Effects of LSD Use

LSD is a mind-altering drug. It is thought LSD causes it’s characteristic hallucinogenic effects via interaction with the serotonin receptors in the brain. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps control your behavior and mood, governs your senses, and moderates your thoughts.

The physical effects of LSD are unpredictable from person-to-person. Usually, the first effects of the drug when taken by mouth are felt 30 to 45 minutes after taking it, peak at 2 to 4 hours, and may last 12 hours or longer. Use by the intravenous (IV) route will produce a much quicker action, usually within 10 minutes. Effects include:

• hallucinations
• distorted visual perception of shapes, colors
• altered sounds
• anxiety and depression
• flashbacks (a return of the “trip” experience) days or months later
• rapid heart rate, increased body temperature and high blood pressure
• dilated pupils.

Extreme changes in mood can occur. If taken in large enough doses, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. Overdose can lead to severe psychosis. Death is often due to a direct injury while under LSD influence; there is no known lethal dose of LSD.

The physical effects can also include nausea, loss of appetite, increased blood sugar, difficulty sleeping, dry mouth, tremors and seizures.

The user may also experience impaired depth and time perception, with distorted perception of the size and shape of objects, movements, color, sound, touch and their own body image. Sensations may seem to “cross over,” giving the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic. Some LSD users also experience severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings, fear of losing control, and fear of insanity or death.

An experience with LSD is referred to as a “trip”. Acute, disturbing psychological effects are known as a “bad trip”. These experiences are lengthy, with the effects of higher doses lasting for 6 to 12 hours, and it may take 24 hours to return to a normal state. Lysergic acid diethylamide LSD

Extent of LSD Use

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NHSDA) in 2018 estimated that 5.6 million people aged 12 or older were past year users of hallucinogens (which includes LSD, PCP, peyote, mescaline, psilocybin mushrooms, Ecstasy, ketamine, DMT/AMT/“Foxy,” and Salvia divinorum), corresponding to 2% of the population.

The percentage of people aged 12 or older in 2018 who were past year hallucinogen users was higher than the percentages in 2015 and 2016, but it was similar to the percentage in 2017.Remove term: lsd vs acid lsd vs acid

Rates of LSD use remain low among youth in the U.S. In 2018, it was estimated that 376,000 adolescents aged 12 to 17 were past year users of hallucinogens, which corresponds to about 1.5% of adolescents. The percentage of adolescents in 2018 who were past year hallucinogen users was lower than the percentages in 2015 and 2017, but it was similar to the percentage in 2016.

In 2019, based on data from NIDA’s Monitoring the Future 2019 Survey Results: Overall Findings, past year illicit drug use for LSD among surveyed 12th graders was 3.6%, far below illicit drug use for marijuana, which stood at 35.7%.