LSD was first synthesized on November 16, 1938 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in Sandoz Laboratories in Basle, Switzerland. Sandoz Laboratories, the only company to manufacture and sell LSD. first marketed the drug in 1947 under the trade name Delysid. (BTW Heroin® was once a trademark belonging to Bayer) It is interesting to note that Albert Hofmann who had been working on making a circulatory and respiratory stimulant did not realize that he had invented a hallucinogenic drug until 1943, when he accidentally ingested some. Psychedelic Painting: Mary Bellis
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LSD 25 is still made by the gallon by the US Government to still test on subjects such as humans and animals.
I just would like to say I really enjoy your articles. My hubby is an inventor and I get to stump him with your articles sometimes.
Thanks Beth for the kind words
Sandoz was the inventor but Owsley Stanley was the Johnny Appleseed. Check him out and all the connections he had that brought so many things to the world, including the internet. No, it wasn’t Al Gore, he promoted it, but the same circle of people that started “The Well”, biofeedback and later a bunch of tech companies. It’s a shame this valuable mind expanding experience was abused by people like Timothy Leary – it might have brought more enlightenment to our unenlightened world.
and the wind cried Mary
this is some cool shit
“Invention” is really a misnomer for the synthesis of a specific compound isolated from natural products. LSD is thought to have been a component of “ergot,” a material produced in moldy grains, especially rye, which caused adverse reactions in those who consumed such grains many years ago. The creation of entirely new molecules, or significantly modified formulas to obtain different effects, may indeed be invention. Interesting article, anyway. You never know what may turn up in moldy stuff – penicillin or LSD!