LSD
Frequently Asked Questions (part 3)
Chemistry
lysergic acid diethylamide _is_ lysergic acid diethylamide (or... N,N-diethyl-D-lysergamide or... 9,10-Didehydo-N,N-diethyl-6-methylergoline-8B-carboxamide).
Only one stereoisomer (the d-) is psychoactive. Thus, racemic (l/d 50-50 mix) lsd shows half the potency of the dextro form. In synthesis it is possible to recover the l-form for the lysergic acid.
Lysergic Acid Diethylamide is LSD rather than LAD because the German word for acid is saeure (sp).
Ergot is a product of the fungus Claviceps purpurea. The bio-active ingredients of ergot are all derivatives of lysergic acid. LSD is a semisynthetic derivative of lysergic acid. Thus LSD is an ergot-like substance.
Mechanism Of Action
(Note: the mechanism of action of LSD and other psychedelics is uncertain.)
From a chapter titled Hallucinogens and Other Psychotomimetics:
Biological Mechanisms
by S.J.Watson
The current thesis of the effect of indole hallucinogens on 5-hydroxytrypamine might be stated as follows:
LSD acts to preferentially inhibit serotonergic cell firing and seems to spare postsynaptic serotnergic receptors.
This preference is shared by other simillar hallucinogens but in a limited fashion. Nonhallucinogenic analogs of LSD show no preference.
These results suggest that there are two different steric conformation of serotonergic receptors, one of which has higher affinity for LSD than the other.
In general, 5-ht is an inhibitory transmitter; thus, when its activity is decreased, the next neuron in the chain is freed from inhibition and becomes more active. Since serotnergic systems appear to be intimately involved int eh control of sensation, sleep, attention, and mood, it may be possible to explain the actions of LSD and other hallucinogens by their disinhibition of these critical systems.
There is also evidence for interaction with dopaminergic systems.
LSD acts as a 5HT autoreceptor agonist in the raphe nucleus. These autoreceptors are typically considered to be 5HT1As. It also acts as a 5HT2 agonist, which is thought to be the main site of hallucinogenic activity. It's probably best called a a mixed 5HT2/5HT1 receptor partial agonist.
I don't know of its effects on dopamine. Wouldn't be surprised if it has 'em; the systems aren't really functionally separable. The DA effects wouldn't be necessary for hallucinogenic activity, I'd bet.
Related Compounds
Related compounds are the indole hallucinogens including DMT (dimethyl-tryptamine), DET (diethyl-), etc.; psilocybin; lysergic acid.
DMT
is very fast acting, lasting less than an hour.
Psilocybin
found in hallucinogenic (aka magic or mexican) mushrooms, has effects similar to LSD but they work for approximately half the duration.
These are all indole derivatives like the neurotransmitter serotonin, 5-hydroxy-tryptamine. Indole is the name of the 6-carbon ring attached to the 5-ring containing a nitrogen. The lysergic acid molecule contains an indole structure plus additional rings.
LSD's two ethyl groups hanging off the amine may be replaced with other carbon chains for compounds with different durations, potencies, and effects.
While LSD is semi-synthetic, DMT and psilocybin are found in nature. See the sections on BOTANY and ANTHROPOLOGY for info on related natural (plant) compounds and their uses.
1) DMT, DET, psylocin, psylocybin: The mushroom psylocybin cubensis contains all four of these indole derivatives, as well as others. DMT is dimethyltryptamine, an indole derivative which has functionalized at the 3 position with the dimethyl ethylamine group.
It is a close relative to the amino acid, tryptophan, which until recently was available in bulk at vitamin shops, until some jerk poisoned himself by taking a wonga dose of it. [Actually it may have been a single toxic batch mistakenly produced in Japan.]
A prep came out in 1984 for LSD using l--tryptophan as the precursor, so this may have facilitated the government's pullin it from the shelves. I can't find tryptophan anywhere, now, and I've tried, bud.
DMT, and it's brother DET (diethyltryptamine), have no oral activity, so have to be smoked. They stink like fish oil when lit, though. Both have hallucinogenic effects within 2-3 minutes of toking, wand while DMT lasts for only a half hour, DET is a smoother, more euphoric high, lasting twice as long.
