LSD



What are the street names/slang terms for it?
Acid, Cid, Doses, Hits, Microdot, Purple Haze, Sugar cubes, Tabs, Trips, Yellow Sunshine

What is it?
LSD or Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is the most common hallucinogen and is one of the most potent mood-changing chemicals. It is manufactured from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other grains.

What does it look like?
LSD often comes on blotter paper that is divided into small, decorated squares, with each square representing one dose. It is odorless and colorless. Also colored tablets, clear liquid and thin squares of gelatin.

How is it used?
LSD is usually taken by mouth and has a slightly bitter taste. Gelatin and Liquid can be put in the eyes.

The hype:
"Everything will seem magical - lots of intense color," "You’ll experience a new plane of reality" and "The world is like liquid television."

The reality:
"I felt totally panicked" "I had a horribly bad trip - a 12-hour nightmare - my friend thought he could fly and jumped off a five story building right in front of me - and killed himself" and "I kept having flashbacks for months."

What can happen while you're high?
The effects of LSD are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken, the user's personality, mood, and expectations, and the surroundings in which the drug is used. The acute physical effects include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors. Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than the physical signs. The user may feel several different emotions at once or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user's sense of time and self changes. Sensations may seem to "cross over," giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.

What can happen long term?
Some LSD users experience flashbacks, recurrence of certain aspects of a person's experience without the user having taken the drug again. A flashback occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or more than a year after LSD use. Most users of LSD voluntarily decrease or stop its use over time. LSD is not considered to be an addicting drug because it does not produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior like cocaine, amphetamines, heroin, alcohol, or nicotine.

Source:
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)