Can you buy LSD legally? A brief history of LSD-25 and some modern legal alternatives

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Chemical Collective or any associated parties.

“Interestingly, based on the self-reported data available, there seems to be very little perceivable difference between LSD, 1P-LSD, and 1cP-LSD. People consistently report that their experiences with 1P-LSD and 1cP-LSD are almost indistinguishable from the traditional LSD experience. This has led to a huge surge in the popularity of 1P-LSD and 1cP-LSD as they enable people to explore what LSD has to offer without any of the legal risks that usually come with it.”

Bike Day: The Strange Origins of the LSD Molecule

LSD was first discovered in 1938 in Basel, Switzerland by a young researcher by the name of Albert Hofmann. However, LSD’s psychedelic properties wouldn’t be discovered until 5 years later when Hoffman, eager to examine the psychological effects of the molecule, ingested a large dose of 250 micrograms while at work. This adventurous leap into the unknown resulted in the now-famous “Bike Day“, in which Hoffman found himself in an increasingly intense psychedelic trip and had to be escorted home by a work colleague.

They made the journey by bicycle, as was customary at the time, and during the ride, Hoffman’s condition rapidly deteriorated as he became anxious and began to believe his neighbor was a malevolent witch. Shortly after arriving home, a doctor was called, but upon inspection, he couldn’t detect any physical abnormalities in Hoffman other than a pair of extremely dilated pupils. This reassured Hoffman and his fear and anxiety began to give way to a strong sense of “good fortune and enjoyment”, as he later wrote of the experience.

LSD - Cultural Influence, Scientific Knowledge, and Potential Benefits

In the years following Hoffman’s brave leap into the unknown, it was soon possible for people to buy LSD on the free market, and it quickly became the most widely known and popular psychedelic substance in the world. Its cultural influence is broad and significant; most notably in the art, music, and philosophical movements of the 1960s and 1970s.

However, much of the early research into LSD was marred by ignorant and sadistic practices, many devised and implemented by the CIA in their MKUltra program in which they attempted to weaponize psychedelics for mind-control and torture purposes. These studies, carried out in the 1950s and ’60s, were top secret, but ironically, were also what first brought LSD en-masse to America and triggered a cultural movement that sought to end everything the CIA stood for.

Thankfully, the modern scientific approach to LSD has been much more compassionate and grounded in the interests of public health.

LSD has seen a recent resurgence in popularity, as a number of well-known scientific studies have found quite remarkable potential benefits of psychedelics on mental health. The benefits range from alleviating depression and addiction to participants reporting they feel a greater sense of love, connection, and appreciation for family, friends, music, and nature, even many months after the experience. Various studies suggest LSD could be effective in treating alcoholism, another found it decreased pain perception at low doses, and another found it promoted neuroplasticity – the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization.

Microdosing with LSD-25 and alternatives

Microdosing is a practice that involves taking sub-psychoactive levels of a lysergamide – LSD, 1P-LSD, 1cP-LSD, or others. Meaning that the levels should be so small that the user is unable to detect any immediate cognitive changes. There’s a growing amount of evidence that responsible, carefully planned and consistent microdosing can improve mood, focus, and energy levels.

Scientific understanding of microdosing may be in its infancy, but the results so far have been promising. As it stands, the majority of information available is from self-reported and anecdotal evidence and journaling. While this might not meet the same rigorous standards of more formal scientific inquiry, the quantity and quality of the reports available suggest microdosing has the potential to improve the lives of many people. If you want to buy LSD or other lysergamides for microdosing purposes, you should properly research the subject first. This article from one of our writers David Blackbourn goes into much more detail on the subject.

Pharmacological Differences Between LSD, 1P-LSD, 1cP-LSD and Other Lysergamides 

Interestingly, based on the self-reported data available, there seems to be very little perceivable difference between LSD, 1P-LSD, and 1cP-LSD. People consistently report that their experiences with 1P-LSD and 1cP-LSD are almost indistinguishable from the traditional LSD experience. This has led to a huge surge in the popularity of 1P-LSD and 1cP-LSD as many people looking to buy LSD are now able to explore what it has to offer without any of the legal risks. Check out our Ultimate Guide to LSD Analagues for more information.

While the pharmacological profile of these compounds is very close to that of LSD, there are a few noteworthy differences. 1P-LSD and 1cP-LSD are often compared to one another, and it is generally recognized that 1cP-LSD has slightly stronger pharmacological effects than the 1P variant. It’s also worth noting that ETH-LAD is known to result in a more intense psychological experience, with fewer visuals. On the other hand, AL-LAD is shorter in duration, with less intense psychological effects, while also having stronger accompanying visuals. As a result, ETH-LAD is seen as one of the least recreational among the lysergamides, while AL-LAD is seen as one of the most recreational.

The risk profile of these compounds is generally understood to be identical to that of LSD. LSD is a non-toxic substance, with documented cases of people ingesting many orders of magnitude more than a threshold dose and not having any permanent physiological damage.

That isn’t to say these compounds are without risk; they can result in an extremely intense emotional experience and it is very important to practice good set and setting – to be in a familiar, safe place with loving and trusted friends. The guys over at setandsetting.de promote “responsible, structured and safe handling of psychedelic substances”. They offer a valuable resource for anyone wishing to learn about psychedelics in a responsible way. So please, if you want to buy LSD or any other lysergamide, familiarize yourself with their material before you do so!

Is LSD legal? Availability and Other Questions or Concerns

For those looking to buy LSD legally, they will find their options vary from country to country, so you’ll need to carefully research for yourself to determine if there are any risks with ordering lysergamides in your local area.

Laws change, and so it’s important to stay up to date with these changes. For instance, the German government has recently updated the NpSG (New Psychoactive Substances Act) to include 1cP-LSD, among other things. For our German customers looking to buy LSD legally – we now have 1D-LSD available. We’ve written a full article on these changes you can read here.

We automatically block compounds from being purchased from countries we understand to have laws prohibiting them, so if a product isn’t available to you, this is likely why. If you think we’ve made a mistake regarding this, feel free to reach out and we’ll look into it.

While we do our best to stay up to date with the latest laws and policies worldwide, we cannot be certain at all times about every compound we ship. It is therefore the responsibility of the buyer to ensure that the products they order are legal and they are protected under the law.

Wikipedia is a great resource for checking the legality of various compounds. So is the Psychonaut Wiki. Search for compounds on these websites and then jump to the “Legal Status” section. Here they provide a (not exhaustive) list of the known legal statuses of various compounds.

If you have any questions, please feel free to email us at staff@chemical-collective.com and we’ll do our best to help in any way we can!

Dr. Rick Dagless MD | Guest Blogger at Chemical Collective