
LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? (2006) - pmoriarty
http://archive.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/01/70015
======
jarin
I actually tried LSD a couple of times because of this article, back when it
was written. It was a pretty enjoyable experience, and I'd recommend it to
anyone who is interested in trying it, with a few caveats.

First, you need to have an experienced sitter with you. You're in for the full
8-10 hours, and on the off chance you start having a bad trip (things getting
really dark and scary), you need someone to ground you to reality (and change
the music or location, which can often instantly snap you out of a mood).

Second, if you're generally comfortable with your own thoughts and have a
positive outlook you're much less likely to have a bad trip. This is why I
think it's better to do it when you're older and more mature, rather than in
your late teens/early twenties. I think you have more of an ability to process
what's going on. Many people have the thought at some point during the trip,
"What if I get stuck like this?" which can probably lead to a slight panic if
you're not good at thinking about your own thoughts and realizing the feeling
for what it is.

Third, go out into nature if you can. Preferably with just your friends and
not a lot of people around. It's pretty cool.

Finally, the day after you'll feel somewhat drained and probably just want to
stay inside and read. The day after, you're totally fine. I think the real
long-term effects are kind of just a "tweaking of the dials". I don't feel
like it was some super transformative experience, but it was really
interesting in a way that's hard to describe, and you learn a lot about your
own mind and how it works. I also feel like it kind of cleaned the windows on
the way I see the world, in that I feel more positive and open to ideas, and
in some ways I feel like I might be more creative now. It might sound hard to
believe, but I understand now why they're researching using hallucinogens to
treat depression, PTSD, etc.

Anyway, I'm not encouraging anyone to do it, but I will say that emotionally
mature people should not be afraid to do it. Also, I never got any kind of
signs that it was addictive. I pretty much just did it once, did it a few
months later, and that was it for me.

~~~
sillysaurus3
_Third, go out into nature if you can. Preferably with just your friends and
not a lot of people around. It 's pretty cool._

LSD impairs your ability to feel cold. People have died by taking drugs and
then going out into snow. I sadly can't find the proof to back up my claim,
but I read about a case of a girl taking ketamine and then going outside and
succumbing to hypothermia.

Here's another case of someone dying from drugs:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._M._Turner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._M._Turner)

 _Turner died after injecting an unknown quantity of ketamine while in a
bathtub, presumably drowning while incapacitated by the effects of the drug._

Before jumping down my throat that ketamine isn't related to LSD in any way, I
know. It's true. But when you get into a mindset where taking LSD seems like a
good idea, taking other drugs starts to seem like maybe-okay. It's no
coincidence that the psychonaut I linked to was taking a ton of different
drugs including LSD.

I know people are going to be upset with me sweeping LSD under the
classification of "drugs." People die from heroin and other hard drugs, but
nobody has ever died from an LSD overdose. But I'm not talking about that. I'm
talking about the mindset that you're tempted to get once you delve into this
scene.

Let's talk about psychedelics. Here's a video of someone jumping out a window
after taking a hit of salvia:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v26zC-1eCo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_v26zC-1eCo)

People have near-religious experiences after taking LSD, and they'll espouse
the wonders of psychedelics while downplaying the risks. But there _are_
risks.

Before taking LSD, ask yourself: Are you sure you want to be a different
person afterwards? People everywhere talk about the transformative nature of
LSD, so that's what you'll be doing: transforming into a different person.
Exploring land is fun because you get to go places you've never seen before.
Exploring how chemicals affect your brain is fun if becoming a different
person is fun. So don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself.

People have often credited significant breakthroughs to taking LSD, but your
chances of getting rich from bitcoin are significantly higher than making a
huge impact on the world by consuming LSD. It'll certainly have a huge impact
on your personal life, though, for better or worse.

~~~
pyre
> LSD impairs your ability to feel cold. People have died by taking drugs and
> then going out into snow. I sadly can't find the proof to back up my claim,
> but I did read about a case of a girl taking ketamine and then going outside
> and succumbing to hypothermia.

Unless I'm misunderstanding, the idea of a "sitter" is someone that is _not_
under the influence, so this could negate such effects if one fully follows
the advice of the parent post.

