My OperaAlbert Hofmann, 102; Swiss chemist discovered LSD
Wednesday, April 30, 2008 11:41:56 AM
After about six hours, the experience began to change into a pleasant one.
"After some time, with my eyes closed, I began to enjoy this wonderful play of colors and forms, which it really was a pleasure to observe. Then I went to sleep and the next day I was fine. I felt quite fresh, like a newborn."
That day, April 19, has subsequently been celebrated by LSD proponents as "Bicycle Day."
Hofmann's bosses did not believe the drug could be so powerful, concluding that he had measured the dosage incorrectly. Two laboratory assistants subsequently took doses only a fifth of what Hofmann had consumed, and they too had powerful experiences.
LSD was initially hailed as a wonder drug for use in psychoanalysis, particularly for gaining insights into schizophrenia; more than 2,000 research papers appeared over the succeeding decade.
The Central Intelligence Agency investigated LSD as a potential agent for mind control, and the British government studied it as a truth drug. In both cases, the drug was administered to subjects who were not informed of its nature, leading to scandals and changes in regulations about informed consent.
But in the 1960s, largely at the instigation of Harvard University psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, LSD began to be seen first as a pathway to spiritual enlightenment, then as a major recreational drug.
"Instead of a 'wonder child,' LSD suddenly became my 'problem child,' " Hofmann said.
In 1966, the United States banned its use, followed by most other countries. Nonetheless, some still consider it a promising drug, and research continues on its medical potential.
Meanwhile, Hofmann read that American ethnologist Gordon Wasson had discovered mushrooms that were used for ritual purposes by Indians and that produced an LSD-like effect. Other researchers had little success extracting the active ingredient, and a sample was sent to Basel.
Hofmann's initial tests in animals appeared to show no effect from the mushrooms. Before discarding them, however, Hofmann decided to sample them and had what he called "a full-blown LSD experience."
He and his assistants then isolated the active ingredients, using themselves as guinea pigs. At every purification step, they would consume the product to make sure it still contained the active agent.
Ultimately, they isolated two active ingredients, which Hofmann named psilocybin and psilocin because they had been isolated from Psilocybe mexicana. They turned out to be about 1% as active as LSD.
On a later visit to Mexico, Hofmann gave a bottle of psilocybin tablets to Maria Sabina, the shaman who had originally given the mushrooms to Wasson. "When we left, Maria Sabina told us that the tablets really contained the spirit of the mushrooms," Hofmann said.
On that visit, Hofmann collected a batch of morning glory seeds that the natives called ololiuqui. Using the same approach as with the mushrooms, he isolated the active ingredients and found them to be lysergic acid monoamide and lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide. "They were derivatives of lysergic acid that I had on my shelf through my studies with LSD," he said.
Once again, his colleagues didn't believe him because the lysergic acid derivatives came from a species completely different from ergot. They assumed that his final products were contaminants introduced in the laboratory. And once again he was shown to be correct.
By this time, LSD had developed its negative reputation, and Sandoz decided it no longer wanted anything to do with ergot derivatives.
But Hofmann's life had already been altered. LSD and the other psychoactive drugs "changed my life, insofar as they provided me with a new concept about what reality is," he said. "Before, I had believed there was only one reality: the reality of everyday life.
"Under LSD, however, I entered into realities which were as real and even more real than the one of everyday." He also "became aware of the wonder of creation, the magnificence of nature and of the plant and animal kingdom. I became very sensitive to what will happen to all this and all of us."
After dozens of acid trips, Hofmann finally gave up psychedelics. "I know LSD; I don't need to take it anymore," he said.
Hofmann is survived by his wife, Anita; two daughters; a son;eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
"After some time, with my eyes closed, I began to enjoy this wonderful play of colors and forms, which it really was a pleasure to observe. Then I went to sleep and the next day I was fine. I felt quite fresh, like a newborn."
That day, April 19, has subsequently been celebrated by LSD proponents as "Bicycle Day."
Hofmann's bosses did not believe the drug could be so powerful, concluding that he had measured the dosage incorrectly. Two laboratory assistants subsequently took doses only a fifth of what Hofmann had consumed, and they too had powerful experiences.
LSD was initially hailed as a wonder drug for use in psychoanalysis, particularly for gaining insights into schizophrenia; more than 2,000 research papers appeared over the succeeding decade.
The Central Intelligence Agency investigated LSD as a potential agent for mind control, and the British government studied it as a truth drug. In both cases, the drug was administered to subjects who were not informed of its nature, leading to scandals and changes in regulations about informed consent.
But in the 1960s, largely at the instigation of Harvard University psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, LSD began to be seen first as a pathway to spiritual enlightenment, then as a major recreational drug.
"Instead of a 'wonder child,' LSD suddenly became my 'problem child,' " Hofmann said.
In 1966, the United States banned its use, followed by most other countries. Nonetheless, some still consider it a promising drug, and research continues on its medical potential.
Meanwhile, Hofmann read that American ethnologist Gordon Wasson had discovered mushrooms that were used for ritual purposes by Indians and that produced an LSD-like effect. Other researchers had little success extracting the active ingredient, and a sample was sent to Basel.
Hofmann's initial tests in animals appeared to show no effect from the mushrooms. Before discarding them, however, Hofmann decided to sample them and had what he called "a full-blown LSD experience."
He and his assistants then isolated the active ingredients, using themselves as guinea pigs. At every purification step, they would consume the product to make sure it still contained the active agent.
Ultimately, they isolated two active ingredients, which Hofmann named psilocybin and psilocin because they had been isolated from Psilocybe mexicana. They turned out to be about 1% as active as LSD.
On a later visit to Mexico, Hofmann gave a bottle of psilocybin tablets to Maria Sabina, the shaman who had originally given the mushrooms to Wasson. "When we left, Maria Sabina told us that the tablets really contained the spirit of the mushrooms," Hofmann said.
On that visit, Hofmann collected a batch of morning glory seeds that the natives called ololiuqui. Using the same approach as with the mushrooms, he isolated the active ingredients and found them to be lysergic acid monoamide and lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide. "They were derivatives of lysergic acid that I had on my shelf through my studies with LSD," he said.
Once again, his colleagues didn't believe him because the lysergic acid derivatives came from a species completely different from ergot. They assumed that his final products were contaminants introduced in the laboratory. And once again he was shown to be correct.
By this time, LSD had developed its negative reputation, and Sandoz decided it no longer wanted anything to do with ergot derivatives.
But Hofmann's life had already been altered. LSD and the other psychoactive drugs "changed my life, insofar as they provided me with a new concept about what reality is," he said. "Before, I had believed there was only one reality: the reality of everyday life.
"Under LSD, however, I entered into realities which were as real and even more real than the one of everyday." He also "became aware of the wonder of creation, the magnificence of nature and of the plant and animal kingdom. I became very sensitive to what will happen to all this and all of us."
After dozens of acid trips, Hofmann finally gave up psychedelics. "I know LSD; I don't need to take it anymore," he said.
Hofmann is survived by his wife, Anita; two daughters; a son;eight grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
