Lysergic acid diethylamide, more commonly known as LSD, is a hallucinogen. People like LSD because 20 to 40 minutes after intake, it gives them a euphoric feeling. This is followed by auditory and visual hallucinations that peak 4 to 5 hours after intake. A person on LSD would typically describe an inanimate object to be “breathing” or “moving” – a phenomenon which is also called “crossing-over”. At times, people may have a sense of fear or panic. Concurrent physical effects include pupil dilatation, increased body temperature, blood pressure and heart rate, increased sweating, dry mouth and sleeplessness.
The side effects LSD has on a person are varied. When a person is hallucinating, heshe is unable to recognize common dangers and make sensible judgments. This can lead to fatal injuries. Aside from the immediate effects already mentioned, a person can feel very exhausted the day after. A person may become acutely depressed or suffer from anxiety. If the hallucination was very frightening, one could keep having flashbacks that induce the same amount of panic.
Long-term LSD use may also lead to major depression or psychotic disorders like schizophrenia (LSD psychosis). Ironically, LSD has also shown success in treating schizophrenia. A potential physiologic dangers is chromosome breakage which could theoretically cause cancer.
Crack or freebased cocaine has effects similar to LSD use. Crack users also experience euphoria, increases in body temperature and heart rate and gain enhanced alertness. However, addiction to crack has worse physiologic effects compared to LSD. An addicted crack user can suffer from severe weight loss, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, brain seizures, heart attack, stroke, and even death.
Compared to crack, LSD is relatively physically safer and less toxic. LSD has some positive effects such as increased creativity and spiritual self-exploration. However, it still has the potential to cause addiction and psychosis. As much as possible LSD, crack and any other drug should be avoided because of their potential short-term and long-term side effects.