Text: Pages 324 and 325

LSD was first synthesized in 1938 by Albert Hoffman (1906–2008), who accidentally discovered LSD as a young Swiss chemist while working to develop pharmaceuticals in a Sandoz Pharmaceutical lab. Hoffman was seeking a drug to enhance circulation in the body and shelved the drug when it proved ineffective as a medicine, but after five years, on a premonition, he resynthesized LSD and, after accidentally ingesting a small quantity, he experienced a powerful transpersonal experience.

Symbolic of LSD historically being placed on the tongue from blotter paper tabs, LSD is an extremely potent psychedelic. The smallest dosage causes a dramatic transpersonal experience. When ingested, depending on the dosage, an LSD experience can last between 8 to 12 hours. As a long-lasting hallucinogen, LSD can induce intense introspection and euphoria as well as anxiety, paranoia, and delusions. It is estimated about 10 percent of the people in the United States have used LSD at some point in their lives.