the swiss chemist most noted for discovering LSD albert hoffman died this last tuesday, april 28th, of heart failure at his home in switzerland at the ripe old age of 102. seems like only yesterday we were celebrating LSD’s birthday. albert hoffman was born january 11th, 1906. rest in peace, mr hoffman!
Tag Archive for 'lsd'
on april 16th, 1943 a young swiss chemist named albert hoffman accidentally discovered the interesting effects of lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD. it is safe to say that nothing in modern society (from baseball, to the military, to art, to health and science) has been the same since. one small yet big example: francis crick, noble prize winner and geneticist, was under the influence of LSD when he first deduced the structure of human DNA. more? okay: nobel prize winning chemist dr. kary mullis came up with the idea for the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) process used in the amplification of specific DNA sequences from an experience he had while under the influence of LSD. quoting albert hoffman from the wired article:
“I think that in human evolution it has never been as necessary to have this substance LSD,” he said at a symposium in 2006, marking the centennial of his birth. “It is just a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be.”
so happy birthday LSD! you’re 64 years old today!
cocaine. heroin. LSD. marijuana. PCP. opium. synthetic opiates. mescaline. peyote. psilocybin mushrooms. amphetamines. methamphetamines. what so special about these drugs? they may soon all be legal in mexico. the law allows for personal use only, which grants one person of age 18 years or older to legally possess half a gram of coke, a couple of Ecstasy pills, several doses of LSD, a few marijuana joints, a spoonful of heroin, 5 grams of opium and more than 2 pounds of peyote. under the proposed mexican bill, selling drugs or using them in public still would be a crime. and anyone possessing drugs still could be held for questioning by police, and each state could impose fines even on the permitted quantities. still, it’s pretty amazing legislation to counteract the huge profits of drug dealing and trafficing. if anything, this may save the giantmonster office staff thousands of dollars in flights to the netherlands.
UPDATE: to good to be true. under pressure from the united states, vincente fox pussies out backs down on the proposed drug law, one day after his office declared that he would sign the bill into law.