> Before taking LSD, ask yourself: Are you sure you want to be a different
> person afterwards? People everywhere talk about the transformative nature of
> LSD, so that's what you'll be doing: transforming into a different person.
> Exploring land is fun because you get to go places you've never seen before.
> Exploring how chemicals affect your brain is fun for some because they
> become different. So don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself.

You could make the same philosophical arguments against "downloading your mind
into a computer" or "using a Star Trek transporter." How do you know that the
consciousness on the other end is still "you?"

~~~
toolz
> So don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself.

This is, in my opinion, a terrible reason to stay away from LSD. You're
effectively saying avoid anything that may have bad results. Not liking
yourself has never been a prerequisite for being curious. I've seen people
have panic attacks on roller coaster rides that almost certainly altered their
chemical balance for a significant period of time with permanent fear of
heights tagging along, but once you start staying away from things that are on
that scale of 'danger', at what point does it become relative to now say,
"Stay away from playing sports, unless you don't like the way you function". I
realize this is a slippery slope fallacy, so I'm not asking you to consider
that exact scenario seriously, I'm just asking you to consider there could
potentially be worse consequences to having that mindset than taking LSD.

I'm not advocating taking LSD, at all, mind you. I ignorantly (having never
taken LSD) presume the social consequences of taking 'real drugs' outweigh the
potential benefits.

~~~
pyre
You pull an excerpt from a quote that I included from the parent comment to my
post. I'm not sure if the "you" is generic or directed at me, but I didn't say
"don't do it unless you're sure you dislike yourself."

~~~
toolz
No, I've actually just clicked the wrong reply button. My apologies.

------
ShannonSofield
Reminds me of Richard Feyman taking LSD. He said he had an incredible
breakthrough and a moment of pure clarity on a problem he had been working on
mid-trip, only to come down and realize his breakthrough was really jibberish
and not insightful at all.

~~~
jwdunne
Reminds me of my first experience. The trip involved getting something huge,
like a big sense of "oh, I finally get it" but now, 3 years later, I'm still
trying to figure out what I actually got.

~~~
WiseWeasel
What I got from LSD upon reflection was that my mental pre-processor (what
assigns learned categorical and pattern information to incoming data) limits
my perception, leading me to overlook important details about the new data,
and causing me to lazily follow the same old thought patterns as if on rails.
It's often necessary to ignore everything we think we know and look at our
current situation with fresh eyes in order to progress.

~~~
keypusher
Interestingly, this was the same reaction Aldous Huxley had to taking
psychedelics. He wrote about the experience in "The Doors Of Perception", the
book from which "The Doors" (band) got their name. I believe the quote
originally comes from William Blake.

> “If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as
> it is, Infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things
> thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.”

------
UserRights
A few important things are missing:

Before trying it, get yourself some diazepam, like e.g. xanax or valium, this
is a very good treatment if the trip is getting too wild and it will take you
down in less than 30-45 minutes, at least to a level where you can relax. This
is your "life jacket" and will strongly reduce the danger of your experience
becoming a bad trip, just because you will know that you can easily get out if
you want to.

Do not buy from strangers, ask an experienced person you can trust. There is a
lot of much more dangerous stuff on the black market sold as LSD that can
seriously harm your liver or other organs. Having a good trusted source is
extremely important. If you can allow, try to get clean, professionally
produced substance from switzerland (ask psychologists or other doctors who
are open to this).

Do not take it if you are in trouble, emotional stress, despair or feel
overwhelmed by your personal situation. This substance will not solve any
problems for you. Clean your life up as much as possible before doing it. Yes,
LSD is still used to overcome heavy depressions and other serious problems,
like e.g. alcoholism, but such a treatment will most likely only succeed with
professional psychological care and is a long term process.

Have a nice trip!

~~~
pushrax
Good advice. Just wanted to make a small correction: Valium is diazepam and
Xanax is alprazolam, both are benzodiazepines. Most benzodiazepines (and
"nonbenzodiazepines"[1]) are effective for the use mentioned.

[1]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonbenzodiazepine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nonbenzodiazepine)

------
olefoo
Is it the same six people that keep posting this every 6 to 12 weeks on here?

The usual caveats apply:

1\. lsd is illegal, so no quality control and no certainty that that is what
you are ingesting.

2\. lsd was and is a mythological drug in every sense of the word. Nothing you
know about it is true either to the good or to the bad.

3\. Just because there are 5 decades of propaganda about the evils of lsd does
not mean that there is nothing bad about it.

4\. Be skeptical, read the literature; understand the risks you are taking.

