Albert Hofmann, at 102; Swiss chemist discovered LSD

Dr. Albert Hofmann, with a model of the LSD molecule. (novartis via afp photo/file)

LOS ANGELES - Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered LSD and thereby gave the psychedelic generation the pharmaceutical vehicle to turn on, tune in, and drop out, has died. He was 102.

Dr. Hofmann died yesterday at his home in Basel, Switzerland, of a heart attack, according to Rick Doblin, the head of MAPS, the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies.

Dr. Hofmann also identified and synthesized the active ingredients of peyote mushrooms and a Mexican psychoactive plant called ololiuqui and developed at least three related, non-psychoactive compounds that became widely used in medicine.

Those other feats would have been little remembered, however, had he not accidentally gotten a trace amount of an experimental compound called lysergic acid diethylamide on his fingertips and taken the world's first acid trip.

Dr. Hofmann was a talented synthetic chemist working in the Basel research center of Sandoz Laboratories - now Novartis - in the 1930s when he began studying the chemistry of ergot, the common name for a fungus that grows on rye, barley, and certain other plants. Although ergot is poisonous, midwives had for centuries used a crude extract to induce labor in pregnant women.

Twenty years earlier, researchers had isolated ergotamine, the first ergot alkaloid isolated in pure form, and the compound had become widely used for halting bleeding after childbirth and as a treatment for migraine headaches.

In the early 1930s, US researchers had identified the primary active ingredient of ergot, a chemical called lysergic acid. Dr. Hofmann devised a technique to make a series of derivatives of lysergic acid called amides, and he began systematically looking for medically useful compounds.

The 25th compound he synthesized, in 1938, was lysergic acid diethylamide (in German, lyserg-saure-diathylamid), or LSD-25. Because this compound had a chemical structure similar to an existing drug called Coramine, Dr. Hofmann had hoped that it would be a stimulant for the respiratory and circulatory systems.

But testing in experimental animals showed no significant activity for the drug - although the animals were observed to become restless after its administration - and it was abandoned.

During this period, Dr. Hofmann synthesized at least three amides that became drugs: Methergine, used to halt bleeding after birth; Hydergine, which improves circulation in the limbs and cerebral function in the elderly; and Dihydergot, used to stabilize circulation and blood pressure.

Prompted by what Dr. Hofmann later described as a "peculiar presentiment" that LSD-25 might have properties other than those established in the first investigations, he decided to look at it again.

On April 16, 1943, Dr. Hofmann had just completed synthesizing a new batch when, he subsequently wrote to his supervisor, "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 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 I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours, this condition faded away."In an interview on his 100th birthday, he said, "I didn't know what caused it, but I knew that it was important."

The next week, he took what he considered to be an extremely small dose of LSD. He had planned to gradually increase the dosage but instead was surprised to encounter the first bad acid trip.

Feeling bad, he asked his laboratory assistant to accompany him home on his bicycle, no cars being available because of World War II restrictions. During the trip, "I had the feeling that I could not move from the spot. I was cycling, cycling, but the time seemed to stand still."

By the time they reached his home, its furnishings had transformed themselves into terrifying objects.

"Everything in the room spun around, and the familiar objects and pieces of furniture assumed grotesque, threatening forms," he wrote in his autobiography, "LSD - My Problem Child." "They were in constant motion, animated, as if driven by an inner restlessness. The lady next door [became] a malevolent, insidious witch with a colored mask."

Dr. Hofmann thought he was dying and sent for a doctor, but the physician could find nothing wrong.

After about six hours, the experience began to change into a pleasant one. "After some time, with my eyes closed, I began to enjoy this wonderful play of colors and forms, which it really was a pleasure to observe. Then I went to sleep and the next day I was fine. I felt quite fresh, like a newborn."

That day, April 19, has subsequently been celebrated by LSD proponents as "Bicycle Day."

LSD was initially hailed as a wonder drug for use in psychoanalysis, particularly for gaining insights into schizophrenia; and more than 2,000 research papers appeared over the succeeding decade.

The Central Intelligence Agency investigated LSD as a potential agent for mind control, and the British government studied it as a truth drug. In both cases, the drug was administered to subjects who were not informed of its nature, leading to scandals and changes in regulations about informed consent.

But in the 1960s, largely at the instigation of Harvard University psychologists Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert, LSD began to be seen first as a pathway to spiritual enlightenment, then as a major recreational drug.

"Instead of a 'wonder child,' LSD suddenly became my 'problem child,' " Dr. Hofmann said.

In 1966, the United States banned its use, followed by most other countries.

Nonetheless, some still consider it a promising drug, and research continues on its medical potential.

LSD and the other psychoactive drugs "changed my life, insofar as they provided me with a new concept about what reality is," Dr. Hofmann said. "Before, I had believed there was only one reality, the reality of everyday life.

"Under LSD, however, I entered into realities which were as real and even more real than the one of everyday." He also "became aware of the wonder of creation, the magnificence of nature and of the plant and animal kingdom. I became very sensitive to what will happen to all this and all of us."

After dozens of acid trips, Dr. Hofmann gave up psychedelics. "I know LSD; I don't need to take it anymore," he said.

Among his survivors are two daughters, a son, eight grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.