LSD inventor Albert Hofmann dies

[Randall McMurphy]

BBC 4/30/08

Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD, has died of a heart attack at his home in Basel at the age of 102.

Mr Hofmann first produced LSD in 1938 while researching the medicinal uses of a crop fungus.

He accidentally ingested some of the drug and said later: "Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror".

He argued for decades that LSD could help treat mental illness, but in the 1960s it became a popular street drug.

'Turn on, tune in, drop out'

While working with the drug in the Sandoz pharmaceutical laboratory a few years after first producing it, Mr Hofmann ingested some of the drug through his fingertips.

He went home and experienced what he described as visions of "fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours".

The drug was popularised by Harvard professor Timothy Leary who suggested that people "turn on, tune in, drop out".

Rock stars and the counter-culture of the 1960s picked up LSD as a wonder drug but horror stories began to emerge of users suffering permanent psychological damage.

LSD was made illegal in many countries beginning in the late 1960s.
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[Mandalore]

I predict that Delta-9 and Sugartits will make appearances in this thread.

RIP, Hofmann. You've made my life more interesting and fulfilling.

[Zed]

Are you going to give us fair warning when you start wearing tie-dyed t-shirts and bell bottom jeans?

[Inventor]

Some Bloomberg kid offered me LSD in high school, and my response was no thanks. Last year I seen him working the McDonalds drive-thru.

[Mandalore]

Originally Posted by Zed

Are you going to give us fair warning when you start wearing tie-dyed t-shirts and bell bottom jeans?

Being a burn-out doesn't mean you have to look the part. There's some distinct advantages to being clean-cut(and clean).

[WFHermans]

Rest in peace Herr Albert Hofmann.:dali:

[Randall McMurphy]

Worth a read is Hoffman's chapter on his correspondence with German futurist/conservative, Ernst Junger.

[WFHermans]

Originally Posted by Ernst Junger

The senses were still heightened and the Doors of Perception were opened.

:bbsucks:
Ernst Junger and Albert Hofmann during their first trip.