The History of Lsd and Its Effects on the American Counterculture

After World War II ended, the age of baby-booming and urban sprawling began. During this time, many American soldiers came home from the war; married, and had five or six children. This created the largest generation ever. Could this new generation change the social world of America? In 1964, most of the baby-boomer’s children were in their late teens. This was the beginning of a major social change in the United States. With the birth of rock-n-roll not far in the past, and a growing liberalism of the normally conservative American Society, it is no wonder that a powerful hallucinogenic drug called LSD gained so much popularity.

LSD-25 was first created in 1938 by Albert Hoffmann in the Sandoz chemical-pharmaceutical laboratories in Basle, Switzerland. It was synthesized from the twenty-fifth compound of Iysergic acid. When first tested on animals, scientists had no idea that the powerful chemical had such psychedelic properties until Albert Hoffmann himself, involuntarily tested the new chemical. This “involuntary” testing of the LSD is the first time it was ever tested on a human subject; it was a result of Hoffmann accidentally intoxicating himself with LSD-25 during a routine purification process with the chemical.(3) After the experience, Hoffmann wrote:

"Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced to stop my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and to go home, as I was seized by a peculiar restlessness associated with a sensation of mild dizziness. On arriving home, I lay down and sank into a kind of drunkenness, which was not unpleasant and which was characterized by extreme activity of the imagination. As I lay in a dazed condition with my eyes closed, (I experienced daylight as disagreeably bright) there surged upon me an uninterrupted stream of fantastic images of extraordinary plasticity and vividness, accompanied by an intense kaleidoscope-like play of colors. This condition gradually passed off after two hours."(1)

At first, Hoffman doubted whether he had accidentally poisoned himself with the LSD. Days later, he decided to voluntarily intoxicate himself with 250 micrograms of LSD to see if that was the cause of his psychedelic experience earlier in the week. When he was debating about how much of the LSD to intoxicate himself with, he decided that it would be best to be very conservative and try just a small dose. Unknowing of exactly how powerful this new hallucinogenic chemical was, he thought 250 micrograms would have little or no psychological effects. Later it was determined that 250 micrograms was an extremely large dose for a human to consume. After ingesting the LSD, Hoffman describes in his own words the events that followed:

“I asked my laboratory assistant to accompany me home, as I believed that I should have a repetition of the disturbance of the previous Friday. While we were cycling home, however, it became clear that the symptoms were much stronger than the first time. I had great difficulty in speaking coherently, my field of vision swayed before me, and objects appeared distorted like images in curved mirrors. I had the impression of being unable to move from the spot, although my assistant told me afterwards that we had cycled at a good pace.”(1)

Once home, Hoffmann started to feel the full effects of the LSD. His perception of reality was severally altered. Whenever he closed his eyes, he felt as though he was watching a cinematic film, filled with very vibrant colors. His lab assistant had to call the physician to Hoffmann’s home, because he thought that Hoffmann had gone insane. When the doctor arrived at Hoffmann’s house, he monitored his heart rate and blood circulation. The doctor could not find anything seriously wrong with Hoffman. After a few hours Hoffmann returned to his normal state of consciousness.

Throughout the 1940’s many more volunteers would intoxicate themselves with this chemical. Most of them had very similar mind-altering experiences as Hoffmann’s. It wasn’t until 1962 that LSD became a popular recreational drug in America. Before this time, Sandoz Pharmaceuticals distributed it in the United States to health professionals, under the strict eye of the Food and Drug Administration. Psychiatrists and other medical professionals often used LSD as a way to feel some empathy twords some of their patients. It was believed that LSD produced very similar symptoms to a mental disorder called schizophrenia. Also during this time, many artists are said to have volunteered to test the effects of LSD. They claim that while under intoxication of the drug, they can produce artwork that is otherwise unthinkable. Famous poet Allen Ginsberg, is said to have experimented with LSD during this time, and many of his masterpieces where constructed while he was intoxicated on LSD or other psychoactive drugs like