LSD and Modified States of Consciousness

The use of hallucinogenic drugs is not a phenomenon of our time; Their use was common to other civilizations: in every place of the Earth and at all times in history, man used substances - natural, then synthetic - capable of modifying his state of consciousness, Limitations of his perception of reality. Sleep and reveries are examples of altered states of consciousness, like trance, hypnosis, meditation, general anesthesia, delirium, psychosis and mystic ecstasies.

There is good reason to believe that psychopharmacology was used on a large scale by mages and prophets. At Delphi the Pythia, the priestess of Apollo, rendered oracles perched on a tripod in the vaporous emanations which escaped from a crevice. Among the Aztecs and the Mayans, the use of peyote was the privilege of priests, as for shamans, among the Siberian and Amerindian populations. The use of drugs, it was believed, facilitated communication with the gods.

I will not treat tonight of all the psychotropic drugs, but of the one I have practiced with the most interest: this is LSD. Rest assured, I risk no more; The facts date back to a period of between 20 and 30 years: they are therefore covered by the legal prescription. I know that I can open myself to you, my SS and my FFs, for I have often heard here that the search for truth admits of no constraint.

I do not pretend that my experiments can be universal in scope: they are purely personal. However, given the concordant testimony of most LSD users, how could one not be tempted to try to develop an archetypal principle?
But we will first define the notion of hallucinogen.

DEFINITION OF HALLUCINOGENES
A hallucinogen (from the Latin hallucinari: to dream, to walk in thought - note, SS \ and FF \ Latinists, that this verb is constructed from lux, light). A hallucinogen, I said, is a drug that radically alters a person's mental state, distorts reality, distorts sensory perceptions, emotions, psychological processes, and, in large doses, causes hallucinations. Most of the time it is consumed because of the enlarged state of consciousness it provides.
The most common hallucinogen is LSD (d-lysergic acid diethylamide), simply known as acid.

PRESENTATION
LSD is the most potent known hallucinogen. Made in the laboratory, it is a semi-synthetic alkaloid, extracted from a parasitic fungus of rye. Its power is such that it is consumed in micrograms (one microgram equals one millionth of a gramme). One kilogram of LSD produces 10,000,000 doses of 100 micrograms, but the dosage can range from 80 to 400 micrograms.
In the pure state, it is an odorless white powder without flavor. It occurs most often in the form of a liquid from which blotters are impregnated. It can also be found in the form of capsules, small-sized pills with a variety of shapes to identify them ("mica", "sunshine", "pyramid", "green monster"), pure or mixed with others Products (usually amphetamines).

Way of consuming
When in the form of pills, LSD is ingested. In the form of "blotters", it is placed on the tongue: the alkaloid dissolves on contact with the saliva, then it is absorbed by the mucosa. This mode of ingestion produces the most rapid effects. On the other hand, as heat destroys its effects, it can not be smoked.

Action plan
A number of active alkaloids are derived from tryptophan: all these alkaloids have a striking resemblance to another chemical mediator, serotonin, which also derives from tryptophan; In the brain, its role in the transmission of information is decisive.
Like many hallucinogens whose molecular structure is similar to that of serotonin, LSD disrupts neurotransmission.

In neurons, serotonin is normally stored in vesicles.
When it is released into the synaptic space, it reaches the receptor sites of another neuron, which adapts to this signal; The excess serotonin is then returned to the emitting neuron by a recapture system.

LSD acts by releasing serotonin into the synaptic space, while disrupting the recapture system; It is this serotonin saturation which disrupts the transmission of the message: the neurons are permanently interconnected, and the brain works at full power.

risks
LSD does not cause any dependence, neither physical nor psychic; But, more than for any other drug, its effects depend on the emotional and psychological stability of the user: an anxious person