The Rise, Decline, and Fall of LSD
Perspectives in biology and medicine June 1, 1991 Robert F. Ulrich, Bernard M. Patten 27 citations
The history of LSD began in 1943 with Albert Hofmann's accidental discovery of its powerful psychological effects. Early researchers embraced self-experimentation, using LSD to study schizophrenia, facilitate psychoanalysis, and treat alcoholism. The CIA and psychiatrists explored it as a chemical weapon. As LSD spread beyond scientific circles, it became a means for instant spiritual transcendence, echoing earlier religious uses of psychedelics like soma in ancient India and peyote among the Aztecs. LSD was banned in 1965 amid a counterculture built around its ritual use and fears of chromosomal damage and psychosis. The article traces this trajectory from pre-LSD psychedelics to the drug's societal impact.