Miscellaneous Some quotes from Albert Hofmann

[red22]

“LSD and related substances are not drugs in the usual sense, but are part of the sacred substances, which have been used for thousands of years in ritual settings. The classic psychedelics like LSD, psilocybin and mescaline are characterized by the fact that they are neither toxic nor addictive. It is my great concern to separate psychedelics from the ongoing debates about drugs, and to highlight the tremendous potential inherent to these substances for self-awareness, as an adjunct in therapy, and for fundamental research into the human mind.”

From a speech given on his 100th or 102nd birthday, included in the fourth edition of Stanislav Grof's LSD Psychotherapy.


“You, my dear friends, and millions all over the world who now commemorate the 50th birthday of ergot's child, we all testify gratefully that we got valuable help on the way to what Aldous Huxley said is the end and the ultimate purpose of human life--enlightenment, beatific vision, love. I think all these joyful testimonies of invaluable help by LSD should be enough to convince the health authorities, finally, of the nonsense of the prohibition of LSD and of similar psychedelics.”

From the front page of The Albert Hofmann Foundation's website, “Dr. Albert Hofmann, on the occasion of celebrating the 50th anniversary of his famous bicycle ride:”


“I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance, LSD. It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.”

LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug? Wired magazine, Jan 16, 2006

 

[Foreigner]

Very cool post, thank you. I always felt that his discovery was channeled.

 

[nepalnt21]

i remember reading or seeing dr. nichols talk about the lsd discovery in that same way, @Foreigner

it might have been a post on here, maybe reddit... but someone compiled their evidences to make this case.

basically, the premise is that there is no way dr. hofmann would have or COULD have gotten any on himself, and even if he had... experiments with lsd and chemicals to help transdermal delivery never yielded any success.

dr. nichols talked about the swiss lab etiquette and how a mistake like that is unthinkable, and he hinted (maybe overtly stated?) that it could have been divine intervention and that the initial effects discovery was 100% "mind manifested", aka placebo.

the time when dr. hofmann had a mystical experience as a kid is also brought up as evidence.

 

[red22]

That was from a speech he gave at MindStates:

MindStates IV LSD Panel: Hypothesis on Albert Hofmann's Famous 1943 "Bicycle Day". David Nichols, May 24, 2003

I just quoted this lecture the other day in a Shroomery thread to counter a post that stated that someone was dosed by the sprinkling of LSD powder on a phone. The post was made by an alleged Deadhead and LSD distributor who has stirred up controversy because of his claim that he took 100,000 micrograms of LSD and that his friend took between ½-¾ of a gram.

1. It's a little tradition were people who work with crystal stick there thumb in it and lick it off. Dose can be from 50mg-1/2gram. My largest was probably around 1/10th of a gram, though whiterasta has me beat by far as do alot of people. A dose this size is like no other. It's a huge difference between taking a couple mgs. The so called saturation level of LSD is quickly toasted at this level. WR can explian this hypothesis better than me. It's also very exhausting and shattering. Something i'm glad I did, but wouldn't do again.

chinacat72, 07/21/03, http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/1734494#1734494

Whiterasta's print was between 1/2-3/4 of a gram. Thats a very ,very hefty dose. My largest print was about 1/10th of a gram(100,000mcg.)

chinacat72, 02/02/04, Re: LSD death

The telephone post:

Allright one more story tonight
This one's from a dark period of my life 'but an important night.
It's 96 and i'm livin in a hotel down on fisherman's warf in San Francisco.
I am horribly addicted to herion. Ravaged and in the grips of the beast. My friend's try everything they can to reason with me. I blow them all off and only leave my hotel room to go to the post office and western union and then down to the mission district to score my dope for the day.
One day i'm in my room in my constant nod and a good freind comes by to see me. One of the elder heads that first showed me the ropes on tour. He sit's there and cries and tells me i'm rotting away and i'm like ya ya see ya later and he leaves. A little later he calles me and say's " We love you and you need to see the light" and hang's up. I'm like whatever man and as i hang up the phone i feel it. LSD crystal doesn't require you to eat it. If you get it on your skin you get high. And as i look at my hand where i held the phone when he called me there was little specks of white fluff all over. I realized he had sprinkled it on my phone.I was like noooooooooo not now. I knew i was in for a bad trip since being a junkie you get full of bad karma. I went into the bathroom and imediatly puked everywhere. It was coming on strong and fast. I layed down and saw what a ravaged wreck of a person i had become from this evil drug. I was at the end of my rope and took off out the door and down the hall out of the hotel. Hell i was probably going to jump into the bay. As soon as i got out side there was another of my close friend's waiting casually smoking a cigarette. He flicked it and said I think it's time we got out of the city and went up into the mountain's.
That's when my healing began. I was so sick , but i was taken care of.
I havn't touched herion since. I never will.
That's the Grateful Dead family for ya

chinacat72, 02/25/03, https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/1335338#1335338

