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LSD My Problem Child: Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science

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This book gives tremendous insight into Albert Hoffmann's life and research. Hoffmann is the scientist who, in 1938, first isolated the compound LSD-25 from ergot. At the time, Hoffmann had no idea that this compound had what we've come to know as psychedelic properties. He certainly didn't foresee the psychedelic craze of the 1960s.

Hoffmann, who died in 2008 at the age of 102, tells us how his research began, how it progessed, and what, ultimately, went wrong. Some of the early researchers (including Hoffmann) took the LSD and detailed their "trips" in journals. Excerpts of these are shared with us, which make for fascinating reading.

Hoffmann talks a lot about the psychiatric research associated with LSD, though he doesn't get into the other research, such as the amazing work done with alcoholics and heroin addicts. He mentions in passing the CIA's experiments on unknowing victims. I would have liked a bit more information on these issues to be included, since these were such important parts of LSD's history. However, Hoffmann didn't stray far from his own personal research and experiences.

This book appealed to me from a chemistry, spirituality, and anthropological perspective. Hofmann was a brilliant man, and it is a tragic effect that contemporary society has developed an inherent response to view LSD with such disdain. Read this book before making up your mind and passing judgement, as I'm sure it will provide some points to ponder.

This book made me respect Hoffman even more, because he includes a key bit of material on DMT use by South American Indians. I am a strong proponent of psychedelics (or entheogens) being usable therapeutically. But like any pharmaceutical, there can be problems, and not everyone responds biochemically in the same way. We are all mutants.

So this note about the one tribe that became hyper-violent is something I am glad he included. Hoffman was a good scientist, and like any such, he didn't shy from problems.

Overall, this is a classic, well worth having on the shelf.

Now that this book is back in print, there is no excuse for anyone to avoid it, whether or not you have an interest in the subject matter. It's important to remember that, at the time of writing, LSD was not new and had yet to be demonized by the media and society as it has been today. Do not be swayed by the childish rants of Timothy Leary and the hippy movement, this work is an unparalleled intellectual achievement written by a respectable man who attempts to interpret his fascinating, yet incredibly unwieldy invention. His thoughts on how LSD might alter the world and the study of consciousness, are reflected through personal experience as well as observation, and presented in such a way that anyone will find his persona delightful, inspirational, and worthy of the utmost respect.

Overall, LSD: My Problem Child is a modest story of an incredible life, and a testament to what one man can accomplish not just in his lifetime, but far beyond his death.

There was a lot of morality expressed against the Western Culture and how it derailed the near future possibilities of any Psychedelic therapy. Hofmanns' creation has such a volatile reaction with the recreational use and government propaganda that it overshadowed its initial potential as a catalyst for Psychoanalysis. I guess that's the price for the positive impact it had of society before it was made illegal. Just wish I had time machine to 1969 Woodstock.

A very enlightening read! The author discusses how the release of disinformation by the media led to the discontinuation of governmental support for research into the beneficial effects of LSD in the treatment of mental illness.

Dr. Hoffman will be forever immortalized as the creator of perhaps the one factor most responsible for the hippie movement and much of the cultural revolution of the 60s. It's fair to say that timeless works of art such as "Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" would not have been created if it weren't for Dr. Hoffman's creation: LSD. As such this pamphlet is like the Bible of the psychedelic movement. As with any sacred text it deserves to be read and analyzed over and over again.

What informs much of this work is Dr. Hoffman the Scientist. While his strong opinions of psychedelic medicine are apparent through much of the text, he writes in a dispassionate, objective tenor of his involvement with psycho-active substances and his meetings with other enthusiasts such as Dr. Timothy Leary and Aldous Huxley.
He also catalogues some of the experiences of people under "LSD inebriation" in a thoroughly descriptive manner without attempting to embellish or analyze.

A truly remarkable work by a remarkable man about a remarkable subject!!

The transaction was smooth and priced right. No problem with transaction. the book made a nice gift.