Hallucinogens

Lysergic acid diethylamide is one of the most potent hallucinogens known. That is, a dramatic effect can be elicited by only a tiny amount of the drug. The usual dose for an adult is 50-100 micrograms. A microgram is a millionth of a gram. Higher doses will produce more intense effects and lower doses will produce milder effects. The so-called "acid trip" can be induced by swallowing the drug, smoking it (usually with marijuana), injecting it, or rubbing it on the skin. Taken by mouth, the drug will take about 30 minutes to have any effect and up to an hour for its full effect to be felt, which will last 2-4 hours.

Physiologically the user will experience blurred vision, dilation of the pupils of the eye, muscle weakness and twitching, and an increase in heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature. He may also salivate excessively and shed tears, and the hair on the back of his arm may stand erect. Women who are pregnant and who use LSD or other of the hallucinogens may have a miscarriage because these drugs cause the muscles of the uterus (womb) to contract. Such a reaction in pregnancy would expel the fetus.

To the observer, the user usually will appear to be quiet and introspective. Most of the time the user will be unwilling or unable to interact with others, to carry on a conversation, or engage in intimacies. At times LSD will have profoundly disturbing effects on an individual even at moderate doses. Although the physiologic effects will be approximately the same, the psychological result is a terrifying series of events. The distortions in reality, exaggeration of perception, and other effects can be horrifying, especially if the user is not aware that he has been given the drug. This constitutes what is called the "bad trip." The psychological effects reported by LSD users consist of depersonalization, the separation from one's self, yet with the knowledge that the separated entity is one's self and is observing the passing scene. A confused body image in which the user cannot tell where his own body ends and the surroundings begin also is common. Removal from reality is the third most common experience. In this, the user's perception of colors, distance, shapes, and sizes is totally distorted and constantly changing. Hallucinations in the form of perceiving objects that are not present or forms that have no substance also occur. He may be able to taste colors or smell sounds, a mixing of the senses called synesthesia. Sounds, colors, and taste are all greatly enhanced, though they may be an unrealistic and constantly changing tableau.

The user often talks endlessly on social subjects, history, current events, philosophy, or other areas, often babbling meaningless phrases. On the other hand, the user may become silent and unmoving for long periods of time as he listens to music or contemplates a flower or his thumb. As well, he may become hyperactive and talk unendingly for long periods. Mood swings are frequent, with the user alternating between total euphoria and complete despair with no reason for doing so.

Some users will exhibit symptoms of paranoia. They become suspicious of persons around them and tend to withdraw from others. They become convinced that other people are talking about them and plotting against them. This mood may be one of many temporary responses to the drug that the user will experience or it may be the only response. Feelings of anxiety can come to the fore when the user is removed from a quiet environment and placed in an active one. His feelings of inability to cope can be elicited by no more than standing in line with other people or being taken for a walk down a city sidewalk.

All of these effects can be hazardous to the LSD consumer. With his distorted sense of reality and his belief that he is removed from everyday events he may feel invincible. Users have been known to jump off buildings or walk in front of moving trucks, with fatal consequences, because their grasp on reality is gone.

How LSD and the other hallucinogens produce these bizarre effects remains unknown. The drug attaches to certain chemical binding sites widely spread through the brain, but what ensues thereafter has yet to be described. A person who takes LSD steadily with the doses close together can develop a tolerance to the drug. That is, the amount of drug that once produced a pronounced "high" no longer is effective. A larger dose is required to achieve the same effect. However, if the individual keeps increasing his drug intake he will soon pass over the threshold into the area of toxicity. His experiences no longer will be perceived as pleasurable.

Curiously, when an LSD user has attained a high threshold of tolerance for LSD he also has one for other hallucinogens. He cannot change to psilocybin or peyote and be able to attain the desired high at a low dose. This indicates that the hallucinogenic drugs occupy the same receptors in the brain and must bring about their effects in a similar manner.

Discontinuing LSD or the other hallucinogens, especially after having used them for an extended period of time, is not easy. The residual effects of the drugs produce toxic symptoms and "flashbacks," which are similar to an LSD "trip." Many LSD users do not take the drug at close intervals, but use it on weekends or other occasions.

Currently, the most common form of LSD administration is by licking the back of a stamp torn from a perforated sheet of homemade stamps. The design on the front of the stamp is unique to an individual LSD chemist and is a form of guarantee that the LSD is pure. The drug is coated on the back of the sheet of stamps or is deposited as a colored dot on the paper. Removing one stamp, the user places it on his tongue and allows the LSD to dissolve in his saliva.

Some marijuana is sold with LSD mixed with it to enhance the psychedelic effects of the plant. Because LSD can produce such a potent reaction with a very small dose, the drug can be administered unbeknownst to the victim by placing it in a drink or other means by which it may be ingested. The person who does not know he is being given the drug may experience a terrifying series of events over the next few hours.

Of course, LSD is an illegal drug and is sold on the street in various forms. LSD is produced by a chemical process, so the buyer is trusting that the seller knows how to manufacture the drug. The purity of such a product cannot be guaranteed, of course, and the impurities or other drugs present in the LSD can cause serious side effects or even death. The subculture of steady users, called acid heads, remains a part of civilization in developed countries. Though the middle 1960s were the years of greatest use of LSD and the consumption of the drug dropped off somewhat thereafter, a fairly constant number of users has formed a market for LSD and other hallucinogens since then.

Not everyone can consume LSD or other hallucinogens and experience a moderate and short-lived response. Some people have a reaction far beyond what would be expected at a moderate dose of LSD for reasons unknown. There is no way to determine who will have such a reaction prior to his consuming the hallucinogen, so the first-time user may provide a frightening experience for those around him as well as for himself. Perhaps these people have more numerous receptor sites than do other people so they experience a more intense effect from the drug because it affects a greater portion of the brain. The explanation remains undetermined as yet. Once given, the LSD cannot be countered with any other drug. The user must simply endure the next several hours of alteration of his consciousness. Those who experience a bad trip can be helped through it by calm reassurance, but for individuals whose grasp on reality is completely gone, even that modest form of therapy is ineffective.