4 ms·

You can't get high from LSD by touching it. Albert is a liar. He nibbled some. My theory is, he knew those in the know know that this is an impossible way to g

You can't get high from LSD by touching it. Albert is a liar. He nibbled some. My theory is, he knew those in the know know that this is an impossible way to get high, which is why he stuck with it (a crafty wink). He could have simply said he got a little on his finger and touched his mouth, but he stuck with the skin absorption story. Just a little harmless tinfoil.

asteli 9y ago
The tone of your post encouraged me to challenge your assertion, but it does actually appear from numerous anecdotes that LSD is very poorly absorbed transdermally, even when dissolved in solvents used for that purpose. Neat.
matt4077 9y ago
It's one of those 'lies' that benefit humanity, considering the alternative would have been not to share the knowledge with the world. Because he was obviously fearing difficulties with his employer if he admitted to such a breach of standard protocols. It reminds me of one of the early anatomists–Leonardo da Vinci, maybe? They found the cause of one of the leading causes of death at the time: appendicitis. In their publication, they invented a story about an ailing soldier being killed in such a way that the inflamed appendix was exposed. It was a lie, and a rather obvious one. But it was necessary because dissection was forbidden at the time.
3131s 9y ago
From everything I know, that's not true of crystal LSD. Ever heard of thumbprinting?
- deno 9y ago
  > A thumbprint is a method of consuming a massive amount of lsd, where a massive (relatively, compared to a blotter dose) amount of lsd crystals are made into a small pile, pressed on with a thumb, and then the thumb into the mouth. The ROA is still oral.
  - cairo_x 9y ago
    Unless it was (literal) 'needlepoint' LSD... maybe he stabbed himself with a shard? /s
    - deno 9y ago
      Well that would at least work.
  - 3131s 9y ago
    Sure, but the accounts of thumbprinting I've read made it seem like there is a strong sensation almost immediately after touching it. I also know people who have described a contact high from laying sheets of LSD. Hmm... I could be wrong though.
    - moron4hire 9y ago
      That's not what "contact high" means. Contact high is a high feeling reported by people who have been in contact—as in in proximity, not physical contact—with other high people.
    - saiya-jin 9y ago
      That is most probably not true at all. Any stuff put on rather thick skin of our fingers (especially solid crystals, unlike some liquid) would take considerable amount of time to get into bloodstream and finally brain. Look at how long does it take for a space cake to kick in, and it goes to places specifically designed to dissolve & absorb material. Don't believe all written on internet (says internet comment :))
Nabi 9y ago
FIY
- cairo_x 9y ago
  FIY "sticking one's thumb into pure LSD powder and licking it off"
peg_leg 9y ago
Perhaps with microgram amounts - common dosages. He was working with a huge amount ... milligrams. The idea that a microgram may transmit transdermally is not inconceivable at that amount.
- saiya-jin 9y ago
  full single dose is +-100 micrograms. you won't feel anything at all from a single ug. trans-dermal 'theory' really doesn't hold well
- bonesss 9y ago
  I'd also challenge the idea of an active scientist "getting things in his mouth" or ingesting new chemical compounds for the heck of it (at doses almost legendarily small compared to most drugs etc)... Knowing that the compound is not dangerous or toxic handling some with the hands, or improper inhalation, sounds reasonable. Being in the habit of nibbling on your synthesized chemicals sounds kinda wonky. Not to mention, there is no real motivation to lie here, unless Hofmann were a routine imbiber of random chemicals and wanted to keep his dark secret. LSD was legal at the time.
  - DanBC 9y ago
    > I'd also challenge the idea of an active scientist "getting things in his mouth" or ingesting new chemical compounds for the heck of it (at doses almost legendarily small compared to most drugs etc)... We're talking about the 1940s, when things were a bit different. See the history for saccharin, cyclamate, and aspartame for other examples of accidental ingestion.
    - bonesss 9y ago
      Have any chemicals been ingested accidentally since 1940? Sure! Are trained chemists with PhDs in the subject working with complex synthesis and dangerous chemicals in the habit, from 1929 to present day, of putting those things in their mouths? Awwww heck no. And 1940 is near the point we cracked the atom... we knew oodles about dangerous chemical and safe handling practices. Accidents will happen, but the (speculative) fiction we are discussing here is Albert Hoffman intentionally eating LSD and lying about it :) ---- Saccharin, the oldest artificial sweetener, was accidentally discovered in 1879 by researcher Constantine Fahlberg -- Fahlberg was working with coal, and had no PhD AFAICT. Cyclamate was discovered in 1937 at the University of Illinois by graduate student Michael Sveda. Sveda was working in the lab on the synthesis of anti-fever medication. He put his cigarette down on the lab bench, and, when he put it back in his mouth, he discovered the sweet taste of cyclamate -- a student, smoking in his messy lab Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. Schlatter had synthesized aspartame as an intermediate step in generating a tetrapeptide of the hormone gastrin, for use in assessing an anti-ulcer drug candidate.[65] He discovered its sweet taste when he licked his finger, which had become contaminated with aspartame, to lift up a piece of paper -- an actual chemist, but working with something with a well known composition and known to be relatively harmless

asteli 9y ago

The tone of your post encouraged me to challenge your assertion, but it does actually appear from numerous anecdotes that LSD is very poorly absorbed transdermally, even when dissolved in solvents used for that purpose. Neat.

