Interstellar Overdrive 1967 T-Shirt

LSD was first made by Albert Hofmann in 1938 from lysergic acid, a chemical from the fungus ergot. Hofmann discovered its hallucinogenic properties in 1943. In the 1950s, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) believed that the drug might be useful for mind control, so they tested it on people, some without their knowledge, in a program called MKUltra. LSD was sold as a medication for research purposes under the trade-name Delysid in the 1950s and 1960s. It was listed as a schedule 1 controlled substance by the United Nations in 1971. It currently has no approved medical use, but despite being criminalized in most countries, it remains popular among the counter-culture crowd.