LSD death

[psykoaktiv]

This post seems to serve as purpose no greater than unnecessary fear mongering... LSD is orders of magnitude safer than almost all other psychoactive substances.

 

[Xorkoth]

I think we can all agree that no drug is totally safe. Very little in life is. But for a drug as widely used and used for as long as LSD has been, even if there are a hundred deaths it's phenomenally safe compared to almost everything else. If there is 1 absolutely confirmed case (the one I described) and a handful where LSD may be a factor but can't be confirmed as the full-on cause of death, or even if there are 3 of those... well that's about as close to a 0% chance of death as you could ever hope to get with a drug. It seems unnecessary to try to "get out the message that LSD can kill". Acetaminophen/paracetamol kills way more people, do we need to get that message out too? When people use drugs, they should be implicitly accepting that injury or death COULD happen, but with proper caution and knowledge, this risk is so low (for most drugs when they're used responsibly) that it's not much to concern yourself over. LSD is special in that it has one of the most untarnished records of safe use of any drug. If anything we should be "spreading the word" about almost every other drug, and not LSD.

 

[burn out]

This post seems to serve as purpose no greater than unnecessary fear mongering... LSD is orders of magnitude safer than almost all other psychoactive substances.

No it isn't, I mean you need to take into account the psychological risk. LSD is very unlikely to kill you but it can damage your psyche a lot more easily than most psychoactive substances.

 

[Holly.3]

I knew a guy that took LSD and thought he could fly. He ended up jumping out of his second-floor window and landed on his driveway. He's a quadriplegic today. I also knew another guy that thought he was Superman and Unstoppable. He ended up walking in front of a car at an intersection thinking he could stop it and that it wouldn't hurt him. And it up dying before an ambulance to get to him. I've taken LSD five or six times back in the mid-2000s when I was playing in bands. Most of my trips were very very disturbing. Some of them felt like nightmares that you couldn't wake up from. Only had two nice happy trips. My opinion is to stay away from the stuff. It's a very extremely powerful drug and it may not turn out as pretty as you want it to.

 

[burn out]

I've also felt like superman while on LSD but I was still aware that I had some physical limitations. I agree though, I am not pro LSD anymore after seeing what it can do to some people. I have had some disturbing trips also but nothing that I feel caused permanent damage. I think that is the case with all psychedelics however (the potential for real psychological harm, which I think is often understated by psychedelic enthusiasts). To me, natural psychedelics like magic mushrooms are a little bit safer, but still extremely powerful.

 

[bobby1978]

It's a very extremely powerful drug and it may not turn out as pretty as you want it to.

With all due respect, that's basically the whole point of psychedelics. They aren't party drugs. They are precisely used to go different places, and the experience may well be difficult, but "in filth it will be found" and all that.

If you absolutely want your LSD experience to "turn out pretty", you probably shouldn't use it, I'll agree with that at least. But that doesn't mean the drug isn't useful for what it is.

 

[burn out]

I think the point is, many people use them party drugs, even people who understand their spiritual potential often still take them because of how fun they are.

 

[PsychaStevic]

1st post: subject was at a festival and on top of taking lsd was also taking methamphetamine, a drug known to cause an overdose. In my experience at a festival towards the end of the days you tend to take more and more of a speedy drug to keep your body going after a long day of jumping around. Most likely did too much meth and just happened to be on LSD, the Lsd itself is not what cause the death. It also could have been a bout of dehydration which happens quite often it a festival.

2nd article: I'm assuming they meant 1.3 milligrams instead of micrograms, this could have been an allergic reaction or just a panic induced heart attack. Panic can cause your body to act out

I'm not saying lsd is a completely safe drug, as none are, but there are just too many other factors in these stories to claim LSD as the cause of death

 

[Incunabula]

I knew a guy that took LSD and thought he could fly. He ended up jumping out of his second-floor window and landed on his driveway. He's a quadriplegic today. I also knew another guy that thought he was Superman and Unstoppable. He ended up walking in front of a car at an intersection thinking he could stop it and that it wouldn't hurt him. And it up dying before an ambulance to get to him. I've taken LSD five or six times back in the mid-2000s when I was playing in bands. Most of my trips were very very disturbing. Some of them felt like nightmares that you couldn't wake up from. Only had two nice happy trips. My opinion is to stay away from the stuff. It's a very extremely powerful drug and it may not turn out as pretty as you want it to.

