Bicycle Day :Happy birthday LSD

On this day, April 19, 1943  Albert Hoffmann, a 37 year old chemist for Sandoz, in Basel, Switzerland, ingested intentionally a  minute amount—just 250 micrograms--of a compound derived from the ergot fungus thus synthesizing  lysergic acid diethylamide for the first time.Three days earlier, he had absorbed a small amount of the drug either through his fingertips or by accidentally ingesting it. Anyway, less than an hour later, Hoffman began to feel strange and noticed sudden and intense changes in his perception. He decided to pedal home from his laboratory. His bike ride accompanied by strong hallucinations developed into a real trip. Hoffman turned on, tuned in, becoming the first human to trip on LSD. This is how Hoffman learned about the effects of this substance and  experienced all its heavenly and hellish effects.

 Hofmann realized he had made a significant discovery: a psychoactive substance with extraordinary potency, capable of causing significant shifts of consciousness in incredibly low doses.He wrote about his experiments and experience on April 22, which was later put into his book LSD: My Problem Child. He saw the drug as a powerful psychiatric tool,  because of its intense and introspective nature, he couldn’t imagine anyone using it recreationally.

Hoffman admitted that the substance would be dangerous in the wrong hands. Look at the sad tale of Syd Barrett and others, we've all probably encountered, the same drug that awakens us can also enslave us or drive us mad.

Albert Hofmann  had first synthesized lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in November 1938, while researching lysergic acid derivatives. The main intention of the synthesis was to obtain an analeptic (a central nervous system stimulant).

Researchers were looking initially  at ways of identifying and synthesizing chemical compounds from plants. Hofmann chose ergot, a fungus that grows on rye and other cereals, which was formerly used by midwives to stop bleeding after childbirth. It also causes ergotism, a form of fungal poisoning, which was a common complaint among medieval pilgrims.
Hofmann managed to isolate some of ergot's active substances, including a drug that stops post-natal haemorrhaging.But he is best remembered for his accidental discovery of LSD ..

After Hoffman’s discovery, psychologists clinically researched the drug throughout the 40s, 50s, and 60s, with the Swiss company Sandoz Pharmaceuticals distributing free samples of the chemical for research purposes.Alfred Hubbard read a report discussing the hallucinogenic effects of the then-obscure drug and tried it in 1951. He became known as the first true proponent for LSD outside of the research world after realizing that it could be used to explore the depths of the human psyche. He began researching and distributing the compound, eventually swapping his LSD for psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical in certain mushrooms, being studied by a Harvard psychologist, Dr.Timothy Leary.

Leary went on to become the most high-profile researcher and proponent of the drug, eventually losing his position at Harvard for the controversial nature of his advocacy. He published The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead with Richard Alpert in 1964, a work that compared the nature of tripping to the spiritual experience of birth and rebirth detailed in the Tibetan tome.Leary identified phases of the psychedelic experience with the Bardo stages of consciousness outlined in the Tibetan Book of the Dead,from "complete transcendence" to " routine game reality " and indeed the arrival of LSD coincided with a surge of interest in mystical and esoteric subjects He advocated for students to “Turn on, tune in, and drop out,” a message that was picked up by the counterculture and perpetuated with the rising prevalence of acid parties.

Ken Kesey served as a medical guinea pig testing LSD and other psychoactive drugs in the 1950’s (at the time, the CIA was also testing LSD as a weapon as part of its MKUltra program, thinking that it could be used as “truth sermon” or to incapacitate enemy forces). After publishing One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest in 1962, a book detailing his experiences during the research project, the financial success of the book allowed him to move to California, where he began hosting a series of “Acid Tests” in San Francisco along with his gang of Merry Pranksters. Enter the Grateful Dead, then known as The Warlocks  who served as the house band for these tests, during which attendees dropped acid and explored LSD’s mind-altering effects.

The 1960's,  saw LSD use became widespread among people who sought to alter and intensify their perceptual experience, to achieve insights into the universe and themselves, and to deepen emotional connection with others.

At the helm of the counterculture revolution of the 60s and beyond, increasingly, the government became worried about the use of the drug, associating it with the anti-war sentiment and viewing it as a threat to American middle class, traditional values. After Dr. Sidney Cohen, a doctor who tested the psychoanalytical capabilities of the compound, testified before Congress in 1966 and declared that the drug was dangerous in the wrong hands, LSD was made illegal in 1967.

 Hofmann called LSD "medicine for the soul" and was frustrated by the worldwide prohibition that has pushed it underground. "It was used very successfully for 10 years in psychoanalysis," he said, adding that the drug was hijacked by the youth movement of the 1960's and then unfairly demonized by the establishment that the movement opposed.

While the counterculture raged on, with time the popularity of LSD subsided in the 80s, as other drugs became en vogue. However, as the turn of the new millennium approached, so did the youth’s interest in the psychedelic compound, with the drug reemerging in popularity in the 90’s and into the 2000’s through to now.

 Psychedelic enthusiasts  across the world now commemorate Hoffman's discovery of LSD's effects every April 19, a.k.a. "Bicycle Day. "  The first celebration took place in 1985. It was initiated by Thomas B. Roberts of DeKalb, Illinois. 

Albert Hoffman's amazing discovery  has subsequently contributed to countless works of art, literature, and music. Releasing a rich banquet of inspiration that still manages to fuel our senses today.From the books of Aldous Huxley, Kurt Vonnegut , Jr, to the music of Jimi Hendrix, my local heros Sendelica, acid still catches the imagination. I've personally taken a few trips in my time, not for a while though, never seem to come across  it,  perhaps people are hiding it from me, because they've seen me under the influence, managed to hitch to glastonbury from west wales, under the influence , stopping on way back for some respite in a field by the motorway for a while, to gather my senses and spend time talking to a tree. happy days. Oh and I have a flying frog in my living room called Albert. 

 

 My frog who goes by the name of Albert