DET has effects similar to psylocybin. Psylocybin is DMT which has a functional group, phosphoryloxy-, at the 4 position on the indole ring. This group is immediately converted to hydroxyl- as soon as the stuff hits your stomache to give the cousin, psylocin.
In preparing the drug, then, it is not necessary to proceed beyond the psylocin.
DMT and DET are easily derived from many indole derivatives, the easiest of which is indole-3-acetic acid. I've done this reaction and it stinks to high heaven of indole gunge, skatoles (methylindoles), and indenes.
Bad news if you want to make it at home, because the stench is pervasive.
Other derivatives, using phenyl or butyl groups have been reported as having oral activity, so it is not necessary to smoke the stuff.
Doses run at about a hundred mgs for smoked drug, while psylocin is orally active at about 5 mgs.
For a good reference work on these compounds, their preps, and effects, see Psychedelic Chemistry by Michael Valentine Smith
Your Friendly Neighborhood Chemical Dude,
St. Theo
Drug Testing
LSD can show up in standard urine drug tests if used 1 to 3 days previous.
LSD and its metabolites were still detectable in human urine for as long as 4 days after the ingestion of 0.2 mg of the drug. [Faed, E.M., McLeod, W.R.: A urine screening test of lysergide. Journal of Chromatographic Science. 11, 4-6 (1973)]
Note that standard, cheap initial drug screening does not use chromatography or mass-spectrometry, and does not look for LSD.
Spinal taps are not particularly useful (cerebro-spinal fluid doesn't concentrate LSD or metabolites) and are never done under any circumstances: they are painful and dangerous.
You might want to mention that Abbie Hoffman's Steal This Urine Test has a table which claims lsd is detectable for 40 days. I'm almost sure this was a typo.
1] How long can LSD be detected in the body?
This varies by the test being used, the detection limit placed on the test, the point of collection and type of the sample fluid, the amount of LSD that was taken, and the individual in question.
Assuming the testers are using an RIA screening test with the cutoff set at 0.1 ng/ml and assuming that the user has recently emptied their bladder, then the detection limit for one hit (100 ug) is normally around 30 hours. Each doubling of the initial amount will add about 5 hours. Thus taking 8 hits will leave a user vulnerable for approximately 2 days. (NOTE: This is based on the data in [7])
2] What exact form of test can be used to detect LSD in the body? There are a number of tests which can be used to detect LSD in the body.
Abuscreen, a product of Roche Diagnostic Systems, is a series of RadioImmunoAssay (RIA) tests, one of which is used to detect LSD and its metabolites in whole blood, serum (blood), urine and stomach contents [1].
RIA can in theory be used to detect quantities as small as 0.020 nanograms (ng) per milliliter (ml) of sample [2]. Laboratory tests have shown that RIA results are accurate down to at least 0.1 ng/ml [3]. The manufacturer recommends limiting the cutoff to 0.5 ng/ml.
EMIT, a product of Syva Corporation, is another series of tests, one of which can be used to detect LSD and its metabolites in serum and urine. EMIT stands for Enzyme Multiplied Immunoassay Technique.
Both EMIT and Abuscreen are positive/negative response tests (much like pregnancy tests) which require periodic equipment calibration and consume chemicals for each test performed. A basic battery of tests costs approx. $15-$25 per person [4].
The basic tests (recommended by NIDA) include marijuana, cocaine, amphetamines, opiates, and phencyclidine (PCP). Normally, unless an (employer) specifically requests the test, an LSD assay is not run.
Both Roche and Syva recommend confirmation of positive results by using a different test. The usual method of confirming positive results is some form of chromatography.
These include High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography (HPTLC)[3], and different forms of Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS)[5][6][7][8][9].
HPTLC and GC/MS can be used to give quantitative results as opposed to the Boolean results from EMIT or Abuscreen.
Laboratory tests have shown that GC/MS test for LSD in urine[6] and blood[7] can be accurate down to 0.1 ng/ml. The cost for confirmation of a positive screening test is approximately $50-60.
Positive results to either EMIT and RIA are held to be probable cause by U.S. courts. GC/MS results are held to be proof by U.S. courts.