More support for Nichols' claim:

I also have a personal anecdote of transdermal LSD absorption, and it's ineffectiveness. Years ago there was an accident with liquid that led to a half vial being smeared on my face. The liquid in question was fluff crystal broken down to 100mcg per drop. Having that liquid smeared on my face had no effect whatsoever. Had I eaten that amount I would've been out of my gourd.

Dark_Star, 12/31/13, https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/19351356#19351356

 

[Foreigner]

i remember reading or seeing dr. nichols talk about the lsd discovery in that same way, @Foreigner

it might have been a post on here, maybe reddit... but someone compiled their evidences to make this case.

basically, the premise is that there is no way dr. hofmann would have or COULD have gotten any on himself, and even if he had... experiments with lsd and chemicals to help transdermal delivery never yielded any success.

dr. nichols talked about the swiss lab etiquette and how a mistake like that is unthinkable, and he hinted (maybe overtly stated?) that it could have been divine intervention and that the initial effects discovery was 100% "mind manifested", aka placebo.

the time when dr. hofmann had a mystical experience as a kid is also brought up as evidence.

Doubt it was placebo. When you read his book his account of that first LSD experience during the bike ride home was pretty indicative of LSD.

Just because we don't know how the LSD got into his body doesn't mean it didn't. He was studying dozens of different ergotamine derivatives looking for a migraine medication (IIRC), and it was this one that made him trip out. It's not like he stumbled on this uniquely stupendous molecule out of nowhere. He was sequentially testing different isomers of the same compound.

But I still think it was channeled because he described a very odd sequence of events on the day when he got dosed, including random changes to his work protocols that were unplanned. He was doing unusual things that weren't part of his normal routine.

 

[Esperighanto]

That was from a speech he gave at MindStates:

MindStates IV LSD Panel:
Hypothesis on Albert Hofmann's Famous 1943 "Bicycle Day". David Nichols, May 24, 2003

I just quoted this lecture the other day in a Shroomery thread to counter a post that stated that someone was dosed by the sprinkling of LSD powder on a phone. The post was made by an alleged Deadhead and LSD distributor who has stirred up controversy because of his claim that he took 100,000 micrograms of LSD and that his friend took between ½-¾ of a gram.

1. It's a little tradition were people who work with crystal stick there thumb in it and lick it off. Dose can be from 50mg-1/2gram. My largest was probably around 1/10th of a gram, though whiterasta has me beat by far as do alot of people. A dose this size is like no other. It's a huge difference between taking a couple mgs. The so called saturation level of LSD is quickly toasted at this level. WR can explian this hypothesis better than me. It's also very exhausting and shattering. Something i'm glad I did, but wouldn't do again.

chinacat72, 07/21/03, http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/1734494#1734494

Whiterasta's print was between 1/2-3/4 of a gram. Thats a very ,very hefty dose. My largest print was about 1/10th of a gram(100,000mcg.)

chinacat72, 02/02/04, Re: LSD death

The telephone post:

Allright one more story tonight
This one's from a dark period of my life 'but an important night.
It's 96 and i'm livin in a hotel down on fisherman's warf in San Francisco.
I am horribly addicted to herion. Ravaged and in the grips of the beast. My friend's try everything they can to reason with me. I blow them all off and only leave my hotel room to go to the post office and western union and then down to the mission district to score my dope for the day.
One day i'm in my room in my constant nod and a good freind comes by to see me. One of the elder heads that first showed me the ropes on tour. He sit's there and cries and tells me i'm rotting away and i'm like ya ya see ya later and he leaves. A little later he calles me and say's " We love you and you need to see the light" and hang's up. I'm like whatever man and as i hang up the phone i feel it. LSD crystal doesn't require you to eat it. If you get it on your skin you get high. And as i look at my hand where i held the phone when he called me there was little specks of white fluff all over. I realized he had sprinkled it on my phone.I was like noooooooooo not now. I knew i was in for a bad trip since being a junkie you get full of bad karma. I went into the bathroom and imediatly puked everywhere. It was coming on strong and fast. I layed down and saw what a ravaged wreck of a person i had become from this evil drug. I was at the end of my rope and took off out the door and down the hall out of the hotel. Hell i was probably going to jump into the bay. As soon as i got out side there was another of my close friend's waiting casually smoking a cigarette. He flicked it and said I think it's time we got out of the city and went up into the mountain's.
That's when my healing began. I was so sick , but i was taken care of.
I havn't touched herion since. I never will.
That's the Grateful Dead family for ya

chinacat72, 02/25/03, https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/1335338#1335338

