016). A placebo-controlled investigation of synaesthesia-like experiences under LSD. Neuropsychologia.

¹⁵ Family, N., Vinson, D., Vigliocco, G., Kaelen, M., Bolstridge, M., Nutt, D. J., & Carhart-Harris, R. L. (2016). Semantic activation in LSD: evidence from picture naming.Language, Cognition and Neuroscience, 1-8.

¹⁶ Dolder, P. C., Schmid, Y., Müller, F., Borgwardt, S., & Liechti, M. E. (2016). LSD acutely impairs fear recognition and enhances emotional empathy and sociality. Neuropsychopharmacology, 41(11), 2638.

¹⁷ Nichols, D. E. (2016). Psychedelics.Pharmacological reviews, 68(2), 264-355.

¹⁸ Strassman, R. J. (1984). Adverse reactions to psychedelic drugs. A review of the literature. J Nerv Ment Dis, 172(10), 577-595.

¹⁹ Halberstadt, A. L. (2015).Recent advances in the neuropsychopharmacology of serotonergic hallucinogens. Behavioural brain research, 277, 99-120.

²⁰ Johnson, M. W., Garcia-Romeu, A., Cosimano, M. P., & Griffiths, R. R. (2014). Pilot study of the 5-HT2AR agonist psilocybin in the treatment of tobacco addiction. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 0269881114548296

²¹ Garcia-Romeu, A., R Griffiths, R., & W Johnson, M. (2014). Psilocybin-occasioned mystical experiences in the treatment of tobacco addiction.Current drug abuse reviews, 7(3), 157-164.

²² Krebs, T. S., & Johansen, P. Ø. (2013). Psychedelics and mental health: a population study. PloS one, 8(8), e63972.

²³ Hendricks, P. S., Thorne, C. B., Clark, C. B., Coombs, D. W., & Johnson, M. W. (2015). Classic psychedelic use is associated with reduced psychological distress and suicidality in the United States adult population. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 29(3), 280-288.

²⁴ Johansen, P. Ø., & Krebs, T. S. (2015).Psychedelics not linked to mental health problems or suicidal behavior: A population study. Journal of Psychopharmacology, 0269881114568039.

Put your brand in front of thousands monthly and support the growth of harm reduction.