How Do People Make LSD?

ndangerspecimen101

Well-Known Member
Yep, I've made LSD before (in a lab), and column chromatography (on alumina) is almost a necessity to get a clean-looking product. The free base is also air- and light-sensitive (as are the salts...albeit to a lesser extent), so def not the easiest compound to produce in pure form. However, if one can get a hold of some ergotamine tartrate, it's really not that difficult to make a "dirty" batch. Might not look pretty, but I'm sure it would do the trick.
Only if ergotamine tartrate was more readily available in the United States! Only with the highest DEA decree can one obtain a batch of the stuff. But with LSD comes inspiration... so the backroads are well lit ;)
 

heir proctor

New Member
True NDA. Actually got a bit paranoid after posting. Now if you would edit your quote lol.

Ellis, I think found it on /psy/ awhile back. Just came across it as I was cleaning out my image folder.
 

ndangerspecimen101

Well-Known Member
Before I take my LSD chart down... it's getting an encrypted make over! The publication was made known world wide for only a few minutes ;)
 

MrEDuck

Well-Known Member
By far the easiest synth that I am aware of is starting from ergotamine. Details can be found in Sasha Shulgins wonderful book TiHKAL (erowid hosts the half with the synth if you want to see it). It uses some pretty nasty chemicals (as does every LSD synth, you need something like SOCl2 or POCl3 to go from LSA to LSD), the synth has a bunch of other watched chemicals. You don't just need a fume hood you need a glove box under N2 or prefferably Ar to protect the LSD freebase from O2. It's titchy. The synth that doesn't start from ergotamine is longer and more of a PITA. I'm not sure where the text I have it listed in is and I'm not doing more than a cursory glance at my bookshelf for this. The people who make LSD for commercial purposes obviously have there sources for the precursors, that even moreso than the skill and desire to synth it is why they're the ones making it. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the labs that study it is also a commercial source. Who do you get as your expert witness against Nichols?
LSD synth requires a much better lab than making something like mescaline (the right chemicals, a microwave, a refluxer you can drip into, almost OTC chems, three steps), MDMA or meth, as well as much harder chemicals to obtain. Ergotamine used to be prescribed for migraines but I doubt they even make it for rx since the tryptans came out.
It's really not even worth thinking about making it, just be glad people do and buy bulk and freeze it when you can.
 
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