Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) Drug Driving Limit = 1 µg/L
Also known as acid iswell known for its psychological effects, which can include altered thinking processes, closed- and open-eye visuals, an altered sense of time and spiritual experiences. It is used mainly in religious or spiritual contexts and as a recreational drug. LSD is non-addictive, and is not known to cause brain damage. However, acute adverse psychiatric reactions such as anxiety, paranoia, and delusions are possible.
LSD is typically either swallowed or held under the tongue, usually on a substrate such as absorbent blotter paper, a sugar cube, or gelatin. In its liquid form, it can also be administered by intramuscular or intravenous injection. Interestingly, unlike most other classes of illicit drugs and other groups of psychedelic drugs when LSD is administered via intravenous injection the onset is not immediate, instead taking approximately 30 minutes before the effects are realized. LSD is very potent, with 20–30 µg (micrograms) being the threshold dose.
LSD can cause pupil dilation, reduced appetite, and wakefulness. Other physical reactions to LSD are highly variable and nonspecific, some of which may be secondary to the psychological effects of LSD. Among the reported symptoms are numbness, weakness, nausea, hypothermia or hyperthermia, elevated blood sugar, goose bumps, heart rate increase, jaw clenching, perspiration, saliva production, mucus production, sleeplessness, hyperreflexia, and tremors.
LSD is not considered addictive by the medical community. Tolerance to LSD-25 builds up over consistent use
LSD’s psychological effects (colloquially called a “trip”) vary greatly from person to person, depending on factors such as previous experiences, state of mind and environment, as well as dose strength. They also vary from one trip to another, and even as time passes during a single trip. An LSD trip can have long-term psychoemotional effects; some users cite the LSD experience as causing significant changes in their personality and life perspective. Widely different effects emerge based on what Timothy Leary called set and setting; the “set” being the general mindset of the user, and the “setting” being the physical and social environment in which the drug’s effects are experienced. Long-term adverse effects observed in some users include recurrence of perceptual effects initially experienced while under the acute influence of the drug. These effects have been described as “distressing, spontaneous, recurrent, pervasive” and in some cases irreversible.
Some psychological effects may include an experience of radiant colors, objects and surfaces appearing to ripple or “breathe”, colored patterns behind the closed eyelids, an altered sense of time (time seems to be stretching, repeating itself, changing speed or stopping), crawling geometric patterns overlaying walls and other objects, morphing objects, a sense that one’s thoughts are spiraling into themselves, loss of a sense of identity or the ego (known as “ego death”), and other powerful psycho-physical reactions. Many users experience a dissolution between themselves and the “outside world”.This unitive quality may play a role in the spiritual and religious aspects of LSD. The drug sometimes leads to disintegration or restructuring of the user’s historical personality and creates a mental state that some users report allows them to have more choice regarding the nature of their own personality.
If the user is in a hostile or otherwise unsettling environment, or is not mentally prepared for the powerful distortions in perception and thought that the drug causes, effects are more likely to be unpleasant than if he or she is in a comfortable environment and has a relaxed, balanced and open mindset.
LSD causes an animated sensory experience of senses, emotions, memories, time, and awareness for 6 to 14 hours, depending on dosage and tolerance. Generally beginning within 30 to 90 minutes after ingestion, the user may experience anything from subtle changes in perception to overwhelming cognitive shifts. Changes in auditory and visual perception are typical. Visual effects include the illusion of movement of static surfaces (“walls breathing”), after image-like trails of moving objects (“tracers”), the appearance of moving colored geometric patterns (especially with closed eyes), an intensification of colors and brightness (“sparkling”), new textures on objects, blurred vision, and shape suggestibility. Users commonly report that the inanimate world appears to animate in an inexplicable way; for instance, objects that are static in three dimensions can seem to be moving relative to one or more additional spatial dimensions. Many of the basic visual effects resemble the phosphenes seen after applying pressure to the eye and have also been studied under the name “form constants”. The auditory effects of LSD may include echo-like distortions of sounds, changes in ability to discern concurrent auditory stimuli, and a general intensification of the experience of music. Higher doses often cause intense and fundamental distortions of sensory perception such as synaesthesia, the experience of additional spatial or temporal dimensions, and temporary dissociation.
