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| LSD inventor Albert Hofmann dies | LSD inventor Albert Hofmann dies |
| (about 9 hours later) | |
| Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD, has died of a heart attack at his home in Basel at the age of 102. | Albert Hofmann, the Swiss chemist who discovered the hallucinogenic drug LSD, has died of a heart attack at his home in Basel at the age of 102. |
| Mr Hofmann first produced LSD in 1938 while researching the medicinal uses of a crop fungus. | Mr Hofmann first produced LSD in 1938 while researching the medicinal uses of a crop fungus. |
| He accidentally ingested some of the drug and said later: "Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror". | He accidentally ingested some of the drug and said later: "Everything I saw was distorted as in a warped mirror". |
| He argued for decades that LSD could help treat mental illness, but in the 1960s it became a popular street drug. | |
| 'Turn on, tune in, drop out' | 'Turn on, tune in, drop out' |
| While working with the drug in the Sandoz pharmaceutical laboratory a few years after first producing it, Mr Hofmann ingested some of the drug through his fingertips. | While working with the drug in the Sandoz pharmaceutical laboratory a few years after first producing it, Mr Hofmann ingested some of the drug through his fingertips. |
| He went home and experienced what he described as visions of "fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours". | He went home and experienced what he described as visions of "fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours". |
| The drug was popularised by Harvard professor Timothy Leary who suggested that people "turn on, tune in, drop out". | The drug was popularised by Harvard professor Timothy Leary who suggested that people "turn on, tune in, drop out". |
| Rock stars and the counter-culture of the 1960s picked up LSD as a wonder drug but horror stories began to emerge of users suffering permanent psychological damage. | Rock stars and the counter-culture of the 1960s picked up LSD as a wonder drug but horror stories began to emerge of users suffering permanent psychological damage. |
| LSD was made illegal in many countries beginning in the late 1960s. | LSD was made illegal in many countries beginning in the late 1960s. |
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| Albert Hofmann on his first LSD experience |