Broward Community College - Silver Sands Yearbook (Fort Lauderdale, FL)

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LSD is not a new drug. It is a new kick. TUDENTS on campuses all over the U. S. are aware of LSD. From llarvard to Berkeley. Alaska to Miami. colleges are feeling its impact. Its kick, Doctors, too, are aware of the drug. Aware of it as a possible help or cure in the treatment of mental patients. Their experiments are an effort to see if the drug can indeed be useful to science and psychiatrists. XYhere did LSD come from? What is its origin? XVhat effect has it really had on those students brutish enough to use it? Has it actually been help- ful to doctors and their patients? This reporter sought answers to these questions, through interviews with students, a television pro- gram and articles appearing in newspapers and magazines. LSD is not a new drug. It is a new kick. The drug itself was developed by Dr. Albert Hofmann in Switzerland about 1938. Hofmann, although con- sidered the founder of LSD, did not really experi- ment with the drug. LSD went fairly unnoticed until about 1960 when Timothy Leary began experi- menting with it while working at the Harvard Center for Research in Personality. Prior to this time there had been little fanfare concerning the drug. It was when Leary was dismissed from Harvard that papers and students began to notice the unusual LSD. Leary, by this time, had become aware of the unusual effects, formed an organization dedicat- ed to make the drug as accessible as possible. While Leary was introducing LSD as a trip worth taking. others were beginning to use it for the purpose of helping mental patients. Doctors of the mind all over the country were administering it to those they felt could be helped. Places soon began to develop where a doctor could take his patient to prepare him. Spring Grove was an example cited in a recent television program. A week before a patient was to be given a dose, he first was given a battery of tests and extensive psychiatric sessions. Fifteen hours before LSD. the patient was given an intelligence exam to see if his thinking would be affected. The program showed two people taking LSD and the audience was able to follow them on their I-1 hour term. To one subject, a rose began to breathe and 18 appear to be alive. When he remembered he was an alcoholic, the rose, to him, turned black and died. To the other, crying was crying for the whole world. She also said she found God and a big hunk of creationf, Both patients involved were cured and now live productive and normal lives. CThe program however, talked to one and asked about the drug.l If I had been ill before and then taken LSD on my own, without my doctors, I would be lost forever, the woman said. XVould you take it again? No, why should I? XVhy? That big question is being asked by upset parents. disturbed educators and concerned people. XVhy take a drug that has sent thousands of young people to hospitals' mental wards all over the United States. XVhy take a drug that can do brain cell damage if used over a period of time? YVhy? Because everyone was taking it. You dont want to be left outf' Kicks Pure kicks. c. Curiosity. I wanted to see what would happen. i'After Marijuana its the next step. Oblivion.,' The first thing users will tell you is that LSD is not habit forming. Physically, they are right. It is not addictive. However, the mind begins to crave for it, to find out what will happen on the next 'itripf' No two people get the same reaction from LSD, is the second rationalization. This is also true, to a certain extent: but there are symptoms that appear when the drug begins to take hold. A University of Boston student aptly explained: 'iFirst everything turned blue, then red, then green. Not a bright green-a nightmare. scary green. A sick-looking color. Color. The welcoming host to the guest on his journey. Another symptom which was explained by stu- dents was the fascination for objects. After the colors, I began to notice things I had never seen before. Like a light-bulb suddenly became very in- teresting and beautiful. You find yourself staring

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lSD-lysergic acid diethylamide. A powerful, physically non-addictive drug which produces hallucinations. Nl

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After Marijuana, it's the next step. U at it for long periods of time. After that the rest was a nightmare for mef' continued the Boston student. To some, telephones are silly black boxes, spots on Walls are suddenly large and interesting: grains of sand are in the size of huge boulders. Objects. All objects appear different to the user. Introduction to the drug can happen in a variety of places. The Boston student first used LSD at a party. His dosage came in a sugar cube. Tasteless, odorless and colorless, some were putting LSD in drinks, others ate it in the cube form. Each had in- dividual reactions. One is now in a sanitarium, another still uses LSD quite often. All changed in some way. One boy explained, alt makes you aware of your personality. You see your bad faults and the side that's good. I'll admit - if you have problems before, it can wreck your mind afterf, People have been known to change drastically after experimenting. A parent recently cited an example in a magazine. His son was a fine athlete, good student, clean-cut, popular. Today after taking the drug for kicks, he now lives the life of a nbumf, WVhere does the drug come from and what is being done? The drug is easy enough to get and easy enough to make. Recently a case was headlined in the papers concerning some area students who were making the drug in the school chem lab. The most popular way to acquire LSD how- ever, is on the campus from a pusher who can pick the drug up in Mexico, New York or other large cities. A favorite and quick method is for a group to pack a car, drive to a city, and purchase large quantities for themselves and friends on campus. Compared to many other drugs on the market, LSD is relatively inexpensive. Generally, the cubes cost from 82.50 to 85.00 for 100 micrograms. This is enough to last an eight or ten hour trip.', Trans- portation of it is easy. Some users have been known to soak clothing with a solution of LSD and later, in the safety of an apartment, suck on the clothes. Fortunately, the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institute of Mental Health are beginning to put the clamp on LSD. Medical sources are hoping it is not completely outlawed for they feel there should be further experimentation in the laboratories. Medical and legal authorities are asking that it be banned. They feel suicides, murders. and the filling of hospitals mental wards are sufficient rea- son that the drug be examined closely and users picked-up. They have a good point. Recently, a young man found himself in jail, not realizing that while under the influence he had killed his mother- in-law. A child was sent to a hospital in convulsions after taking a cube from the refrigerator left by her uncle. She almost died. A college drop-out committed suicide in a field of lilies of the valley. These are not occasional incidents. They have been happening with frightening frequency. The drug may indeed have its uses in helping psychiatrists find cures for mental patients. But. it is too dangerous, too powerful and has of late been removed from the common market making it a crime to be caught using or possessing the drug. Granted there will be disputes by the users who have dis- covered wonderful thingsu on LSD. Yet, there are too many others who have had their minds destroyed. indeed their lives by this drug for kicksfl Time magazine recently stated 'KNO responsible authority favors use of LSD without close scientific supervision. On the other hand, no responsible authority wants to stop research into the potentially vast possibilities of LSD. One can only hope that students will take a hard look into their new toy and, hopefully. put it aside for a more constructive and mature building of their lives. By Elle Kurpiewski Photos by Norman Summey , 19