~~~
anonbanker
This bit of fear, uncertainty, and doubt was brought to you by the Institute
For Armchair Psychonauts Who Never Use Drugs.

~~~
jafaku
I'd say the first point is kind of important, considering it's a synthetic
drug and not a plant. I have no anecdotes for LSD, but a few people died in my
city after only a normal dose of ecstasy (no alcohol).

~~~
hajile
Ecstacy is known to cause the body temperature to rise. People write it off as
just being the club, alcohol, etc. For some people, the temperature becomes
high enough to cause death.

This doesn't have anything to do with drug purity and has everything to do
with the effects of the drug itself.

~~~
kirsebaer
Millions of people take MDMA every weekend. Deaths from pure MDMA have
happened, but they are extremely rare. It's important to think about risk from
a statistical point of view. Everything has risks.

------
codeshaman
Some people assume that taking LSD gives you some kind of super abilities
which would make one more competitive in this world, but it's not what the
experience is about. Yes, while tripping, your mind can handle infinity or
galactic-sized data sets, visualise abstract concepts and zoom in and out of
matter or numbers, but I don't think that's the true power of this substance.

The real power comes from the realisation of who you really are and always
have been, it's like you finally 'remember' that this life is just one in an
infinity of previous and future 'lives' and that everyone and everything is
you. It's the realisation of the fact that you (and everyone else) are in fact
God who came into this body to feel separated from himself, that the Universe
is some kind of cosmic simulation which you've created since the beginning of
time.

This realisation is what frees people from the mundane reality of existence
and gives one courage to embark on the craziest of endeavours, which sometimes
have the side effect of changing the entire world.

~~~
avodonosov
Hm, it is too well articulated (people on LSD have trouble to explain even
approximately their state of mind), and too precise match to Vedanta
philosophy, that I have suspicion that you inherit this formulation either
directly from Vedanta / Yoga / Sankhya or from people interested in eastern
culture (as hippies and enthusiasts of "mind-expansion" in 60-ies), and then
decided their drug experience was exactly this.

~~~
codeshaman
I've never practiced eastern philosophy, but it's not surprising that people
arrive at the same conclusions on psychedelics. See, psychedelic plants/fungi
have been around since before humans and people who took them, say, 3000 years
ago had the same trips and the same realisations that we have today. Then they
came back and wrote about their conclusions, which has sometimes led to the
creations of new philosophies or religions.

This is one other realisation that you have while tripping - "I have been in
this state before, many times before, but not in this body, I was a yogi in
India or a shaman in South America or a philosopher in ancient Greece and I've
always remembered: I am. It's always been me."

~~~
avodonosov
I thought maybe you was influenced by people accompanying you. But I also did
some reading and see that loss of self-identity is an often symptom caused by
psychedelics, so I don't know.

BTW, eastern practitioners explicitly advice against drug use, they employ
other methods to achieve and retain this state of mind: bhakti (love), jnana
(knowledge - means analysing the difference between thoughts and thinking
process and Atman - the Self who perceives them), karma yoga, raja yoga, etc.

Some people fall into this state spontaneously, Ramana Maharishi
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramana_Maharshi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramana_Maharshi))
got this "enlightenment" at 16, and didn't speak several years after that.

I enjoy reading eastern texts, as artifacts of brilliant thought, also
interesting in context of our development towards AI, where we still don't
have satisfying theory for consciousness (that Vedanta calls atman). They have
also accumulated interesting theories and terminology about mind mechanics.
But I think it's worth to remain skeptical. After all, those strange states of
mind may be just dysfunctions. For example, anoxaemia, inhaling vapors of
glues and varnishes, sensory and motor deprivation induce "special effects" on
cognition and mind too.

------
middle334
I did some LSD about 35 years ago. More than once.

