

Rest Well Albert Hoffman



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/ obituaries/1912485/Albert-Hofmann ,-LSD-inventor,-dies.html

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The day, April 19 1943, became known among aficionados as “Bicycle Day” as it was while cycling home from his laboratory that he experienced the most intense symptoms.



Hofmann was working as a research chemist in the laboratory of the Sandoz Company (now Novartis) in Basel, Switzerland, where he was involved in studying the medicinal properties of plants. This eventually led to the study of the alkaloid compounds of ergot, a fungus which forms on rye.



In the Middle Ages, ergot was implicated in period outbreaks of mass poisonings, producing symptoms in two characteristic forms, one gangrenous (ergotismus gangraenosus) and the other convulsive (ergotismus convulsivus).



Popular names such as “mal des ardents,” “ignis sacer,” “heiliges Feuer,” or “St Anthony’s fire” — refer to the gangrenous form of the disease.



Hofmann’s studies led to many new discoveries such as Hydergine, a medicament for improvement of circulation and cerebral function and Dihydergot, a circulation and blood pressure stabilising medicine.



His interest in synthesising LSD was stimulated at first by the hope that it might also be useful as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant.



But when his molecule, known as LSD-25, was tested on animals, no interesting effects were observed, though the research notes recorded that the beasts became “restless” during narcosis. The substance was dismissed as of no interest and dropped from Sandoz’s research programme.



But five years later, acting on some intuition, Hofmann decided to resynthesise LSD. In his autobiography, LSD, My Problem Child (1979), he recalled that in the final stage of the synthesis, he was interrupted by some unusual sensations.



In a note to the laboratory’s director, he reported “a remarkable restlessness, combined with a slight dizziness. At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination.



"In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed, I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours. After some two hours this condition faded away.”



Hofmann concluded that he must have accidentally breathed in or ingested some laboratory material and assumed LSD was the cause. To test the theory he waited until the next working day, Monday April 19 1943, and tried again, swallowing 0.25 of a milligram.



Forty minutes later, his laboratory journal recorded “dizziness, feeling of anxiety, visual distortions, symptoms of paralysis, desire to laugh”.



Unable to write any more, he asked his assistant to take him home by bicycle. “On the way home, my condition began to assume threatening forms.



"Everything in my field of vision wavered and was distorted as if seen in a curved mirror. I also had the sensation of being unable to move from the spot. Nevertheless, my assistant later told me that we had travelled very rapidly.”



Back home, when a friendly neighbour brought round some milk, he perceived her as a “malevolent, insidious witch” wearing “a lurid mask”. After six hours of highs and lows, the effects subsided.



Sandoz, keen to make a profit from Hofman’s discovery, gave the new substance the trade name Delysid and began sending samples out to psychiatric researchers.



By 1965 more than 2,000 papers had been published offering hope for a range of conditions from drug and alcohol addiction to mental illnesses of various sorts.



But the fact that it was cheap and easy to make left it open to abuse and from the late 1950s onwards, promoted by Dr Timothy Leary and others, LSD became the recreational drug of choice for alienated western youth.



An outbreak of moral panic, combined with a number of accidents involving people jumping to their deaths off high buildings thinking they could fly, led governments around the world to ban LSD.



Research also showed that the drug taken in high doses and in inappropriate settings, often caused panic reactions. For certain individuals, a bad trip seemed to be the trigger for full-blown psychosis.



Hofmann was disappointed when his discovery was removed from commercial distribution. He remained convinced that the drug had the potential to counter the psychological problems induced by “materialism, alienation from nature through industrialisation and increasing urbanisation, lack of satisfaction in professional employment in a mechanised, lifeless working world, ennui and purposelessness in wealthy, saturated society, and lack of a religious, nurturing, and meaningful philosophical foundation of life”.



Albert Hofmann was born at Baden, Switzerland, on January 11 1906, the elder of two children. Having graduated from Zürich University with a degree in chemistry in 1929 he took a doctorate on the gastro-intestinal juice of the vineyard snail.



After leaving university, he went to work for Sandoz Pharmaceuticals where he researched the medicinal properties of the Mediterranean squill (Scilla maritima), before moving on to the study of Claviceps purpurea (ergot).



As a result of the use of LSD as a recreational drug Sandoz found itself bombarded with demands for information from regulatory bodies along with demands for statements after accidents, poisonings, criminal acts and so forth from the press. For scientists unaccustomed to the glare of publicity, it became a headache.



“I would rather you hadn’t discovered LSD,” Hofmann’s managing director told him. In the end the decision was taken to stop all further production.



Hofmann laid some of the blame at the door of Dr Timothy Leary. In his autobiography, he described meeting Leary in 1971 in the railway station snack bar in Lausanne.



Hofmann began by voicing his regret that Leary’s experiments had effectively killed off academic research into LSD and took Leary to task for encouraging its recreational use among young people. Leary was unabashed.



“He maintained that I was unjustified in reproaching him for the seduction of immature persons to drug consumption,” Hofmann recalled, on the ground that American teenagers “with regard to information and life experience, were comparable to adult Europeans” and able to make up their own minds.



Hofmann continued to work at Sandoz until 1971 when he retired as Director of Research for the Department of Natural Products.



In addition to his discovery of LSD, he was also the first to synthesize psilocybin (the active constituent of “magic mushrooms”) in 1958.



He also discovered the hallucinogenic principles of Ololiuqui (Morning Glory), lysergic acid amide and lysergic acid hydroxyethylamide.



