LSD

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) is a powerful hallucinogen that induces a wide range of psychological effects, which can be enjoyable, terrifying, or both. “Bad trips” can cause paranoia and panic, but even ordinary episodes of LSD use can involve:

• depressed appetite
• loss of sexual desire
• distorted perceptions
• difficulty communicating
• feelings of paralysis
• hyperactivity
• dilated pupils
• increased heart rate and blood pressure
• sleeplessness
• tremors

In whatever form it is taken (blotter paper, sugar cubes, gelatin squares, or small tablets) the effects of LSD are unpredictable, in part because it is impossible to know the exact dose you are getting and in part because the effects are influenced by the user’s personality and mood. A single dose of LSD can last for 12 to 18 hours, and many users experience flashbacks—recurring memories of some aspects of their experiences using the drug—for up to a year.

LSD is not considered to be addictive but, like addictive drugs, LSD can produce tolerance, which causes people who use the drug regularly to take increasingly higher doses to get the same effects. In susceptible people, LSD use may contribute to the development of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and severe depression.