LSD - The Beyond Within

It's the realm of mystical experience. And those who've been there describe the visit as the most significant event of their lifes. Until recent times that was a world known only to holy men, to saints, or perhaps to the insane. Then a generation ago this drug, LSD, escaped from the laboratory. It was consumed by millions of young people. To some it's a doorway to the mystical universe, chemical ecstasy, enlightenment in a bottle. To others it's a dangerous and subversive poison. LSD is one of the strangest and most controversial substances known to science. A dose smaller than a grain of salt precipitates a hazardous mental journey into a universe of hallucination, intense emotion and, some believe, mystical revelation. These remarkable effects were discovered by the Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman in 1943. During the 50's the LSD was used widely for research in psychiatric hospitals. Than in the early 1960's LSD leaked out of the laboratory. With bizarre and unforeseen consequences the drug was consumed by a generation of young people seeking spiritual transcendence and an escape from the conventional world.