Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

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Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD), potent hallucinogenic drug, also called a psychedelic (see Psychoactive Drugs), first synthesized from lysergic acid in Switzerland in 1938. Lysergic acid is a component of the mold of ergot, a fungus that forms on rye grain. The drug evokes dreamlike changes in mood and thought and alters the perception of time and space. It can also create a feeling of lack of self-control and extreme terror. Physical effects include drowsiness, dizziness, dilated pupils, numbness and tingling, weakness, tremors, and nausea.

Transient abnormal thinking induced by LSD, such as a sense of omnipotence or a state of acute paranoia, can result in dangerous behavior. Long-term adverse reactions such as persistent psychosis, prolonged depression, or faulty judgment have also been reported following LSD ingestion, but whether these are a direct result of ingestion is difficult to establish. Physiologically, LSD may cause chromosomal damage to white blood cells; no hard evidence has been found, however, that LSD causes genetic defects in the children of users.

Although LSD is not physiologically addicting, the drug's potent mind-altering effects can lead to chronic use.

The drug has been tried as a treatment for infantile autism, for alcoholism, and to accelerate psychotherapy, but no medical use has been established.

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