Lol. That doesn't sound like LSD at all.

 

[nuube]

Why if you've never flown before would you just jump out of a window, why not see if you can take off from the ground?

I've been very far out on heavy doses of psychedelics where I have become infinite and God like. I sat and enjoyed it instead of trying to walk on water!

 

[Xorkoth]

Sounds like reefer madness-era propaganda to be perfectly honest.

It's true some people shouldn't use LSD, or any psychedelics. People prone to mania and/or psychosis should not use psychedelics. But for most, they're pretty safe. I have believed I needed to kill myself to prevent the undoing of the entire universe before on psychedelics... however I retained enough of myself to realize I shouldn't actually do this.

 

[Foreigner]

Actual death from LSD is unlikely. Its danger profile comes from its psychological risks. I speak as a witness and from personal experience. I've seen people irreparably harmed from a single high dose because they were in the wrong environment or underestimated how intense the experience would be. I don't buy the "pre-existing mental health" thing. I think LSD can create delusional thinking and I have seen regular users have psychotic breaks who were just average joes before.

If you do LSD regularly, but you don't have things to anchor you in reality like familial ties, friends, a job, your studies, things that bring specific meaning to you and define you as a unique individual, then you risk becoming delusional. You risk succumbing to the "oneness" effect of LSD where it's all good because we're all one... this completely bypasses your individuated life.

A woman I used to regularly do LSD with, we created an entire mythos based on our tripping experiences together that we started to really believe in. Regular, every-day things suddenly became extraordinary things. Her love of LSD-based reality totally led her into la la land. Fortunately I was able to get off that gravy train. As far as I know she is still doing it biweekly, and starting at the moon like a crazy person all night.

The saddest thing of all is that I feel many psychonauts are seeking ego dissolution in order to bypass their human level problems, when in fact they need to do the opposite... they need to own what is real and good about their human level self so that they can heal their various traumas. I have met many people in psychedelic therapy - whether or not it was legally sanctioned, as many therapists are righteous and feel entitled to just do it - and I would not call these stable individuals. LSD seems to provide a global networking effect of the mind and greatly enhanced novelty, so in the weeks after a "therapy session" they seem to have great clarity into their psychological traumas. And yet, after the period of neuroflexibility ceases, the neuroses start back up again.

 

[burn out]

I don't buy the "pre-existing mental health" thing. I think LSD can create delusional thinking and I have seen regular users have psychotic breaks who were just average joes before.

I agree, I don't buy it either. LSD is so powerful in what it can do and show you. The fact of the matter is, is that average people, who have no history of mental illness themselves or in their families, still have many unresolved traumas buried in their psyche. It's part of being human. The ego most people have with which they navigate the world, is actually quite fragile and just because they don't have a history of mental illness, does not mean that they can endure having their psyche stripped bear or that such experiences are healthy.

I think the psychological risks of psychedelics are very often understated. I have had many traumatic experiences while tripping for example. I never "went crazy" or wound up in a mental hospital but looking back on it now, I can see that I caused myself needless trauma.

I still think psychedelics can be miraculously healing, but I also think for every bit as good as they have the potential to be, they have the potential to be equally bad.

 

[LlewellynDrury]

Once upon a time, very high on LSD, I believed I could fly. I jumped up and down, flapping my arms and looking up to the sky. I didin't succeed at going up to see Lucy and concluded I couldn't fly.

 

[Das_Erlebnis]

my intentions of this thread is spread the word that LSD can kill you.

For fuck's sake.

Friend, what do you think is a more reliable soruce for determining the risk profile of a compound: (1) science, or (2) news reports/some opinions of people who are not experts at determining such matters?

You even at some point mention a coroner. Where does the coroner gain his understanding that allows him to put together a causal story as to how someone died? Suppose they see someone with liver failure and know they took LSD. Are they immediately to conclude "AH! LSD caused liver failure, and that caused them to die." Obviously not. The coroner, if they're doing a good job, will use information from scientists to determine the effects of drugs on people.

