LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) was first synthesized by Albert Hofmann in April 1943, and it's at this time that even though it was by accident, history notes the first LSD "trip."  Hofmann's work actually produced several important drugs, including a compound to prevent hemorrhaging after childbirth that is still widely used around the world today. However, it was the 25th compound that he synthesized, "lysergic acid diethylamide," that was to have the greatest impact.  While he was synthesizing LSD, Hofmann inadvertently ingested some of the drug and experienced hallucinations.

Later, he participated in clinical test of the drug in a Sandoz laboratory but found the experience frightening and realized that the drug should be used only under carefully controlled circumstances.  So later, along with his friend and German novelist Ernst Junger, (who had already experimented with mescaline) the two took the new compound together in 1951.  Under the supervision of a medical doctor, the two men each took 0.05 milligrams of pure LSD at Hofmann's home accompanied by a vase of roses, music by Mozart and a burning stick of Japanese incense.  That was, he says, the first planned psychedelic experience.

Albert Hofmann died Tuesday, April 29th, 2008, at the age of 102.  Hofmann died of a heart attack at his home in Basel, Switzerland, according to Rick Doblin, president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, in a statement posted on the association's website.  He called LSD "medicine for the soul" and is frustrated by the worldwide prohibition that has pushed it underground. "It was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis."

But he felt the drug was hijacked by both the youth movement of the 1960s and factions such as the CIA and then unfairly demonized by the government.  He conceded LSD can be dangerous and called its promotion by Timothy Leary and others during the 60's "a crime."  "It should be a controlled substance with the same status as morphine," he said recently.

The Dawn Of "Psychedelia"

The term "psychedelic" was coined in the early 1950's by Dr. Humphrey Osmond of Saskatchewan, Canada.  Dr. Osmond along with his colleague Abram Hoffer, treated alcoholics with LSD and their trials showed that most of the patients they treated were able to arrest their alcoholism after the LSD treatment.   As a result of experimenting with this type of treatment, Osmond and Hoffer were able to detect and document a critical connection between mental disorders and neurochemistry; Osmond also sampled LSD and mescaline himself and was responsible for arranging Aldous Huxley's first psychedelic trip.  Huxley was the author of the classic futuristic tale, "Brave New World."

Experimentation with LSD and other psychedelics soon spread to almost all strata of society right around the world and by the early 1960's, over a thousand articles had been published in medical journals about LSD alone.

Let's have a look at how LSD affects the brian.  Click on the "Mouse Party" picture below, you'll be taken to a great presentation from the University Of Utah on how LSD and other drugs actually affect the brain. Even if you've never liked science, you're going to love this!

Treatment Of Addiction With Psychedelics

New Westminster-based Hollywood Hospital in British Columbia, Canada was the first clinical setting for addiction treatment using psychedelics.  The facility soon became popular with celebrities and people like Cary Grant, Andy Williams, Ethel Kennedy and others were treated.  It was even endorsed by the local Catholic church until LSD was criminalized in 1966 following public hysteria around a handful of negative media reports.  In addition, it was made public that the CIA had backed inhumane psychedelic experimental program like MK-ULTRA, which was linked with researchers in both the U.S. and Canada.  Among other things, government officials were interested in testing the viability of psychedelics as a weapon in the spy game and Cold War.

How Psychedelics Were Used In Treatment

The premise with psychedelic therapy was that the alcoholic or addict was suffering from a distorted model or perception of life, and a counter-productive personal philosophy.  And this was difficult to change, because it was a classic case of the individual being "so close to the forest that they couldn't see the trees."

The idea was for the psychedelic therapist to work with the material that the patient experiences while under the effects of the psychedelic drug.  The goal is to help the patient re-synthesize a new model of life and/or a new personal philosophy. During the experience, the patient draws upon information flooding in from the altered environment and from their own past, and uses it to eliminate false ideas and false memories. With the aid of the therapist, they evaluate themselves more objectively and become more acutely aware of their own responsibility for their situation and, even more important, for doing something about it.

A New Pair Of Glasses?

They also become aware of inner strengths or qualities that will help them in the long and difficult struggle toward becoming addiction-free.  In short, the psychedelic effect enables the patient to briefly "step out of themselves" so they can see their existence in another context, or from a different perspective.  It's like looking at the world with a new pair of glasses.  And that's ironic, because one of the most popular and beloved books within the 12 Step recovery world is titled, "A New Pair Of Glasses."

Therapeutic Value Of Psychedelics Being Discussed Again

Opponents of using therapeutic psychedelics are actually difficult to find among medical researchers.  Powerful hallucinogens have been used for centuries as ritualistic sacraments within different cultures.  For example, ayahuasca, a vine-based tea brew is used in Peruvian and Brazilian ceremonial settings, while peyote is used for extensive therapeutic applications within the Native American culture.  Many people currently working in the area of addiction and treatment research feel that psychedelics deserve much more attention, and further, that they might have a real potential as a viable psychotherapy tool.  The proponents of this approach however do advise that psychedelic-assisted therapy always be done under controlled conditions and monitored by a professional.

"Flower Power" Now commonly known as "acid," LSD is the drug that ushered in the "psychedelic generation" during the late 1960's and is categorized under a family of drugs known as hallucinogens.  It's accurate to say that a great deal of the music that was introduced in the late sixties was LSD-inspired, so much so that "acid-rock" became a distinct category.  Groups like Iron Butterfly, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Big Brother & The Holding Company, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, and Blue Cheer were some of the better known leaders of the acid rock movement.  Pure acid rock was short-lived and eventually would "morph" into other types of music.

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