Short answers, pulled from the story.
Psychedelic drugs belong to three primary chemical families: tryptamines, phenethylamines, and lysergamides. Tryptamines include psilocybin found in mushrooms and DMT found in plants like Psychotria viridis. Phenethylamines encompass mescaline derived from peyote cacti and synthetic compounds like 2C-B created by chemist Alexander Shulgin.
Albert Hofmann synthesized LSD at Sandoz Laboratories on the 19th of April 1938 while developing oxytocic drugs derived from ergot fungus. He accidentally discovered its hallucinogenic properties when minute amounts absorbed through his skin during laboratory work. Three days later on the 19th of April 1943 Hofmann conducted a self-experiment that became known as Bicycle Day due to his bicycle ride home.
A June 2024 report by the RAND Corporation indicated that psilocybin mushrooms are currently the most widely used psychedelic drug among U.S. adults. Approximately 3% of respondents in a nationwide German survey published in 2025 had used LSD or related substances at least once in their lifetime. A 2013 survey found that 13.4% of American adults had used a psychedelic at some point in their lives.
The United States Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough therapy status to psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression. As of 2021, psychedelic drugs remain controlled substances in most countries with therapy only legally available outside clinical trials. More than 100 clinical trials of four major psychedelics were identified as being underway in 2024.
One third of participants in a study of 608 people said difficulties lasted longer than a year, and one fifth said they lasted longer than three years. Most commonly-reported post-psychedelic difficulties included anxiety, feeling traumatized, social isolation, derealization, visual distortions, and existential confusion. A 2023 international survey found 14% of respondents felt more anxious for an extended period following ingestion.