<story><title>LSD microdosing: a randomized, blind self-experiment</title><url>http://www.gwern.net/LSD%20microdosing</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>joezydeco</author><text>Impressive amount of data and data reduction...but it all hinges on a 100 ug dose of LSD purchased anonymously from Silk Road?&lt;p&gt;How can the OP be sure that the 100 micrograms was pure and accurate?  If you can&amp;#x27;t prove that, what good is all the math?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>tedks</author><text>From a comment on the page:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;&amp;quot;&amp;quot;
There are a great many errors in your methodology, and I do not believe you received any of the drug in any of your doses.&lt;p&gt;First off, you have no way of knowing that what you purchased actually contained the drug. The blotter may have had none in it. Secondly, even if there was some drug, you haven no way of knowing what other chemicals were in that paper, including strychnine, and its effects after being mixed with water, on the drug. Thirdly, I&amp;#x27;m not sure that 24 hours in a fridge is a sufficient method of extraction.&lt;p&gt;But more damaging is that the drug degrades quickly and is very sensitive to its environment. It degrades in the presence of oxygen, heat and light. A common house fridge provides all three- the door is opened at least once a day (to get your dose) letting light in. The container is open to the air which provides oxygen, and while a fridge is cool, it is does not absolutely prevent degradation of the drug due to heat. I&amp;#x27;ve seen storage recommendations for this drug involving sealed, light opaque containers, kept frozen in an icebox and the admonition that this will only preserve it for a few weeks.&lt;p&gt;You provided less protection, significant dilution, questionable extraction, and stored it for &lt;i&gt;months.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Basically, the conclusion from your research is this: The drug war prevents the kind of exploration of the possible positive effects of such a drug, that could be carried out by a well appointed lab. 
&amp;quot;&amp;quot;&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;LSD is an incredibly volatile molecule and after months I wouldn&amp;#x27;t expect any to remain. I think this is a bigger deal than the sketchiness factor of buying drugs -- a silk road vendor selling adulterated product would be severely penalized if caught and the economics don&amp;#x27;t work out.</text></comment>
<story><title>LSD microdosing: a randomized, blind self-experiment</title><url>http://www.gwern.net/LSD%20microdosing</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>joezydeco</author><text>Impressive amount of data and data reduction...but it all hinges on a 100 ug dose of LSD purchased anonymously from Silk Road?&lt;p&gt;How can the OP be sure that the 100 micrograms was pure and accurate?  If you can&amp;#x27;t prove that, what good is all the math?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>NathanKP</author><text>The OP also wrote a very detailed study of how Silk Road works:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.gwern.net/Silk%20Road#lsd-case-study&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.gwern.net&amp;#x2F;Silk%20Road#lsd-case-study&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;In it he mentions a potential test to verify that what you receive really is LSD:&lt;p&gt;&lt;i&gt;An Ehrlich test is a reagant for indole alkaloids, a category which includes psychedelics like LSD &amp;amp; psilocybin. As such, it can be used as a kind of quality check.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;I&amp;#x27;d assume given the rigorous treatment I&amp;#x27;ve seen so far in all his posts that he probably did this test.</text></comment>