What is LSD?

What is LSD? LSD, the familiar but controversial psychedelic party drug from the days of flower power, is still obtainable via the illegal circuit. Because LSD has so many similarities to natural smart drugs that we have in our shop, we believe it’s important to talk about these powerful, hallucinogenic drugs. This article alone will be quite a trip. Are you up for the ride?

The Discovery of LSD

One sunny day in 1943, Albert Hofmann got on his bike to go home after a long working day. The Swiss scientist had been conducting research at the Sandoz laboratory in Basel into medicinal substances in rye and other types of grain. During his research Hofman stumbled on a substance with peculiar characteristics.

What Hofmann didn’t realise that day was that he had accidentally spilled the substance onto his hand and unwittingly touched his face with his hand. The result? During his bicycle ride home, Albert felt happy, restless and slightly dizzy. When he got home, he laid down for a bit and sank into a pleasant, trance-like state full of extreme visualisations. In this state, he saw fantastic images in an intense display of kaleidoscopic colours. By accident, Albert Hofman had discovered LSD. Hofmann was a leading researcher into all kinds of psychedelics and a key figure in spreading the message that these drugs might offer personal benefits.

LSD is an abbreviation for Lysergsäure-diethylamid – German for lysergic acid diethylamide. On the party scene, LSD is also referred to as Acid. LSD-25 is a chemical compound that causes a strong, psychedelic trip half an hour after ingestion, with a trip lasting for between 8 and 12 hours. Because LSD was discovered early in the previous century and then well researched, we call LSD one of the 4 classic psychedelics. LSD, psilocybin, mescaline and DMT all trigger similar hallucinations. Of the classic psychedelics, LSD is the only substance that is prepared exclusively in the laboratory. Psilocybin is the active substance in shrooms and magic truffles. Mescalin is obtained from peyote, san pedro and peruvian torch cacti. A synthetic variant of mescaline is also produced in the laboratory. Finally, there is DMT which is the active ingredient in the traditional Ayahuasca brew. There is also a chemically prepared variant that can produce an extremely intense but short-lasting trip after inhalation.

Is LSD legal?

LSD is not a legal drug in any country. One of the reasons is that LSD is incredibly concentrated. Just 25 microgrammes (that is 25/1000ths of a milligramme) is enough to feel the effects. That makes LSD one of the most potent drugs in existence. You can imagine, therefore, that this potent drug is difficult to dose and that only people with fine-tuned measuring equipment can make LSD. That means that LSD is certainly no party drug – how can you assume that the dosage is exactly right? What’s more the effects of LSD and other hallucinogenic psychedelics are more suited to a peaceful setting where you’re accompanied by a sober tripsitter. Here, ?in this blog? you can read how to experience such a trip safely.

During the Cold War of the 1950’s, the American intelligence service, the CIA, began a top-secret programme under the code name MK-Ultra. Altogether, this government project lasted for 20 years. At the time, secret research was being undertaken into drugs that weakened the individual to such an extent that they were susceptible to giving out sensitive information through brain-washing. LSD was one of the key drugs used and it was tested extensively.

The practices of the CIA were largely illegal and had to stop due to concerns about human rights. There was, for example, an early test subject who without his knowledge was administered a daily dose of LSD for 174 days in a row. Brothels were also set up with see-through mirrors via which researchers watched involuntary participants in the LSD experiment. But there were volunteers also who took part in the large-scale research. Among these, 7 people were given a dose of LSD for 77 days. This was, of course, completely irresponsible. You have to ask yourself whether these people suffered any lasting psychological trauma.

What Does LSD Do?

LSD is a powerful hallucinogenic substance. At first it triggers a feeling of well-being and relaxation, often being followed by an intense fit of laughter and crazy ideas. You might, for example, ask yourself why your arms are attached to the outside of your body. Very quickly an LSD trip turns into a colourful experience in which you gradually lose touch with reality. During the peak experience some 3 hours after ingestion, you often no longer know what’s real and what’s a figment of your imagination. LSD distorts your perspective and your senses work differently. With a higher dose, you will experience powerful hallucinations and you feel yourself to be merged with objects. Patterns and intense colours fill your field of vision with your eyes open, while with your eyes shut you’re sucked into a totally different world where you encounter strange beings and confrontational thoughts. In all these respects, LSD is comparable to the effects of shrooms and magic truffles.

How is LSD Taken?

LSD circulates on bits of edible paper. An LSD stamp has a certain amount of LSD on it and simply by placing the stamp on the tongue, the tongue absorbs the acid. In the 1960’s and 1970’s it was popular to suck on sugar lumps that were soaked in LSD. Nowadays, LSD is often bought in diluted liquid form in an ampoule. People dribble it themselves onto a postage stamp or ingest it as liquid, or you can also soak sugar lumps in it yourself.

LSD Pros and Cons

Are you Comparing LSD with Shrooms? If so, you may look at the pros and cons, but also the dangers of LSD.

