Speaking of Santa Cruz, the inventor of LSD, Albert Hofmann, died on Tuesday at his Switzerland home. He was a ripe 102.
The Swiss chemist happened upon lysergic acid diethylamide-25 way back in 1938 "while studying the medicinal uses of a fungus found on wheat and other grains." By accident, or so we're told, Hofmann became LSD's first guinea pig after accidentally dipping his finger into the trippy substance back in 1943. The substance didn't gain worldwide infamy until two decades later when Harvard professor Timothy Leary--after enjoying the drug's fruity bouquet and smooth oaky finish--told young boomers to "turn on, tune in, drop out."
Since the only drug SFist gets high off of is life, we can't tell with any accuracy what the journey of LSD is like. Please, SFist readers, fill us in on your own personal acid-infused trips. We're dying to know.