LSD

LSD

LSD is the generic term for the hallucinogen lysergic acid diethylamide-25. Also in slang terms as acid. Acid can be taken a few different ways, the most common form of LSD is as a liquid that has been transferred onto a small paper square (known as "blotter") or as a microdot tablet. It is also found as a powder or crystal, dried on gelatin sheets, put into capsules or on sugar cubes, or laced with other drugs.

What does it do to the brain

Users feel the effects of LSD within 30 to 90 minutes after ingestion, and these effects may last as long as 12 hours. LSD causes hallucinogenic effects by disrupting the interaction of the neurotransmitter serotonin and nerve cells. Serotonin is involved in the control of behavioral, perceptual, and regulatory systems, such as mood, hunger, body temperature, sexual behavior, and muscle control.

Addiction

Though tolerance to LSD develops rapidly, it does not produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior that is typical of addictive drugs, such as crack and heroin. The Drug Enforcement Administration cites four reasons for this. First, the long duration of the drug's effects means the user will not have to purchase the drug on a rapidly recurring basis. Second, tolerance develops so quickly that repeated ingestion is useless. Third, the inconsistent effects and potential adverse reactions lead to erratic use of LSD. Finally, the powerful hallucinations produced by LSD will often prompt users to abstain from use in order to recover and reorient.

Effects while people are using the drug

Visual hallucinations, ranging from intensified color or flashes of light to geometric designs to distortions of reality or completely new images seen with the eyes open or closed

Intensification of smells, sounds, and other sensations

Sense of heightened understanding

Distorted sense of time

Distorted perception of body and a sense of "depersonalization" in which the one feels one's mind has left one's body

Synethesia- a blending of sensory perception (i.e. "hear" colors or "see" sounds)

The sense that one is undergoing a profound mystical or religious experience