Hoffman, Albert (1906– )

Swiss-born US physician who, in 1943, accidentally discovered lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), the most potent psychoactive drug ever known. LSD causes hallucinatory effects, paranoia, and depression, and is illegal except for research purposes.

Hoffman, together with Swiss chemist Arthur Stoll, produced lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in 1938 while trying to synthesize a new drug for the treatment of headaches. Since the new drug appeared to have no analgesic (pain-relieving) effect on laboratory animals, it remained untouched on a shelf for five years. Hoffman decided to perform further tests on LSD in 1943, during which he accidentally ingested an unknown amount of the drug. He described his first experience of LSD intoxication as ‘a kind of drunkenness which was not unpleasant and which was characterized by extreme activity of the imagination’. LSD was later shown to block or inhibit the action of the neurotransmitter seratonin in the brain.