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Erowid LSD Vault : Info #4 on the Effects of LSD

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A Commentary on LSD

Alice Dee

LSD (D-Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, or Acid for short) can be a wonderful

psychotropic ally, and is probably the most versatile psychedelic known to

humanity. Its effects vary from simple stimulation, like a cup of coffee, that

can facilitate intense focus for 8ish hours at the 25mcg dose range (excellent

for programming, writing, driving or listening to lectures) to a social,

stimulating psychedelic in the 50-200 mcg range (great for dancing, concerts and

walks in nature) to a frankly amazing, mystic entheogen in the 300-700mcg range

(much more heroic than social, but great for communing with God/dess). Some

people find that the intensity of the LSD experience tends to plateau at dosages

over 500-700mcg, although its duration may continue to extend.

When readily available, LSD is also one of the best value-for-money psychedelics

around, usually going for $2.00 per 100 mcg 'hit' or 'dose' in the SF Bay Area

(often considered an epicenter for LSD production), although have heard of

people paying up to $5.00 per 100mcg elsewhere. These 100mcg dosages are fairly

standard in the US these days, but are signifcantly less that the powerful 300

mcg per hit dosages that were reportedly common here in the Sixties. The lower

doses per hit usually available to US psychonauts these days have probably

significantly reduced the frequency of uncomfortably strong LSD trips.

Today, LSD is commonly found soaked into colorful blotter paper (an artform in

itself), although sometimes it is available dissolved in liquid (usually

calibrated to 100mcg per drop) or dissolved in colorful, hardened gel when it is

known as windowpane. It appears that the LSD-containing tablets of various

descriptions that were around in the Sixties seem to be much less common these

days.

Regarding storage, it is very helpful to keep LSD in a dark, cool place for

long-term storage as it is not one of the more stable psychedelic molecules.

Purity is also important, and can significantly affect the quality of the

experience (especially at high doses) so it is often a good idea to bioassay a

new batch at lower doses to test the purity. Quad pure LSD (implying that the

product is washed four times, as was said to be the practice of legendary LSD

maker Owsley, aka Bear) is usually the best around, but three washes are

commonly considered adequate, especially since yield is reduced with each wash.

LSD synthesis is quite complex and generally requires a pretty professional lab

and chemist to synthesize quality product.

With moderate doses of blotter LSD, effects start to become noticeable within

around half an hour after ingestion, and tend to rise to a peak around 2-5 hours

into the experience. After the peak, the trip gradually declines in intensity

until one is pretty much back to baseline in around 8-12 hours. The afterglow

tends to last most of the following day and is usually described as quite

pleasant.

LSD can be quite safely mixed with many other psychoactives for a wide variety

of fascinating experiences. The combos with XTC or 2CB (aka candyflipping) are

especially enjoyable for social situations, and LSD also combines very

synergistically with N2O and DXM for more intense, although relatively

non-social, experiences. Many people also reportpotentiation of LSD after

pretreatment with Harmala or Melatonin. Mixed reactions have been observed when

combining LSD with MJ, so it is probably best to have a relatively straight

sitter and a safe place to retreat to in case things get 'strange' on this

combo.

The long-lasting duration of the LSD experience is also an excellent opportunity

to get some deep metaprogramming work done, so it has some very interesting

psychotherapeutic applications (see Stan Grof's fascinating research summarized

in 'LSD Psychotherapy'). Many people deal with the extended length of the

experience by taking LSD just after sunset so that they are in the tail end of

the experience as the sun is rising, which nicely completes the trip.

A fairly well-established psychological phenomenon sometimes noticed by LSD

users is known as imprinting. This is a psychological process whereby being

exposed to an event, thought or other experience makes an impression on one's

psyche. When the ego's strength is diminished, as often happens during an LSD

trip,