The Swiss beginnings of LSD
History
In a stroke of serendipity 80 years ago, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann (1906–2008) discovered the effects of lysergic acid diethylamide – otherwise known as LSD. Initially this new hallucinogen was explored by Western scientists for its therapeutic potential. But LSD soon found its way out of the lab and into the world of recreational use by the counterculture movement. From the late 1960s it started to be banned, putting a halt to medical research in psychedelic substances. Since the 1990s, however, clinical studies of LSD have gradually resumed in some countries, including Switzerland.
