Why is LSD illegal?

zymurgy said:
lucky!

I got to hang with Ken Kesey. I was so intimidated, I wish I could have a redo.

I just googled the festival - the Dead played a 5 hour set!!! They were on stuff for sure that day!

" Elvis Costello stood in the mud amazed by the five-hour set from the Grateful Dead, the performance which convinced him he should start a band. "
Click to expand...

Yes the heavens opened that weekend, not really a good idea to hold an open air festival in the north of England in early May.

https://www.wigantoday.net/heritage...the-archives-bickershaw-festival-1972-2904758
 
zymurgy said:
I recall being skeptical - thinking this was going to be like marijuana - and would be a rather weak thing compared to the hype surrounding it. I was mistaken.

It is hard to put into words the overall feeling while on it. At small doses it can be a very enjoyable party drug. At higher ones you can get quite introspective about your faults and failures, and this is where I have found it most useful over the years, but that is only possible when you use it responsibly - which means you are in a good place physically and mentally at that time and setting.

Explaining a trip is hard - sort of like when you wake up from a dream but can't quite remember the dream.

After the initial confusion, disorientation wears off, the visual changes around you become pronounced. I do recall the first time as the strong visual element kicked in feeling like I was let in on this huge secret inside joke where so much in art and entertainment was clearly influenced by these experiences and "getting it". The patterns of objects moving/swaying, the vibrant colors and sounds....euphoria

It is these euphoric waves of "knowing" as you reach a peak period is why people repeat using it though. This phony sort of understanding things - which itself is so pleasurable is why it can also become destructive - The lightbulb going on sensation as your mind wanders. You will want that again and again.

But if you enjoy it cleanly - not drinking and using other substances, the next day or two after you continue to have this warm upbeat "afterglow" feeling, so I sort of see how it is proving to be successful treating alcoholism and other addiction withdrawals. The reason I believe it can be useful in counseling is it works the opposite of so many other drugs - I have seen people explain it as ego death - but in a therapeutic setting where people that are still lying to themselves have to first face all those lies in order to really enjoy the experience.
Click to expand...

ThatOwlWoman said:
Thank you so much for relating your experiences. There's a lot of comments I have but I'm going to grok this in its fullest first. This is exactly what I recall -- as a kid in the 60s -- hearing about LSD trips. There are other plant-based psychoactive drugs that impart the same kind of transcendental experiences. I'm fearful of them but also intensely interested.
Click to expand...
Tripping can be very different for each individual. Much of what Zym says is common. I was 17 the first time I tripped, and the first question I asked was 'is it addictive?'

Once I found that it isn't, it was off to the races. I used to get really high from weed, and had a hard time keeping my shit together when trying to hide it around adults. Once I did acid...pot was no problem.

I did all or most of my tripping at night, which I preferred. I'll share my experiences in lay terms. First...it depends what you want out of your trip. As has been touched upon, there were the Keyseyites who were truly pranksters. They would get wasted and travel the nation. Kesey was the one who made buses fashionable. Before 'Magical Mystery Tour', there was Kesey. Before 'Magic Bus' (the Who) there was Kesey.

Then there were the Learyites who did acid and meditated, and listened to the Beatles. They looked inward, when Kesey and company were acting like clowns. The latter had concerts with trash cans full of acid laced Kool Aid. Everything was free, and Owsley provided the acid and sound for the house band that would eventually become the Grateful Dead.

Then there was Leary who turned Harvard students onto acid. Imagine how happy the parents must have been! He stressed the mental aspects of psychedelics, instead of the prankster aspect. Back then, I probably would have been in this camp.

I would say that every trip is a combination of both. Staying focused is almost impossible. But you have moments of deep discussion, often finishing each other's sentences or even 'hearing' each other's thoughts. It is hard to believe unless you've been there. Tom Wolfe explains stories like this in his book. I told the story about tripping on the ride home after a Hendrix movie, where a opposum crossed the road in front of us. I was in the back seat, and saw a 6 foot long rainbow colored tail. I remember giggling to myself, but wasn't going to say a word.

Moments later, one guy in the front seat asked 'did you see the fuckin tail on that thing?'