For a few days afterward it utterly knackered my ability to write good code,
or do anything that required concentrated, logical thinking. Also, I felt like
crap (think "bad mental hangover" without the horrible side-effects caused by
alcohol).

That said, it was a pretty interesting experience. I highly recommend it, just
not habitually. Someone (Timothy Leary?) said that the best way to do LSD
would be in a sunny English meadow with the Archbishop of Canterbury as your
companion.

~~~
woah
In what form was it? If it was a pill or liquid, it could have been cut.

~~~
samstave
A pill? I'm not sure you know what you're talking about.

~~~
MichaelGG
Some of the largest manufacturers of LSD made it in pills.

~~~
samstave
Well TIL, I actually never knew that. I've always thought it was only made
liquid.

------
bunkydoo
That was 2006, DMT is the Geek's drug in 2015. The businessman's trip is a lot
shorter and cleaner than this shit. You take 1 tab of LSD and you will be
going for 10+ hours solid. DMT however - you just throw up some fractals on
the external monitors, sprinkle it on some ganja, and then get transported to
another universe for 15 minutes that may feel like hours actually. It's great
for creative design as it is more a "symmetrical" experience than LSD. It
occurs naturally in the brain and is hypothesized to be released by the pineal
gland during birth, death, mental illness, falling in love, having children
etc.

Some people have reported "aliens" or "mechanical elves" in their experiences
with DMT. (I never had anything like this though oddly) This could explain a
lot of those area 51 alien reports though - the CIA could have very well have
tested this substance alongside LSD in the MKULTRA experiments of the 50's and
60's and had a few test subjects genuinely think they saw aliens due to the
fact they unknowingly ingested a psychedelic chemical. Wow, that theory is
worthy of a conspiracy Keanu meme....

------
pmoriarty
An example of LSD's effect on art: [1] More details here [2]

Then there's the visionary art[3] of Alex Gray.[4]

There's a great book that documents studies done on LSD's effect on
creativity.[5]

On the subject of music, LSD famously influenced the Beatles,[6] and many
other 60's bands... and which, in turn influenced many others. In fact,
there's a very good chance that most if not all of the contemporary music you
like to was directly or indirectly influenced by drugs of one sort or another.

[1] -
[http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzp00sBETe1qa88x9.jpg](http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lzp00sBETe1qa88x9.jpg)

[2] - [http://www.openculture.com/2013/10/artist-draws-nine-
portrai...](http://www.openculture.com/2013/10/artist-draws-nine-portraits-on-
lsd-during-1950s-research-experiment.html)

[3] -
[https://encrypted.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=alex%20grey&t...](https://encrypted.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=alex%20grey&tbs=imgo:1)

[4] -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Grey](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Grey)

[5] - [http://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-
Grou...](http://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-
Groundbreaking-ebook/dp/B007EDCXJM/)

[6] - [http://beatles.wikia.com/wiki/LSD](http://beatles.wikia.com/wiki/LSD)

~~~
bjourne
The Beatles heavily used alcohol and tobacco too. But really, they were three
of the century's most talented and most _hardworking_ musicians with
incredible managers and producers and almost unlimited resources.

I can't prove it, but I don't believe there is a causative link between
tripping on LSD and writing great music. I _do_ believe there is a causative
link between working hard and practicing a lot and writing great music.

For the record, Bob Dylan was baptised in the 70:ties. And if you believe LSD
influenced the Beatles, then by the same logic, Jesus influenced Bob Dylan.

~~~
TylerE
On the other hand, there is substantial evidence that LSD changed the Beatles'
music qualitatively. They first took the drug in summer 1965. Their next
album, Rubber Soul, written and recorded in fall and winter 1965 was a major
stylistic shift.

~~~
cnp
Any interview with John Lennon will tell you as much, too.

------
shawnz
For those who don't know: Albert Hofmann has passed away since this article
was written. He lived to the ripe old age of 102. RIP.