In retirement, Hofmann served as a member of the Nobel Prize Committee. He was a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences, and a Member of the International Society of Plant Research and of the American Society of Pharmacognosy.



In 1988 the Albert Hofmann Foundation was established “to assemble and maintain an international library and archive devoted to the study of human consciousness and related fields.”



He disapproved of the appropriation of LSD by the youth movements of the 1960s, but regretted that its potential uses had not been explored. He had been due to speak at the World Psychedelic Forum in March, but ill health prevented him from attending.



Albert Hofmann was married and had three children.







I alerted everybody in irc earlier, seems ados made a thread in the pub, this one is his obituary and as such belongs in the news forum.



tRIP



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Thank you Dr.



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"It is only once we've lost everything, we are free to do anything."





Everything I think, say, or do is fictional



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I'll pay my respects chemically, this friday



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Bless you old man. Words cannot express the emotions I feel from the knowing of your passing, though I doubt they would be unknown to you. The world owes you more than you will ever know.









Edit: That's a rather good article, too...



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Q: We wanted to see if you had the ability to expand your mind and your horizons... and for one brief moment, you did.

PICARD: When I realized the paradox...

Q: Exactly. For that one fraction of a second, you were open to options you'd never considered. That's the exploration that awaits you...not mapping stars and studying nebulae... but charting the unknowable possibilities of existence.



To carry yourself forward and experience myriad things is delusion. That myriad things come forth and experience themselves is awakening. -Dogen Zenji



Edited by toastandjam (04/30/08 01:33 AM)



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RIP Dr.



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Im Not Living, Im Just Killing Time



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good article, yes, but they threw in



Quote:

But the fact that it was cheap and easy to make left it open to abuse and from the late 1950s onwards, promoted by Dr Timothy Leary and others, LSD became the recreational drug of choice for alienated western youth.







Seems a little fancyfull. How is it easy to make? the way people talk about it here, you would think god himself would be scratching his head a couple times during the synthisis.



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Acid is the first drug I heard about that I was attracted to. This is a sad day.



My eyes are sore.



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Wiccan_Seeker said:

slide down a pole than with your legs spread and using your pussy as a brake. Ask the fire department





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dam thats so fucking perfect



the drug had the potential to counter the psychological problems induced by “materialism, alienation from nature through industrialisation and increasing urbanisation, lack of satisfaction in professional employment in a mechanised, lifeless working world, ennui and purposelessness in wealthy, saturated society, and lack of a religious, nurturing, and meaningful philosophical foundation of life”.



that just about sums it up, man he had that shit down



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SHINE ON YOU CRAZY DIAMOND



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RIP GOOD DOCTOR



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rest in peace



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All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. -Gandalf



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when i got my first myspace and it said my heros

i put albert hoffman, i was like 13 at the time

but i truly meant it



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we should celebrate his life. he set (speaking for me and my friends atleast) free.



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Thank you, Dr. Hoffman, for providing me (and countless others across the planet) with some of the most amazing, spiritual, emotional, mind opening experiences of my life. I will continue to utilize your discovery in order to further understand myself and my mind, as you did so thoroughly, and I will remember your name while doing so. Without you, I would not be the same person I am today. I cannot thank you enough for creating the most beautiful substance on this planet. You were truly a genius. You will never, ever, EVER be forgotten by the human race, and I will be remembering you in a very special way on Saturday night. My next trip's for you, Doc.







R.I.P. Albert Hoffman.



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***** (10:42:46 PM): This is so strange

***** (10:42:53 PM): Becuase I feel that I am very altered

***** (10:42:57 PM): But at the same exact time

***** (10:43:28 PM): I am closer to the real me, the real me who decides who I am, the entire me



Edited by LSDaytripper (04/30/08 02:23 AM)



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Albert Hofmann did a great favor to the world, may he rest in peace.



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"Leave your mind alone and just get high"



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From the maps.org home page. I spent a majority of the afternoon telling coworkers about this and trying to find legitimate sources. Sad news. I know we all wanted him to live forever, but all things must end. Goodbye good doctor.



"Albert Hofmann, the father of LSD, passed away at 9AM CEST on Tuesday April 29, 2008 at his home in Basel, Switzerland. Cause of death was a heart attack; two caretakers were there with him at the time. MAPS President Rick Doblin said, "[Albert and I] spoke on the phone the day after the Basel conference and he was happy and fulfilled. He'd seen the renewal of LSD psychotherapy research with his own eyes, as had [his wife] Anita. I said that I looked forward to discussing the results of the study with him in about a year and a half and he laughed and said he'd try to help the research however he could, either from this side or "the other side"."



from MAPS.ORG



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Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies - Become a member!









I prefer dangerous freedom to peaceful slavery.

~ Thomas Jefferson



Edited by FurrowedBrow (04/30/08 02:42 AM)



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Rest in peace Hoffman. You made things happen that even today I cannot begin to comprehend. One of the greatest discoveries was found by you, and the world appreciates it.



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D

Manoa said:

I need to stop spending all my money on plants and take up a cheaper hobby, like heroin.



Looking for Rauhocereus riosaniensis seeds or live specimen(s), me if you have any for trade



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Quote:

DrOli said:

I'll pay my respects chemically, this friday





Same Here



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Rest well Good Doctor.



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Rest in peace, Dr.

You will be missed and remembered through the ages.



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“Through my LSD experience and my new picture of reality, I became aware of the wonder of creation, the magnificence of nature and of the animal and plant kingdom. I became very sensitive to what will happen to all this and all of us.” ~Albert Hofmann



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