We laughed for the next 5 miles. Hilarity rules the day, along with 'rushes' up and down your spine. It's very relaxing, and you have no control over it. At times you can feel like rubber it's so relaxing. Whereas the discussion is often 'deep', it's impossible to stay focused long enough to have extended discussion when you are 'peaking'.

True story:
Summer of '76, my buddy would bring 100 hits of blotter home from college. I paid $50 for all of them. So I would sell half of them for $1 each, and we had 50 free hits. What a summer. We decided to go the the drive in one night. We dropped when we left the house, and I remember remarking that I had to pee when we first got to the drive in. Now we're getting off and the movie is already under way. I never did get to take that leak.

Double bill. 'The Groove Tube', and "Monty Python's Holy Grail'. I have numerous anecdotes about the movies, but what stands out is that I sat through both movies without realizing how badly I had to piss! 4 hours, and I never realized that I had to pee.

I sure did when the movie was over!

But...during the course of the experience, you are going to realize how simple life is, and most of the crap we think is important is really just...junk. Opening the 'doors of perception' as it were.

I think the euphoria Zym talks about days later is from lack of sleep. Whereas I have lots of acid stories, NONE of them involve any sleep for long periods.

I never ever had a bad trip, but that's because I wouldn't allow it. You have to remember that you have complete control over your thoughts, and you can steer yourself in any direction you wish.

I grew bored with acid after the first summer or two. I had all of the deep revelations that I needed, and to this day am a better person for it.
 
Geeko Sportivo said:
George Harrison, said of his experience, "I will never regret doing LSD once, but my problem is, I did it many times and I do regret that, as all it takes is once".
Click to expand...
Nobody exits the experience the way they entered for sure.

One of my favorite Dead excerpts, aside from my sig.:

'No one's noticed but the band's all packed and gone'

'Were it ever there at all?'

'But they keep on dancin'.
 
Althea said:
Tripping can be very different for each individual. Much of what Zym says is common. I was 17 the first time I tripped, and the first question I asked was 'is it addictive?'

Once I found that it isn't, it was off to the races. I used to get really high from weed, and had a hard time keeping my shit together when trying to hide it around adults. Once I did acid...pot was no problem.

I did all or most of my tripping at night, which I preferred. I'll share my experiences in lay terms. First...it depends what you want out of your trip. As has been touched upon, there were the Keyseyites who were truly pranksters. They would get wasted and travel the nation. Kesey was the one who made buses fashionable. Before 'Magical Mystery Tour', there was Kesey. Before 'Magic Bus' (the Who) there was Kesey.

Then there were the Learyites who did acid and meditated, and listened to the Beatles. They looked inward, when Kesey and company were acting like clowns. The latter had concerts with trash cans full of acid laced Kool Aid. Everything was free, and Owsley provided the acid and sound for the house band that would eventually become the Grateful Dead.

Then there was Leary who turned Harvard students onto acid. Imagine how happy the parents must have been! He stressed the mental aspects of psychedelics, instead of the prankster aspect. Back then, I probably would have been in this camp.

I would say that every trip is a combination of both. Staying focused is almost impossible. But you have moments of deep discussion, often finishing each other's sentences or even 'hearing' each other's thoughts. It is hard to believe unless you've been there. Tom Wolfe explains stories like this in his book. I told the story about tripping on the ride home after a Hendrix movie, where a opposum crossed the road in front of us. I was in the back seat, and saw a 6 foot long rainbow colored tail. I remember giggling to myself, but wasn't going to say a word.

Moments later, one guy in the front seat asked 'did you see the fuckin tail on that thing?'

We laughed for the next 5 miles. Hilarity rules the day, along with 'rushes' up and down your spine. It's very relaxing, and you have no control over it. At times you can feel like rubber it's so relaxing. Whereas the discussion is often 'deep', it's impossible to stay focused long enough to have extended discussion when you are 'peaking'.

True story:
Summer of '76, my buddy would bring 100 hits of blotter home from college. I paid $50 for all of them. So I would sell half of them for $1 each, and we had 50 free hits. What a summer. We decided to go the the drive in one night. We dropped when we left the house, and I remember remarking that I had to pee when we first got to the drive in. Now we're getting off and the movie is already under way. I never did get to take that leak.

