is it true that by ingesting lsd so many times makes one "legally insane"? if so, how much does it take?

Answer 1

The effects of LSD are unpredictable. They depend on the amount taken; the user's personality, mood, and expectations; and the surroundings in which the drug is used. Usually, the user feels the first effects of the drug 30 to 90 minutes after taking it. The physical effects include dilated pupils, higher body temperature, increased heart rate and blood pressure, sweating, loss of appetite, sleeplessness, dry mouth, and tremors.

Sensations and feelings change much more dramatically than the physical signs. The user may feel several different emotions at once or swing rapidly from one emotion to another. If taken in a large enough dose, the drug produces delusions and visual hallucinations. The user’s sense of time and self changes. Sensations may seem to "cross over," giving the user the feeling of hearing colors and seeing sounds. These changes can be frightening and can cause panic.

Users refer to their experience with LSD as a "trip" and to acute adverse reactions as a "bad trip." These experiences are long; typically they begin to clear after about 12 hours.

Some LSD users experience severe, terrifying thoughts and feelings, fear of losing control, fear of insanity and death, and despair while using LSD. Some fatal accidents have occurred during states of LSD intoxication.

Many LSD users experience flashbacks, recurrence of certain aspects of a person's experience, without the user having taken the drug again. A flashback occurs suddenly, often without warning, and may occur within a few days or more than a year after LSD use. Flashbacks usually occur in people who use hallucinogens chronically or have an underlying personality problem; however, otherwise healthy people who use LSD occasionally may also have flashbacks. Bad trips and flashbacks are only part of the risks of LSD use. LSD users may manifest relatively long-lasting psychoses, such as schizophrenia or severe depression. It is difficult to determine the extent and mechanism of the LSD involvement in these illnesses.

Most users of LSD voluntarily decrease or stop its use over time. LSD is not considered an addictive drug since it does not produce compulsive drug-seeking behavior, as do cocaine, amphetamine, heroin, alcohol, and nicotine. However, like many of the addictive drugs, LSD produces tolerance, so some users who take the drug repeatedly must take progressively higher doses to achieve the state of intoxication that they had previously achieved. This is an extremely dangerous practice, given the unpredictability of the drug.

Answer 2

One of the modern myths, which we ourselves heard when we were teens in the 1980s, is that "Taking LSD seven times makes you legally insane." The proposed number of times varies but is usually under ten. Another variant is that if you take LSD n number of times, "you can't testify in court."

Unfortunately, it is difficult to narrow down the earliest date of this word-of-mouth myth. Informal surveys of some of the educated subculture reveal that it was around by the early 1970s and was widespread by 1980. But the myth is not omnipresent. Many of those we asked, even experts in the fi eld such as Darryl Inaba, CEO of the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic and author of Uppers, Downers, and All-Arounders, said they had never heard this claim before.1

The following is an attempt to provide a clear description of the misunderstandings inherent in the myth as well as to look at some of the fertile historical context out of which it grew in the United States.


What Defines "Legally Insane"?
As with many good myths, this one relies on the audience's lack of familiarity with some highly complex system; in this case, both law and medicine. The first question, then, that springs to mind is how to find a definition of "legally insane" to check.

There is no legal definition of the phrase "legally insane". The term "insane" has different meanings depending on the specific context in which it is used. Most often, "insane" is used as a casual lay-person's term, like "crazy", with no specific meaning.

When used in the context of the modern legal system, the concept of insanity has very limited application. There are a few specific places where a declaration of a person's mental status can come into play.

Answer 3

No, but ingesting too much lsd at once can send you over the edge. Not being a pharmacist, I don't know what the dosages are, and I can only assume that these are relative to the size of the person in question.

Best way to avoid it is to limit yourself to one hit at a time...

Answer 4

This is a misquote of an urban legend. For some people, taking LSD one time can lead to serious problems, including death. Others can drop acid several times and come out (more or less) fine.

Simply put: don't do it. If you're already done it, stop.

Answer 5

No, it's an urban myth. Insanity is a very grey area in legal terms, and is constantly contested in court.

Answer 6

No, and the term legally insane has no definition.

Answer 7

I believe they say it is only one time.

Answer 8

Than color me insane.