I am asking for an actual text message containing a short, precise description of each test.
Immunoassays chemicals are created by injecting animals (rabbits, sheep, donkey, etc) with the drug to be tested for and an albumin which force the animal to produce antibodies. The antibodies are then removed from the animal, purified and bottled.
In RIA tests, the antibodies are then added to the fluid sample with a radioactively labeled chemical. Any of the drug (or similar chemicals) found in a sample that is being tested will react with this glop and by measuring the radioactivity, the amount of drugs can be determined [2][10].
3] How can such a test be beaten?
While there is some literature on adulterating urine samples to produce false negative results [11], there has been little written that applies specifically to the LSD screening tests.
I am asking for ...[a description]... of each thing that LSD leaves behind that can be detected, and of each method used to beat each test.
The immunsoassay tests vary in their specificity. Some display a relatively low cross-reactivity[13], others a high cross-reactivity[14].
The exact metabolites of LSD in humans have not been fully determined yet, though animal studies have been done. The only verified human metabolite I could find in the literature was N-demethyl-LSD[6] but I did not check all the references.
Footnotes
[1]
Altunkaya, D; Smith R.N. Evaluation of a commercial radioimmunoassay kit for the detection of lysergide (LSD) in serum, whole blood, urine, and stomach contents Forensic Science International. v47n2, September 1990, p113-21.
[2]
Taunton-Rigby, A.; Sher, S.E.; Kelley, P.R. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide: Radioimmunoassay Science. v181, July 13 1973, p165-6.
[3]
McCarron, M.M.; Walberg, C.B.; Baselt, R.C. Confirmation of LSD intoxication by analysis of serum and urine. Journal of Analytical Toxicology. v14n3, May-June 1990, p165-7.
[4]
Berg, E. Drug-testing methods: what you should know. Safety & Health. v142n6, Dec 1990, p52-6.
[5]
Lim, H.K.; Andrenyak, D.; Francom, P.; Bridges, R.R.; Foltz, R.L. Determination of LSD in urine by capillary column gas chromatography and electon impact mass spectrometry. Journal of Analytical Toxicology. v12n1, Jan-Feb 1988, p1-8.
[6]
Lim, H.K.; Andrenyak, D.; Francom, P. Quantification of LSD and N-demethyl-LSD in urine by gas chromatography/ resonance electron capture ionization mass spectrometry. Analytical Chemistry. v60, July 15 1988, p1420-25.
[7]
Papac, D.I.; Foltz, R.L. Measurement of lysergic acid dietylamide (LSD) in human plasma by gas chromatography/negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometry. Journal of Analytical Toxicology. v14n3, May-June 1990, p189-90.
[8]
Paul, B.D.; Mitchell J.M.; Burbage, R.; Moy, M; Sroka, R. Gas chromatographic-electron-impact mass fragmentometric determination of lysergic acid diethylamide in urine. Journal of Chromatography. v529n1, July 13, 1990, p103-12.
[9]
Blum, L.M.; Carenzo, E.F.; Rieders, F. Determination of lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in urine by instrumental high-performance thin-layer chromatography. Journal of Analytical Toxicology. v14n5, Sep-Oct 1990, p285-7.
[10]
Ratcliffe, W.A.; Fletcher, S.M.; Moffat, A.C.; et. al. Radioimmunoassay of Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) in serum and urine by using antisera of different specificities. Clinical Chemistry. v23n2, Feb 1977, p169-74.
[11]
Cody, J.T.; Schwarzhoff, R.H. Impact of adulterants on RIA analysis of urine for drugs of abuse. Journal of Analytical Toxicology. v13n5, Sep-Oct 1989, p277-84.
[12]
Klonoff, D.C. Acute water intoxication as a complication of urine drug testing in the workplace. Journal of the American Medical Association. v265n1, Jan 2 1991, p84-6.
[13]
Christie J.; White, M.W.; Wiles, J.M. A chromatographic method for the detection of LSD in biological liquids. Journal of Chromatography. v120n2, May 26, 1976, p496-501.
