The Father of LSD Dies

Albert Hofmann, father of the drug LSD, dies in Switzerland

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."