matt4077 9y ago

It's one of those 'lies' that benefit humanity, considering the alternative would have been not to share the knowledge with the world. Because he was obviously fearing difficulties with his employer if he admitted to such a breach of standard protocols. It reminds me of one of the early anatomists–Leonardo da Vinci, maybe? They found the cause of one of the leading causes of death at the time: appendicitis. In their publication, they invented a story about an ailing soldier being killed in such a way that the inflamed appendix was exposed. It was a lie, and a rather obvious one. But it was necessary because dissection was forbidden at the time.

3131s 9y ago

From everything I know, that's not true of crystal LSD. Ever heard of thumbprinting?

deno 9y ago
> A thumbprint is a method of consuming a massive amount of lsd, where a massive (relatively, compared to a blotter dose) amount of lsd crystals are made into a small pile, pressed on with a thumb, and then the thumb into the mouth. The ROA is still oral.
- cairo_x 9y ago
  Unless it was (literal) 'needlepoint' LSD... maybe he stabbed himself with a shard? /s
  - deno 9y ago
    Well that would at least work.
- 3131s 9y ago
  Sure, but the accounts of thumbprinting I've read made it seem like there is a strong sensation almost immediately after touching it. I also know people who have described a contact high from laying sheets of LSD. Hmm... I could be wrong though.
  - moron4hire 9y ago
    That's not what "contact high" means. Contact high is a high feeling reported by people who have been in contact—as in in proximity, not physical contact—with other high people.
  - saiya-jin 9y ago
    That is most probably not true at all. Any stuff put on rather thick skin of our fingers (especially solid crystals, unlike some liquid) would take considerable amount of time to get into bloodstream and finally brain. Look at how long does it take for a space cake to kick in, and it goes to places specifically designed to dissolve & absorb material. Don't believe all written on internet (says internet comment :))

Nabi 9y ago

FIY

cairo_x 9y ago
FIY "sticking one's thumb into pure LSD powder and licking it off"

peg_leg 9y ago

Perhaps with microgram amounts - common dosages. He was working with a huge amount ... milligrams. The idea that a microgram may transmit transdermally is not inconceivable at that amount.

saiya-jin 9y ago
full single dose is +-100 micrograms. you won't feel anything at all from a single ug. trans-dermal 'theory' really doesn't hold well
bonesss 9y ago
I'd also challenge the idea of an active scientist "getting things in his mouth" or ingesting new chemical compounds for the heck of it (at doses almost legendarily small compared to most drugs etc)... Knowing that the compound is not dangerous or toxic handling some with the hands, or improper inhalation, sounds reasonable. Being in the habit of nibbling on your synthesized chemicals sounds kinda wonky. Not to mention, there is no real motivation to lie here, unless Hofmann were a routine imbiber of random chemicals and wanted to keep his dark secret. LSD was legal at the time.
- DanBC 9y ago
  > I'd also challenge the idea of an active scientist "getting things in his mouth" or ingesting new chemical compounds for the heck of it (at doses almost legendarily small compared to most drugs etc)... We're talking about the 1940s, when things were a bit different. See the history for saccharin, cyclamate, and aspartame for other examples of accidental ingestion.
  - bonesss 9y ago
    Have any chemicals been ingested accidentally since 1940? Sure! Are trained chemists with PhDs in the subject working with complex synthesis and dangerous chemicals in the habit, from 1929 to present day, of putting those things in their mouths? Awwww heck no. And 1940 is near the point we cracked the atom... we knew oodles about dangerous chemical and safe handling practices. Accidents will happen, but the (speculative) fiction we are discussing here is Albert Hoffman intentionally eating LSD and lying about it :) ---- Saccharin, the oldest artificial sweetener, was accidentally discovered in 1879 by researcher Constantine Fahlberg -- Fahlberg was working with coal, and had no PhD AFAICT. Cyclamate was discovered in 1937 at the University of Illinois by graduate student Michael Sveda. Sveda was working in the lab on the synthesis of anti-fever medication. He put his cigarette down on the lab bench, and, when he put it back in his mouth, he discovered the sweet taste of cyclamate -- a student, smoking in his messy lab Aspartame was discovered in 1965 by James M. Schlatter, a chemist working for G.D. Searle & Company. Schlatter had synthesized aspartame as an intermediate step in generating a tetrapeptide of the hormone gastrin, for use in assessing an anti-ulcer drug candidate.[65] He discovered its sweet taste when he licked his finger, which had become contaminated with aspartame, to lift up a piece of paper -- an actual chemist, but working with something with a well known composition and known to be relatively harmless