So what does the science say?

LSD cannot kill you.

Can someone, say, who is prone to psychosis, or who is very irresponsible and likely to do harmful things / abuse drugs, take WAY too much LSD and then do something ELSE that is harmful to themselves or others?

......... obviously.

That's on them, not the LSD.

 

[LucidSDreamr]

I knew a guy that took LSD and thought he could fly. He ended up jumping out of his second-floor window and landed on his driveway. He's a quadriplegic today. I also knew another guy that thought he was Superman and Unstoppable. He ended up walking in front of a car at an intersection thinking he could stop it and that it wouldn't hurt him. And it up dying before an ambulance to get to him. I've taken LSD five or six times back in the mid-2000s when I was playing in bands. Most of my trips were very very disturbing. Some of them felt like nightmares that you couldn't wake up from. Only had two nice happy trips. My opinion is to stay away from the stuff. It's a very extremely powerful drug and it may not turn out as pretty as you want it to.

It's not for irresponsible people that overdose on it like your friends.

 

[psykoaktiv]

No it isn't, I mean you need to take into account the psychological risk. LSD is very unlikely to kill you but it can damage your psyche a lot more easily than most psychoactive substances.

.

Well that's why you educate yourself on the drug and what you are getting into before putting it into your body. In sane dosages LSD has improved the mental states of many people used in the right environment . If you know your shit and you use LSD responsibly you should be okay. But a lot of people are irresponsible , sure , like "let's take 6 tabs of high powered blotter acid with no plans all alone and stare at the wall" but that goes against the safe guidelines of using it responsibly and people should educate themselves on something before taking it

 

[burn out]

.

Well that's why you educate yourself on the drug and what you are getting into before putting it into your body. In sane dosages LSD has improved the mental states of many people used in the right environment . If you know your shit and you use LSD responsibly you should be okay. But a lot of people are irresponsible , sure , like "let's take 6 tabs of high powered blotter acid with no plans all alone and stare at the wall" but that goes against the safe guidelines of using it responsibly and people should educate themselves on something before taking it

Of course people should educate themselves. That has nothing to do with the claim that LSD is "orders of magnitude" safer than almost all other psychoactives". I have no idea what you base that on. I'd argue that your own admitted caveats that one must educate themself and use it "in the right environment" provide strong counters to that claim, because everyone knows the safest substances are idiot proof. Take kava for example. That (in my opinion) is an example of a particularly safe substance. You cannot die from an overdose. You don't need to educate yourself. You don't need to use it "in the right environment". It's just generally pretty safe.

The trouble with caveats is many psychoactive substances are quite safe with the proper caveats. For example, drinking a glass or two of wine is very safe. So alcohol is a very safe substance with the caveat that you don't drink a whole bottle of vodka and then try to drive home. Opium is very safe with the caveat you don't become addicted.

Anyway, my point is there are many psychoactive substances I'd consider generally safer than LSD such as caffeine, kava, valerian, kratom to name a few. There's no reason to think LSD is orders of magnitude safer than those, nor is it orders of magnitude safer than magic musrooms or peyote.

 

[pupnik]

burn out,
one thing should not be ignored.
the physical safety profile of lysergamides is such that virtually all accidental exposures to it are non-lethal for organic or systemic reasons.

this cannot be said for any other psychedelic or psychoactive substances except salvia divinorum.

besides accidental exposure, all deliberate dosages are also non-lethal for organic or systemic reasons.

Other psychedelics are still reasonable, such as mushrooms (psilocybin) DMT and other tryptamines, and these are unlikely to be accidentally dosed due to the form they take.

Phenethyamines (stimulant type) psychedelics require specific cautions for dosage, and with the sub group of nbomes, well we know well that the safety profile with them is very thin.

 

[Swim15]

Didn't read all the replies but OP is a pheg. Know how many people a YEAR die from fucking Tylenol overdoses? Around 450. Per year. You found two instances of people dying from what might have been LSD...ever...