~~~
droopyEyelids
Another brilliant mind tragically cut down in the prime of his life by the
scourge of illegal drugs :(

------
xefer
Well, I'm still waiting for the fellowship of LSD-fueled Übermenschen to
emerge. Until then I'll just try to eat well, exercise more and get enough
sleep. That seems to be the key for most elite developers I've encountered.

~~~
Shamanmuni
If you read "What the Dormouse Said" by John Markoff you could reach the
conclusion that a fellowship of LSD-fueled Übermenschen existed during the
60's and 70's and we had the personal computer revolution as a result. And no,
I'm not talking just about Steve Jobs and Apple, there were many people
involved with the nascent computer industry who turned on, tuned in and
dropped out at that time.

~~~
Ollinson
Unless you can link other eras of technological advance to LSD use this seems
like a poor argument.

~~~
Shamanmuni
The article mentions Kary Mullis' use of LSD helped him develop the polymerase
chain reaction, which revolutionized genetics and for which he won a Nobel
Prize.

But I suspect from your tone that I could give a thousand examples and you
wouldn't change your mind. C'est la vie.

------
chestervonwinch
_Participants eager to describe their modern-day spiritual LSD experiences
were encouraged to contribute to a library of drug experiences on the Erowid
website_

Reminded me of a paper I've been meaning to read where machine learning was
applied to erowid reports of different substances:

[http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.0312](http://arxiv.org/abs/1206.0312)

------
Iv
I am just sad that this article would be illegal in my country, France.

~~~
ohhmaagawd
Really? What is the law?

~~~
pierrec
Article L.3421-4 of the "Code de la Santé Publique" (law concerning public
health) forbids incitation/encouragement of the usage or traffic of classified
narcotics, even if it does not lead to anyone actually using them. The
sentence is heaviest if it's done near schools. Isn't there something vaguely
equivalent in US law?

The interesting part is that the act of presenting classified narcotics under
a favorable light (in press for example) is punishable under the same article.

In some regards this is pretty vague, and I've seen government-funded studies
that end up presenting cannabis "in a favorable light", so I'm not sure how
much this is enforced.

~~~
orasis
"Isn't there something vaguely equivalent in US law?"

Nope. The closest would probably be plans to make nuclear bombs. Oh, and the
stupid thing about crypto. If I was bored enough right now I'd paste some long
crypto key, but it would just make this thread look shitty.

------
hansjorg
In the same vein, Freakonomics just did an interview with Wired and WELL co-
founder Kevin Kelly, talking about the hippie origins of SV and the personal
computer:

[http://freakonomics.com/2015/01/22/someone-elses-acid-
trip-a...](http://freakonomics.com/2015/01/22/someone-elses-acid-trip-a-new-
freakonomics-radio-podcast/)

------
chippy
From 2006. Interesting article, not really much about it being a "Geek Drug"
apart from the first couple of paragraphs about one programmer's use of it,
and a little bit about the late Steve Jobs experience but it has plenty of
background information.

------
swatow
I don't see any connection between LSD and geek culture, except for the one
programmer who happened to be at that conference.

I'd go further and say that I don't see a strong connection between geek
culture and the countercultural movement in general. I see it as a carrot and
stick approach by the left. On the one hand, the stick is attacking geek
culture as a bunch of sexist racist losers. The carrot is allowing geek
culture to be co-opted (recuperated, to use a long out of fashion term) by the
countercultural movement. We are allowed to celebrate "hacking" as long as it
is considered as part of the grand tradition of countercultural rebellion.

------
Pyret
Human biology is an extreme hurdle on our way to achieve the unachievable:
having to sleep, eat, excrete etc. Are there any tech and drugs being
developed to deal with these things? For now I'd be contempt to at least
control my sexuality :D

~~~
reitanqild
Going a few days w/o much food is quite easy for some of us, -I would skip
meals after 1800 in the evening and then skip breakfast and then I could go a
few days w/o more than a couple of glasses of orange juice a day. I only did
this for less than a week. My uncle said most of the good effects started
kicking in after a 3-5 days.

As usual, be careful, I'd say have sugar around.

As for the last point you mentioned there are drugs for this, I just have a
feeling you'd rather try without but I'm no expert.

------
ObviousScience
I've always wanted to experiment with taking small doses of LSD (~10-20ug)
reguarly.

I thought it would be an interesting experience, since I tend to feel more
personable on LSD, especially during the come up/come down from it.

