May we have a moment of silence...
LONDON - His invention was said “to put you in touch with your surroundings” during the hippie era and he became the first person on earth to experience a chemical psychedelic trip. Albert Hofmann, the inventor of LSD, died on Tuesday of a heart attack at the age of 102.
Born in Baden, Switzerland, Hofmann was the author of dozens of scientific articles, but was probably best known for his discovery of LSD, also known as acid.
After graduating from Zurich University in 1929, he wrote a PhD thesis on the gastro-intestinal juice of the vineyard snail.
Hoping to find a respiratory and circulatory stimulant, Hofmann carried out intensive research on lysergic acid derivatives. He created the first LSD pill in 1938. Five years later, he experienced the full potential of the drug on his bicycle ride home.
“In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed, I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors,” he wrote in a note to the laboratory’s director of the Sandoz Company (now Novartis) in Basel, Switzerland.
"At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxication-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination," Hofmann later wrote in his book LSD: My Problem Child.
In his retirement, Hofmann defended the therapeutic benefits of LSD, which he branded “medicine for the soul,” and continued studying hallucinogenic substances found in plants. Researchers in the United States and Europe believe drugs like LSD can be the magic bullet to treat everything from alcoholism to migraines.
The Heffter Research Institute and the Hofmann foundation, among many others, promote and fund the research into the medical uses of psychedelic hallucinogens. In 2005, the Heffter Research Institute funded around 900,000 million euros ($1.4 million) in research, including LSD-related investigations.
Dieter A Hagenbach, a friend of 40 years, who spoke with Hofmann last Saturday, said he had been in “good spirits and enjoying the springtime.”
The chemist is survived by a son and daughter.
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*I have never done LSD