Double bill. 'The Groove Tube', and "Monty Python's Holy Grail'. I have numerous anecdotes about the movies, but what stands out is that I sat through both movies without realizing how badly I had to piss! 4 hours, and I never realized that I had to pee.

I sure did when the movie was over!

But...during the course of the experience, you are going to realize how simple life is, and most of the crap we think is important is really just...junk. Opening the 'doors of perception' as it were.

I think the euphoria Zym talks about days later is from lack of sleep. Whereas I have lots of acid stories, NONE of them involve any sleep for long periods.

I never ever had a bad trip, but that's because I wouldn't allow it. You have to remember that you have complete control over your thoughts, and you can steer yourself in any direction you wish.

I grew bored with acid after the first summer or two. I had all of the deep revelations that I needed, and to this day am a better person for it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your thoughts and experiences with this. I am almost tempted now. lol The possum tail bit was really cool -- how did that other guy see what you saw? How does LSD work on the brain? Why do some people have terrible trips while others, like you, have good ones? Have you ever driven while tripping, would that be dangerous?

I am not seeing anything in these anecdotes of personal experience that would indicate a reason to make the drug illegal.
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Thanks for your thoughts and experiences with this. I am almost tempted now. lol The possum tail bit was really cool -- how did that other guy see what you saw? How does LSD work on the brain? Why do some people have terrible trips while others, like you, have good ones? Have you ever driven while tripping, would that be dangerous?

I am not seeing anything in these anecdotes of personal experience that would indicate a reason to make the drug illegal.
Click to expand...


LSD attaches to serotonin receptors and creates a rather blissful state at times. There are scholarly articles written about LSD studies
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00814/full

Much like life, there are certain things that just can't be explained. People who all did the same acid will typically have the same hallucinations. Once I grew tired of acid, I'd often be the only guy at a party that wasn't tripping. I was truly and 'outsider'. I never drove while tripping, but I was a passenger. The first time I did acid we were driving around at 3 a.m. (probably very slowly) and the rock wall walked off of a lawn and into the road.

We both saw it, but knew it couldn't possibly be real. So no traffic accident. You can really get lost in the moment, though. The final scene in the Hendrix movie was footage of the cops pelting the hippies with water canons during Vietnam protests. Hendrix was playing the National Anthem, and it was utter chaos as the credits rolled. There were sirens, shouting, etc.. The hippies were throwing rocks at the cops. When we got outside into the parking lot we heard sirens. I immediately looked for rocks to throw, not even knowing why.

We saw no cops, so we got in the car and exited the parking lot. Driving slowly down the street, the car got really bright and it was very noisy for 2 a.m..

Turns out the sirens were from fire engines. The fire dept. was right near the movie theater. We were right in front of a fire engine on its way to the fire, and must have been going 5 mph. They flashed their lights and laid on the horn. RIGHT UP OUR ASSES.

Sometimes you're hyper focused, and sometimes you are lost in your reality.

Personally, I would start with psilocybin instead of acid. Similar effects but nowhere near as long lasting or intense.
 
Althea said:
LSD attaches to serotonin receptors and creates a rather blissful state at times. There are scholarly articles written about LSD studies
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2017.00814/full

Much like life, there are certain things that just can't be explained. People who all did the same acid will typically have the same hallucinations. Once I grew tired of acid, I'd often be the only guy at a party that wasn't tripping. I was truly and 'outsider'. I never drove while tripping, but I was a passenger. The first time I did acid we were driving around at 3 a.m. (probably very slowly) and the rock wall walked off of a lawn and into the road.

We both saw it, but knew it couldn't possibly be real. So no traffic accident. You can really get lost in the moment, though. The final scene in the Hendrix movie was footage of the cops pelting the hippies with water canons during Vietnam protests. Hendrix was playing the National Anthem, and it was utter chaos as the credits rolled. There were sirens, shouting, etc.. The hippies were throwing rocks at the cops. When we got outside into the parking lot we heard sirens. I immediately looked for rocks to throw, not even knowing why.

We saw no cops, so we got in the car and exited the parking lot. Driving slowly down the street, the car got really bright and it was very noisy for 2 a.m..

