I mean that the original networks have probably been gone for some time (the old family chemists and distro hippies).
The acid families are kind of wierd. They are not acual families obviously, but groups of people that acquired precursors, manufactured LSD, stored it, layed it onto sheets, and distributed it. A lot of this was done in cycles periodically, and in large batches. So if you knew that you had, say, acid form the silver family and you'd had it before... then you have a really good idea of the quality and potency assuming proper care.
The chemists were/are probably only known to a couple of people. A product would get produced, then handed off to others and down the line to lower tiers.. A lot of these people would follow around grateful dead tours (and phish and such).
A lot of these people regard LSD kind of like a gift from "god". Frequently, to get involved on the level of dealing with crystalline LSD (to lay blotter), one would have to take a thumbprint of the stuff.
There is a good thread on the topic by "chinacat" on the shroomery. I'll dig around for it when I get out of class if someone else doesn't post a link to it. I think it may have been posted in another thread here recently.
The Sandoz company was a source of LSD back in the day (and I guess probably still are for research), but they certainly weren't an illicit production/distro family.