~~~
Aaronneyer
I've actually been doing that on and off since I think around last August.
I've found it tremendously beneficial to overall feeling of well being, as
well as my work ethic. Especially for programming, I feel much more involved
and interested in my work so am usually able to work at a much faster pace. I
also share the feeling of being more personable on LSD, as the days when I do
microdose, I tend to have far better and deeper conversations with many of my
friends.

~~~
meo1
I'd be very interested in experimenting with low doses of certain
psychedelics, but the unknown quality, unknown provenance, full dose approach
just doesn't appeal to me anymore. I wonder where you could find good quality
crystal (or somehow measurable) LSD unless you pal around with very cool
chemists. That's the big problem with interesting sounding illegal dugs.

~~~
meowface
Darknet markets are one way of ensuring you get a pure product. Each vendor
will often have hundreds of reviews.

------
g0v
I've been interested in trying LSD since my friend offered but am hesitant
because I don't know how it will interact with my medication (SSRIs).

On a side note, I do like to smoke weed while I'm studying/coding. Things that
were not so easily apparent to me before being high often become a given and
understanding concepts comes more naturally. It's easier for me to picture in
my head how data is being manipulated and where it's going in memory. My
skills are only at an intermediate level so this is really helpful when I'm
trying to learn more advanced stuff.

~~~
eof
SSRIs are known to reduce the effects of hallucinogens.

LSD, and hallucinogens in general are extremely useful in personal growth. The
novelty of 'reality' literally breaking down can be quite a thrill; and for
many people it will be the first time it has ever happened to them; though it
can be incredibly frightening as well.

I have been around several people on various SSRIs while they have taken
mushrooms or lsd (and one on DMT); it seemed to always be a non-issue.

This is probably a great place to start if you are truly interested and want
to understand the risks:
[https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_health3.shtml](https://www.erowid.org/chemicals/lsd/lsd_health3.shtml)

~~~
g0v
Thank you for the link, I think this will help a good deal.

~~~
keane
It's not exactly a neutral source. I would neither trust drug proponents for
the advice or take the risk, for that matter.

------
scolfax
The title of that article seems irresponsible IMO. If someone seeks out LSD on
their own I don't see a problem with it, but I wouldn't want to be the one who
encouraged them.

~~~
umanwizard
Why not?

------
acd
So we have Lsd, amphetamine, mescaline, ritalin, provigil as mind drugs.
Anyone tried Ritalin or provigil long term?

The army uses amphetamine & provigil during long term flying missing during
critical operations. So what is illegal for ordinary citizens is legal for the
state.

Side not Steve Jobs tried a lot of drugs in India probably a door opener for
his mind as have a lot of brilliant rock artists danger being not over using
or wasting your talent.

I do not use drugs personally but I find it an interesting subject.

~~~
Igglyboo
I've been taking adderall(similar to Ritalin) since I was about 12, I'm 22
now. I have actual ADHD and cannot function at work without it, I cannot focus
on one thing for more than a few minutes tops. I'm a software developer so
this is a huge problem. I had hoped I would grow out of this so I didn't have
to take it but I don't see that happening anymore.

AFAIK it hasn't had any negative long term effects on me, short term it kills
my appetite so I have to force myself to eat. It was a problem when I was
younger, I was severely underweight during highschool but I've been able to
manage my weight well for the past few years.

~~~
spiritplumber
There was an attempt to put me on Ritalin in school. This was quickly aborted
because my mother was told about it and almost defenestrated the vice
principal over it (third story window, so that counts for something).

Giving continued-used psychotropics to developing brains is an excellent
recipe for fostering lifelong addiction.

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zidiWe9yq88](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zidiWe9yq88)

~~~
Igglyboo
I've been taking it 5 times a week for the past 10 years and I'm not addicted
to it in the slightest. Whenever I go on vacation or have longer periods off
of work or school I stop and I never feel the urge to take it.

~~~
meowface
My understanding is that it's nearly always only addictive if it's taken in
recreational doses. If prescribed medically, the dose is usually too low for
addiction to occur.

------
atomical
Dihexa probably has more potential for this generation as a "geek wonder
drug." There are people at Longecity who had the compound synthesized and are
taking mega doses.

