Experience: Unknown dose LSD (transdermal) - Albert Hofmann's accidental first exposure

• Substance(s): LSD-25 (Lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate)
• Dose: Unknown (trace amount)
• Route of Administration: Accidental exposure (Transdermal / Oral)

• Age: 37
• Sex: Male
• Height: Unknown
• Weight: Unknown
• Date: 04/1943
• Location: Basel, Switzerland

Albert Hofmann was a Swiss chemist working at Sandoz Laboratories. Five years after initial synthesis in 1938, he resynthesized LSD-25 in April 1943 for further pharmacological testing, having a peculiar presentiment that the substance possessed unestablished properties.

From Albert Hofmann's book, LSD: My Problem Child:

“The solution of the ergotoxine problem had led to fruitful results, described here only briefly, and had opened up further avenues of research. And yet I could not forget the relatively uninteresting LSD-25. A peculiar presentiment - the feeling that this substance could possess properties other than those established in the first investigations - induced me, five years after the first synthesis, to produce LSD-25 once again so that a sample could be given to the pharmacological department for further tests. This was quite unusual; experimental substances, as a rule, were definitely stricken from the research program if once found to be lacking in pharmacological interest.

Nevertheless, in the spring of 1943, I repeated the synthesis of LSD-25. As in the first synthesis, this involved the production of only a few centigrams of the compound.

In the final step of the synthesis, during the purification and crystallization of lysergic acid diethylamide in the form of a tartrate (tartaric acid salt), I was interrupted in my work by unusual sensations. The following description of this incident comes from the report that I sent at the time to Professor Stoll:

"Last Friday, April 16, 1943, I was forced to interrupt my work in the laboratory in the middle of the afternoon and proceed home, being affected by 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 found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away."

This was, altogether, a remarkable experience - both in its sudden onset and its extraordinary course. It seemed to have resulted from some external toxic influence; I surmised a connection with the substance I had been working with at the time, lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate. But this led to another question: how had I managed to absorb this material? Because of the known toxicity of ergot substances, I always maintained meticulously neat work habits. Possibly a bit of the LSD solution had contacted my fingertips during crystallization, and a trace of the substance was absorbed through the skin. If LSD-25 had indeed been the cause of this bizarre experience, then it must be a substance of extraordinary potency. There seemed to be only one way of getting to the bottom of this. I decided on a self-experiment.

Exercising extreme caution, I began the planned series of experiments with the smallest quantity that could be expected to produce some effect, considering the activity of the ergot alkaloids known at the time: namely, 0.25 mg (mg = milligram = one thousandth of a gram) of lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate. Quoted below is the entry for this experiment in my laboratory journal of April 19, 1943.” Read Experience: 250 mcg LSD - Albert Hofmann's Bicycle Day for the report.

Timeline

T+ 0:00 - Accidental exposure in the laboratory during purification/crystallization of lysergic acid diethylamide tartrate

T+ 0:15 - Onset of restlessness and slight dizziness; forced to interrupt laboratory work and head home

T+ 0:45 - Resting at home with eyes closed; experiencing an intense stream of kaleidoscopic visuals

T+ 2:00 - Effects completely fade away

Albert Hofmann's accidental initial exposure to a trace amount of LSD-25 resulted in a mild, short-acting psychedelic state. Characterized primarily by light somatic stimulation, photophobia, and vivid closed-eye imagery, this threshold experience demonstrated the extraordinary potency of the compound even without acute panic or severe cognitive disruption.

• Uncomfortable physical effects: Mild Dizziness during the onset phase, alongside Photophobia (finding daylight unpleasantly glaring while resting).
• Suppressions: Transient Restless legs / physical restlessness necessitating an interruption of laboratory work.

• Hallucinatory states: Vivid Internal hallucination experienced in a dreamlike state with eyes closed, consisting of an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes, and kaleidoscopic play of colors.

• Enhancements: Creativity enhancement (described as an extremely stimulated imagination).
• Intensifications: Light Anxiety and restlessness during the initial onset.
• Novel effects: Mild Cognitive euphoria (a "not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition").