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LSD Drug Founder Dies

By Associated Press

Published: Wed, April 30, 2008 - 5:13 am Last Updated: Wed, April 30, 2008 - 5:16 am

Short URL: http://wkrg.com/a/13342/

GENEVA (AP) - The father of LSD has died.
Albert Hofmann was 102 when he died of a heart attack at his
home in Switzerland yesterday.
The chemist discovered the mind-altering drug in 1938 while
studying the medicinal uses of a fungus found on wheat and other
grains.
He became the first human guinea pig when a tiny amount of the
hallucinogen seeped on to his finger during a 1943 experiment. He
later took a larger dose and said he was filled with an
overwhelming fear that he would "go crazy."
For decades after it was banned in the late 1960s, Hofmann
defended his invention. He says he produced the drug "as a
medicine" and it wasn't his fault if people abused it.
But he also wrote a book titled "LSD - my problem child."