[14]
Twitchet, P.J.; Fletcher, S.M.; Sullivan, A.T.; Moffat, A.C. Analysis of LSD in human body fluids by high-performance liquid chromatography, fluorescence spectroscopy and radioimmunoassay. J. Chromatogr. v150n1, March 11 1978, p73-84.
Sorry this was so long but I thought it deserved it :-) Enjoy a referenced article.
Tim Basher
Legal Scheduling
Class I, no medical use, mostly for political reasons, as it was and is used in psychotherapy. (Current use is in Switzerland.)
Set And Setting
Set
is the expectations a person brings with them. Setting is the environment that a person is in. Set includes expectations about the drug's actions and how the person will react.
Setting
includes the social and physical conditions.
For LSD and the hallucinogen-type drug more than other psychoactives, set and setting are very important in determining the nature of the experience.
These factors make the difference between, e.g., the experiences of someone taking the drug for enhancement at a concert, for psychotherapy in an doctor's office, in a religious context, or in the outdoors for an aesthetic experience.
For best results, one should take LSD only with people one trusts in safe, comfortable surroundings, free of everyday intrusions. Tripping alone is a very risky thing to do, that inexperienced people should avoid.
Storage
First, note that LSD is a fairly stable organic molecule, no more or less fragile than other molecules with comparable structures.
The main factors to be concerned with are moisture (due to leaching and facilitated chemical reactions in the presense of moisture), oxygen, light, and temperature. Reaction rates typically depend upon temperature exponentially. These factors basically apply to all organic compounds.
Sealing in AL foil in a cool dark place is fine. Some recommend refridgeration, but be careful about nosy guests, condensation, and frost. Multiple, redundant seals are suggested, eg., paper in metal foil in plastic in a metal candy tin which has been taped shut. Should last at least a presidential term.
Wallets are contraindicated as storage locations due to sweat.
Synergies, Bad Combinations
Smoking cannabis products considerably increases the effects, increasing the visuals and also possibly increasing the cognitive and linguistic disorders.
As the effects of LSD wear off, marijuana may bring them back, and also ease the jitteriness some dislike. Nitrous oxide goes well with LSD, though one should be extra careful (not to suffocate or fall down) with the nitrous because of the effects of the LSD.
MDA (ecstasy) and related drugs can go well, but people on these drugs should not take LSD unless they are familiar with the latter's effects.
Alcohol's effects are largely overwhelmed by LSD, and they act in opposite ways: alcohol being a depressant and LSD being a (hyper)stimulant. Generally mixing stimulants and sedatives is counterproductive.
MAO inhibitors ???
Amphetamines and cocaine ???
Synthesis
Don't try it, too difficult and risky both physically and legally. Precursor medical drugs (ob/gyn and migraine ergot alkaloids) are watched.
End Of FAQ
--
David A. Honig
Hackers do it for fun.
Profesionals do it for money.
Managers have others do it for them.
part 1 part 2 part 3
Books Acid Dreams:
The Complete Social History of LSD:
The CIA, the Sixties, and Beyond
An accurate, well researched book. As the title implies, it covers such things as the origin of LSD and the CIA funded research for use as a mind control tool. But more importantly it explains how LSD and other drugs have affected society.
Not a boring text book, this is probably the best book available on the social history of LSD from its synthesis in the 1940's to the present day. Students looking for information about LSD should borrow this book at a local library.
Acid Dreams LSD
This is the book to get if you know your way around a chemistry lab and would like to produce LSD with readily available materials. Includes recipes from companies that have manufactured LSD on a large scale.
Besides the manufacturing information the history and uses of the drug are examined, but to a much lesser degree. With contributions from doctors and therapists that have used LSD to treat patients.
LSD LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process
An exploration of how LSD influences imagination and the creative process based on the results of one of the longest clinical studies of LSD that took place between 1954 and 1962, before LSD was illegal.
In 1954 a Los Angeles psychiatrist began experimenting with a then new chemical discovery known as LSD-25. Over an eight-year period Dr. Oscar Janiger gave LSD-25 to more than 950 men and women, ranging in age from 18 to 81 and coming from all walks of life.
Includes personal reports, artwork, and poetry from the original sessions as testimony of the impact of LSD on the creative process.
LSD, Spirituality, and the Creative Process
More LSD Books LSD books from Amazon
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