[http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121011090653.ht...](http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/121011090653.htm)

------
glynjackson
My theory is that there is NO direct correlation between drugs like cannabis
or LSD and creativity.

I know some talented people, experiences when I was young was watching friends
"stoned"/"high" but talking utter crap! The next day after the trip (without
fail) these already smart people "think" they have said or done something
profound, but they never did!

Days later, their own creative genius is pushed on a search to find out what
they said or did that was so profound/creative. Sometimes they do something
amazing, but most of the time they don't!

When I was 20 at university (I'm in my 30s now) a friend of mine took cannabis
and LSD for the first time. It was not something I did, not because of any
moral high ground, but because it also kinda scared me. During the nightout he
started to act really strange, bad trip everyone assumed. That weekend (the
day after) his mum called asking us all what he had taken, he had been
sectioned under the mental health act. It turned out his family had a history
of mental health problems. He was sectioned for almost 2 years and never
finished Uni.

~~~
pmoriarty
Not to discount your observations of a couple of your friends, but if you look
at actual scientific studies of LSD's effect on creativity,[1] there is a very
clear link.

That said, it's not a panacea or a magic pill. You are not guaranteed to
become more creative when you take LSD. You most likely will not become Mozart
or Picasso by taking it. It is even possible to misuse or abuse LSD, as you
can misuse and abuse alcohol, food, water, and sex.

My own observations of people having unproductive experiences from
psychedelics is that they take them in ignorance, without much if any
education about what they're taking, without proper respect (ie. to just
"party" or "have fun" or as attempted distractions or escapes from lives that
are miserable in various ways), in an unsupportive or even actively hostile
context, without planning, and without a goal.

They often believe in all sorts of urban myths about LSD and other
psychedelics (like that taking LSD seven times makes you "clinically insane",
or that LSD damages your chromosomes or makes you stare in to the sun until
you go blind, etc), they often mix drugs (which can be very dangerous --
especially when one of those drugs is alcohol), and do really stupid things
like driving under the influence.

Is it any wonder that such situations and attitudes lead to bad outcomes?
Should drugs be blamed for what happens? Or could some responsiblity for what
happens be laid on the shoulders of the people who choose to use them in
stupid ways, or on the society that keeps them ignorant or tries to lie about
the effects of these drugs or actively tries to harm drug users, or at least
make constructive, safe use of these substances very difficult and dangerous?

About your friend who was "sectioned" (I presume this refers to involuntary
confinement to a mental institution), it sounds like you know very little of
what actually happened to him or his psychological state before or after the
incident. I would not be surprised if his family (who you admit have had
mental problems of their own) or the authorities overreacted, and that his
confinement to the mental institution might have been a much worse experience
than his LSD trip.

Finally, an LSD trip can be a very emotionally intense experience. Emotionally
intense experiences of any kind could trigger psychotic episodes in
succeptable individuals. Such people could have a psychotic episode without
any being drugs involved. People with family history of mental illness would
do well to be extra cautious before engaging in any activity that might result
in an emotionally intense experience.

[1] - [http://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-
Grou...](http://www.amazon.com/LSD-Spirituality-Creative-Process-
Groundbreaking-ebook/dp/B007EDCXJM/)

~~~
glynjackson
I agree, my few experiences don't prove anything. He mixed LSD, cannabis and
alcohol on that night. I also agree, I knew very little about his mental
health before that day. His section (involuntary confinement to a mental
institution) was not taken lightly. What I do know is Doctors said the drugs
(cannabis and LSD) had triggered an underlining mental illness. He developed
severe paranoid personality disorder (PPD).

The other point you made is incredibly important, taking such drugs does not
guaranteed you will become more creative. It is important you research, why
you want to take it and your current/past health problems.

After a lot of research I have personally have taken nootropics on and off for
many years. As a programmer I often work long hours, I need to function and
problem solve. I found them to aid in learning and memory. Nasty ADHD drugs
give me side effects and are just legalised amphetamines. Nootropics like
Aniracetam seem to have the same effect with little to no side effects (for
me).

------
avodonosov
My friend and university classmate - a kind of wounderkind.