Turns out the sirens were from fire engines. The fire dept. was right near the movie theater. We were right in front of a fire engine on its way to the fire, and must have been going 5 mph. They flashed their lights and laid on the horn. RIGHT UP OUR ASSES.

Sometimes you're hyper focused, and sometimes you are lost in your reality.

Personally, I would start with psilocybin instead of acid. Similar effects but nowhere near as long lasting or intense.
Click to expand...

Have you ever heard of or tried salvia divinorum? It was just a plant until fairly recently, when it was added to the list of illegal natural substances. To make sure of the spelling, I looked it up on Google. There are a couple of entries from the DEA, which predictably says that it is "abused," rather than used.

leFRcKW.jpg
 
ThatOwlWoman said:
Have you ever heard of or tried salvia divinorum? It was just a plant until fairly recently, when it was added to the list of illegal natural substances. To make sure of the spelling, I looked it up on Google. There are a couple of entries from the DEA, which predictably says that it is "abused," rather than used.

leFRcKW.jpg
Click to expand...
Nope. Quite frankly, I don't even enjoy THC edibles. Too much of a burden on my brain! Once I had my vacation into psychedelics, I rapidly grew tired of it.

I'm guessing there are quite a few plants that have similar properties. I once watched a PBS show about a primitive tribe (Peru?). They scraped the inner bark of a certain tree and mixed it with ashes. They blew each other shotguns through a long hollow stick, and tripped their brains out.

Interesting culture. The women do all the hard labor, and if you don't beat them, they don't feel loved.
 
Althea said:
Nope. Quite frankly, I don't even enjoy THC edibles. Too much of a burden on my brain! Once I had my vacation into psychedelics, I rapidly grew tired of it.

I'm guessing there are quite a few plants that have similar properties. I once watched a PBS show about a primitive tribe (Peru?). They scraped the inner bark of a certain tree and mixed it with ashes. They blew each other shotguns through a long hollow stick, and tripped their brains out.

Interesting culture. The women do all the hard labor, and if you don't beat them, they don't feel loved.
Click to expand...

Hmm, sounds like a justification rather than reality. But to each their own! We certainly see JPPers who don't feel loved unless someone's verbally beating them. :laugh:
 
i did a lot of actual windowpane back then -clean tripping. now I would only do mushrooms -
states are beginning to legalize it for therapy
 
Nordberg said:
Allow? What makes you think on acid you can control that? The idea is LSD is in control for a few hours.
Mescaline was a similar, but not as strong or long-lasting substitute.
Click to expand...

I think some LSD was cut with speed, which can cause heart to beat faster and causing paranoia.
 
BidenPresident said:
I think some LSD was cut with speed, which can cause heart to beat faster and causing paranoia.
Click to expand...

Who knows? We did not have the government controlling what was in drugs. It is like supplements and crap nutrition stores peddle. You take your chances because you do not know who is making it to what's in it. You have to trust somebody in the chain. However, when you were on acid, the world looked different. You did not want to deal with angry people or cops.
 
Nordberg said:
Allow? What makes you think on acid you can control that? The idea is LSD is in control for a few hours.
Mescaline was a similar, but not as strong or long-lasting substitute.
Click to expand...
'The idea', is that you are the one in control. You can steer yourself into and out of bad thoughts when you are not under the influence. The same applies for when you are using LSD. You can either believe that a rock wall just walked in front of your car, or you can laugh and enjoy the buzz. Your choice.
 
BidenPresident said:
I think some LSD was cut with speed, which can cause heart to beat faster and causing paranoia.
Click to expand...
Agree. Sometimes you are on an adventure that seems to give you endless energy. Sleep is not an option.


Still, I've never had a bad trip in my life. You can dwell on your issues, or you can choose not to.
 
Nordberg said:
Who knows? We did not have the government controlling what was in drugs. It is like supplements and crap nutrition stores peddle. You take your chances because you do not know who is making it to what's in it. You have to trust somebody in the chain. However, when you were on acid, the world looked different. You did not want to deal with angry people or cops.
Click to expand...
Good point. Do not put yourself into situations that are uncomfortable.

Which is why I always opted for nighttime activities.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top