+ Because LSD-25 has a fixed value, the potency of LSD is always the same. Natural products like shrooms, magic truffles and mescaline cacti contain variable amounts of active substances, whereas 100 microgrammes of LSD will always produce the same effect under controlled conditions.

+ LSD is extremely easy to consume. Shrooms and in particular truffles may sometimes prove to be tiresome due to their taste and the sheer quantity. LSD is just a case of ingesting a stamp and it’s done.

+ As far as is known, LSD causes little nausea. Although you can feel dizzy and faint which may make you nauseous. Other hallucinogenics cause an uncomfortable feeling in the stomach, partly because you have to consume somewhat more to trigger the effect.

+ LSD is not physically addictive (but neither are shrooms or magic truffles). That’s because we build up a tolerance for these substances that takes at least a week to revert.

- Perhaps the key disadvantage of LSD compared to shrooms and magic truffles is that it’s not legally obtainable anywhere in the world. Worldwide, there are plenty of opportunities to buy shroom grow kits and magic truffles online.

- Shrooms and magic truffles are natural products. For many people this is more reassuring than a drug like LSD that has been synthesized by human hands in a laboratory.

- Because it’s so highly concentrated, LSD is difficult to dose. This means that it’s difficult to establish on the illegal circuit what dose has been applied per edible paper or LSD stamp. Shrooms and magic truffles are easier to dose given that you can simply eat them. Moreover, a good shrooms and truffles dosing calculator is available so you can always weigh out the right amount of truffles or shrooms.

- Because LSD is only obtainable via the illegal circuit, you cannot be at all certain what the LSD stamp contains. Much cheaper substances like 25x-NBOMe, DOI and DOB are regularly encountered in LSD stamps. Therefore you should always test your stamp with a LSD drugstest before you ingest it.

LSD Molecule

LSD Trip VS. Tripping on Shrooms and Truffles

What is the difference between an LSD trip and a trip on magic truffles or shrooms? A frequently asked question, so we will try to answer it. We asked users for experiences and compared them to our own findings. As experienced psychonauts will agree: a trip on LSD or magic mushrooms is actually impossible to describe. Nevertheless, we list the most striking differences.

The most logical difference is the way of taking it. Many people do not particularly enjoy eating mushrooms and truffles. They are looking for all kinds of ways to eat the magic mushrooms, without tasting the taste. Examples are mushroom tea, as an additive on a hamburger or in soup. None of this is necessary with LSD. You simply put a seal on your tongue, take a drop of LSD liquid or put it on a sugar cube. LSD has little taste and is therefore much easier to take.
The way in which LSD works in differs greatly from magic mushrooms and truffles. This is firstly because it can often take longer for LSD to work. You can usually feel magic mushrooms and truffles after 45 minutes. In some cases it can take up to 90 minutes with LSD. In addition, LSD is often said to have a finer effect. By that we mean that you don't go into the trip all at once. In the case of LSD, it takes place very gradually. You often think that the LSD trip is at a peak, while the peak is still waiting. With magic mushrooms and truffles you often have a moment when you really think: now I am tripping. With LSD that moment is blurred.
Many users notice the special feeling in the body. This is not necessarily an unpleasant feeling, but it can be strange. Especially with users trying LSD for the first time. Statements range from "it seems like the LSD is all over my blood" to "like the LSD wants to get out from inside my body". With this feeling we do not mean the connection with nature and the earth. That's something that all psychedelics have in common. It is more about a constantly present feeling in your body during the trip.
A frequently heard experience during an LSD trip is the well-known glow. You can also experience this with a high dose of magic mushrooms or truffles, but with LSD this already occurs at a low dose. It seems as if there is a glow to see and feel everything around everything. Both around your body and the trees and furniture in your house. It gives off a kind of heat and it seems like everything is breathing.
The sense of time can be strongly influenced during an LSD trip. Especially when you take a high dose. That's because LSD can last a very long time. Where a trip on magic mushrooms or truffles usually ends after 4 to 6 hours, an LSD trip can take 6 to 12 hours. After a while you are only busy tripping and the clock is no longer important to you. A common experience is that it sometimes seems like tripping becomes "normal" when it takes so long. You then have the feeling that the "trip world" is the normal world. For some people this is scary. In such a case, you should always realize that the trip will always end. A tripsitter can help you with this.

Conclusion: Thinking of trying LSD? Choose an Alternative!

A rich history is attached to LSD that includes more than just the flower power positivity with which the substance is often associated. Thinking of buying LSD? Such transactions are illegal. A better alternative to LSD is magic truffles. They are ready immediately for taking and you can simply buy truffles online. Just like shrooms, magic truffles produce intense effects, so treat these powerful smart drugs with respect.

We haven’t yet mentioned LSA, the natural counterpart of LSD. This substance originates in nature in the seeds of Morning Glory and Hawaiian Baby Woodrose. These are colourful flowers that wouldn’t look out of place in your own psychedelic garden!

Want to know more about LSA and the power of Hawaiian Baby Woodrose? Then read this blog and decide for yourself whether you want to microdose or get completely out of your skull with a higher dose.

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What is LSD? – The Story behind the Dubious Edible Paper

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