He was accepted to university without exams, because he had great results on
programming olympics.

Turned out he was also good at chemistry. When he was around 8 his mother
arranged him to take chemistry classes with elder schoolchildren. But he
dropped the classes because he was borred - he already knew everything taught
there.

In university he tried drugs (marijuana, mushrooms). He also bought Hofmann's
book with all the formulas and started cooking himslef.

One day he jumped off the roof of their apartment building. His mother found
him. She said at first sight she thought it was some garbadge on the street,
and then recognized her son.

On his computer he left open Richard Bach's book, with selection active on the
phrase "you can fly, Jonathan". He left a note between pages of the Exupéry's
book (I don't know exactly on what place, his relatives hadn't pay to that at
the moment). The note said to dispel the ashes over the ocean.

The guy doesn't care - he is dead and feels nothing. But it was horrible to
see his mother, and father too. He was the only child.

This case makes me doubt LSD and drugs in general are harmless.

I also have evidence the "inspiration" when you're on drugs is false, and
actually it's more like a delirium.

Please, don't promote drugs.

UPDATE:

Surprisingly, some people even down-vote this comment, and convince me in
telling false story. If so, what are my motives?

If you care, you can find plenty of documented evidence of drugs danger.

BTW, he jumped not because he "convinced himself he can fly", as many
commenters suggested. His note said to dispel the ashes over the ocean.

If you heard something similar before - it doesn't make the story false, other
way around, looks like such things happened more than once. In my case I am
describing a real person I knew for years, and was present on his funeral.

This thread, and many comments here suggest a conspiracy theory -like idea,
that anti drug laws and information is a malicious and false propaganda,
imposed by state and society. Sorry, but it's just stupid.

It is irresponsible and inappropriate to promote drugs (LSD or whatever). And
off-topic for Hacker News. There are people who unstable, who have internal
emotional conflicts, etc. For them drug use may be a catastrophe.

~~~
olssy
I first heard a variant of this story about 30 years ago, either a lot of kids
killed themselves jumping out of windows on acid or it's an urban legend.

~~~
Lambdanaut
Wikipedia and snopes seem to both think it's an urban legend.

[http://www.snopes.com/horrors/drugs/linkletter.asp](http://www.snopes.com/horrors/drugs/linkletter.asp)

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misconceptions_about_drugs#Thou...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misconceptions_about_drugs#Thought_they_could_fly_and_jumped_out_window.2Ffell_off_cliff)

------
extempore
Recommended: [http://www.amazon.com/Then-Thought-Was-
Fish/dp/0985318139](http://www.amazon.com/Then-Thought-Was-Fish/dp/0985318139)

------
thegeek112
to respond the question in the title: no.

~~~
mathetic
Care to elaborate?

~~~
hepek
Whenever there's a question mark in the title, the answer is usually no, and
the article is linkbait.

I don't know if this rule of thumb applies to this article.

~~~
k-mcgrady
Betteridge's law of headlines [0]. The answer to the question is generally no
- that doesn't make the article useless link bait though.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betteridge's_law_of_headlines)

~~~
jafaku
You guys know scientists are supposed to ask questions, right?

~~~
Retra
Scientists are supposed to ask GOOD questions.

------
krylon
_Very_ interesting, thanks for bringing this to my attention!

------
dynsrv
LSD Effect : The deadly accident killed four people, including a policeman,
and caused serious injuries to four others.

[http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/22/police-
confirm...](http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2015/01/22/police-confirm-
death-driver-under-influence-lsd.html)

~~~
super_sloth
Over 10,000 people died in drink driving incidents in the US along last year.
Distraction from mobile phones also led to thousands of accidents, should they
be illegal too?

Let's now throw the baby out with the bathwater.

~~~
eCa
> Distraction from mobile phones also led to thousands of accidents, should
> they be illegal too?

When using any type of vehicle in public areas: Absolutely. And they already
are in many places [1] (at least under certain conditions).

[1]
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safet...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phones_and_driving_safety#List_of_countries_with_bans)

~~~
corin_
His point (I assume) isn't that these things aren't or shouldn't be illegal
while driving, it's that you can make it illegal to drive under the influence
without banning being under the influence.

