One of my favorites by the Moodies. Funny how the radio never seemed to play it (at least stations reached by MY radio).

Extract from Hallucinogen Pharmacology chapter:

Ergot: Claviceps purpurea (Hypocreaceae) grows as a fungus on grasses, especially rye. The fruiting stalk looks like a purple-black club-shaped growth. The fruiting body feeds on the grass kernels. Ergotism provides the earliest record of mycotoxicosis or poisoning by toxic molds.

Mid-wives passed along the secret to properly dose ergot extracts to aid in childbirth. The ergot extract helped women whose contractions were too weak to expel the baby. Ergot may have been used to induce abortions.

In 1976, Linnda R. Caporael suggested that ergotism caused the bizarre behavior of women in Salem (prompting the Salem witch trials). Subsequent research did not support the proposition.
Extraction of Ergot yields lysergic acid, and this can be purified and chemically converted to LSD. Albert Hoffman first developed the compound in 1938. In 1947, Sandoz Laboratories began marketing LSD for use in psychiatry, claiming efficacy for schizophrenia, sexual perversion, and even criminal behavior.

In the 1950’s and 1960’s, the psychiatrist Humphry Osmond used LSD to treat his patients and reduce their addiction to alcohol. The term "psychedelic" (literally means mind manifesting) comes from Osmond. In 1966, Timothy Leary founded the League for Spiritual Discovery using LSD use as a sacrament.

At 200 micrograms (ug), the mid-range dose of LSD demonstrates a singularly potent molecule. The fit in the receptor is so snug that, besides its low dose, the effects last for up to 12 hours. The drug binds tightly to some of the serotonin receptors and thus can prevent sleep. Other effects include reduced appetite, pupil dilation, and sweating. LSD acts as an agonist to the D2 receptor which may cause some of its psychoactivity. LSD binds to most serotonin receptors, but not to the 5-HT3 and 5-HT4 receptor subtypes. The effects of LSD can be blocked by 5-HT2A antagonists.

Research suggests that LSD increases glutamate release in the cerebral cortex thus excites this region. Another finding shows cross-tolerance between LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin, reinforcing the notion that they all work the same way, at least in part.

The term “microdosing” refers to the practice of consuming low levels of LSD (or psilocybin) to gain stimulation without the high. Producers set the dosages to be 1/10 to 1/20 of the minimum level to hallucinate. In surveys, people microdosing LSD said they did it to enhance performance, to improve their mood or sociability, to obtain relief for physical symptoms, or out of curiosity.

"The most dangerous man in America," Richard Nixon said. Undeniably a genius, famous for LSD and other psychedelic substances, as an icon of the 60s-70s counterculture, and a author of important studies and books on the human personality and the "Eight Circuit Model of Consciousness." Also a a forerunner of transactional analysis, he was in the same neighborhood of Carl Jung with his groundbreaking ideas about human development he called "the Eight Circuits of Consciousness." Then he stumbled upon psychedelics and the rest is history.
"Turn on, Tune in, Drop out!"
I took about 50 hits of "acid," in my time, each "trip" a revelation, an journey into uncharted realms of my impressionable mind. Unfortunately, that 51st trip (probably not LSD, but just a guess) blew my mind out of the water and detoured my life in ways I wouldn't have thought possible. Was it worth it? Good question.
One of these days I might see if I can "score" a "hit" and do it again, just to see what happens. I might even arrange for an exit trip on my death bed, as Aldous Huxley did.
In the meantime, I'll sometimes relive those heady hippie days, that particular, short-lived rift in the space-time continuum, which came in like a lightning bolt and dissolved into thin air. Ram Dass, Tim, Abbie Hoffman, Arnold Ehret, transcendental meditation, Jefferson Airplane, food co-ops, Columbian grass, lava lamps, going "back to the land," yes the anti-war demonstrations, and so many other things which made up that particular matrix. But while it lasted it was a glimpse of paradise. Little did we know the backlash was going to lead us here.
RIP, Tim.

The Moody Blues were one of my favorites when tripping.