On November 16, 1938, chemist Albert Hofmann (working for a Swiss Pharmaceutical company) first synthesized the chemical LSD-25 while looking for a blood stimulant. After inadvertently ingesting some of the chemical and experiencing "an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopelike play of colors," Hofmann decides to intentionally use the chemical.

Over the next 10 or 20 years, numerous scientific papers are written and published about the effects of the new compound and the possible benefits it may have to psychiatric patients - including depression. Around this time, the CIA also begins experiments into the use of LSD, including testing on unknowing individuals to test the effects.

After the period of scientific research and experimentation, the drug begins to make its way into counterculture, with people like Timothy Leary, Allen Ginsburg and Aldous Huxley promoting its use as a means to enlightenment and spiritual fullfillment.

Beginning in 1962, Congress moves to make LSD research illegal and many state's follow up by making it illegal to possess. In 1968, LSD is finally banned federally with the Staggers-Dodd Bill.
Source(s):
http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_timeline.php


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