More support for Nichols' claim:

I also have a personal anecdote of transdermal LSD absorption, and it's ineffectiveness. Years ago there was an accident with liquid that led to a half vial being smeared on my face. The liquid in question was fluff crystal broken down to 100mcg per drop. Having that liquid smeared on my face had no effect whatsoever. Had I eaten that amount I would've been out of my gourd.

Dark_Star, 12/31/13, https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/19351356#19351356

Chinacat has been a well known liar on the shroomery for a while, his stories of the group he worked with punishing those who didn't sell enough acid by smearing crystal LSD in their mouths was pretty funny and absolutely fucking absurd. LSD chemists and distributors are for the most part distributed and in incredibly small groups that function almost entirely through the postal system.

Doubt it was placebo. When you read his book his account of that first LSD experience during the bike ride home was pretty indicative of LSD.

Just because we don't know how the LSD got into his body doesn't mean it didn't. He was studying dozens of different ergotamine derivatives looking for a migraine medication (IIRC), and it was this one that made him trip out. It's not like he stumbled on this uniquely stupendous molecule out of nowhere. He was sequentially testing different isomers of the same compound.

But I still think it was channeled because he described a very odd sequence of events on the day when he got dosed, including random changes to his work protocols that were unplanned. He was doing unusual things that weren't part of his normal routine.

Very few people who've ever had pink eye had voluntarily rubbed feces into their own eyes before contracting it. I wouldn't doubt that human fallibility led to an incredibly small amount of LSD accidentally getting into his system somehow, especially if his only knowledge of psychedelics (which I believe was him reading about mescaline?) required many hundreds of milligrams to even really be noticed.

 

[Foreigner]

Very few people who've ever had pink eye had voluntarily rubbed feces into their own eyes before contracting it. I wouldn't doubt that human fallibility led to an incredibly small amount of LSD accidentally getting into his system somehow, especially if his only knowledge of psychedelics (which I believe was him reading about mescaline?) required many hundreds of milligrams to even really be noticed.

Wouldn't even have to be that much. A couple hundred micrograms would be absurdly small. All it would take is one tiny splash somewhere on his body other than the gloves he was wearing, then rub it on his face, and it's a done deal.

Anyway... all I'm saying is that it can be best described with Occam's razor, especially given my own experiences with how small amounts of LSD fucked me over unintentionally.

 

[Nonyascaline]

Wouldn't even have to be that much. A couple hundred micrograms would be absurdly small. All it would take is one tiny splash somewhere on his body other than the gloves he was wearing, then rub it on his face, and it's a done deal.

Anyway... all I'm saying is that it can be best described with Occam's razor, especially given my own experiences with how small amounts of LSD fucked me over unintentionally.

I mean 100ugs is more than enough to trip and notice it 100%. Lower dosages would be certainly noticeable but 100ugs is 1/10th of a miligram! That's some potent shit lol. I can totally see a miniscule error leading to his ingestion.

 

[nepalnt21]

alls i'll say is dr. nicholls said it was unthinkable that they would have made a mistake like that in a professional lab in switzerland

 

[JackARoe]

Chinacat has been a well known liar on the shroomery for a while, his stories...

Chinacat. lol Every time I read his stuff I always remembered the saying that "he who knows does not talk, he that does not know talks too much".

As far as the protocol for Swiss labs I am sure it is stringent. But humans can have little accidents regardless.

I think I heard that AH did microdose LSD late in his life but unless that person is here to confirm I consider all info speculation. That is why I never liked biographies. Autobiographies are better and even the people talking about their own life claim memories can be fuzzy.

 

[Deleted member 521610]

we know that hoffman never took any large dose again after his first large one. He stuck to under 100 ug after that.

With how incredibly potent it was, it would of been easy even in a even strict pharma lab dealing with ergotamines to make a mistake back then, and end up somehow wherever a smallest microdroplet splashed towards his face and onto his lips.

Def something divine about it.

hope one day the world legalizes LSD