LSD

What is LSD?

The letters LSD stand for Lysergic Acid Diethylamide; this is the chemical name of this Class A drug, which is often known as acid. The terms tabs, blotters, microdots and dots are also common and the effect is usually known as a trip.

Facts and figures

• LSD is a potent hallucinogenic and its effect on the mind is unpredictable (varying greatly from one trip to another and in the course of a single trip) and extremely powerful.
• LSD is not addictive.
• Only the tiniest amount of LSD is required and this is usually in a little square of paper bearing a picture. Whether the dose is 20microgramms or 50microgramms will have a huge impact on the user, but the picture on the paper bears no relation to the quality or strength of the dose.

What LSD does

• Taking LSD sends the user on a trip, which may last up to 8-12 hours, during which time they will hallucinate – and perceive everything around them in a very strange way. How each dose will affect them is unpredictable. What they see will be distorted, colours and sounds will be affected and their sense of time and the rate at which things around them appear to be moving/happening may speed up or slow down.
• Whilst tripping may be novel and pleasurable, it can also be extremely frightening. A bad trip (which cannot be predicted but is more likely to occur if the user is feeling anxious or down) can make the user feel desperate, paranoid and out of control – and unaware that it is the drug that is frightening them and making them feel this way.
• To some extent the effect of LSD depends not just on the user’s mood, but on their company and general surroundings.
• The impact of the drug on the user’s personality can be long-term.

Dangers and health risks

• Users are at risk of having accidents whilst tripping because their perceptions are affected.
• Feelings of paranoia and loss of control can persist long after the trip is over, leaving the user feeling shaken.
• Sometimes users may experience disturbing flashbacks, whereby they re-live parts of a bad trip, long after it is over.
• If a user has any sort of mental problem such as depression, anxiety or schizophrenia, taking LSD can complicate the condition.