CHANGE

LSD, was first synthesized in a laboratory in 1938, by Swiss chemist Albert Hoffman. First introduced for medicinal purposes (aren’t they all), its “extra-curricular” use got it quickly banned as an illegal substance.

The first time I was introduced to LSD was when my brother called home from a Rolling Stones concert. I was 15. He was 16.  He had gone away to an elite boarding school on the east coast. My parents sent him there for the education- and he got one. It was a very bizarre event.

My brother calls.

“Where’s mom. Dude! Where’s mom? I’m trippin’ on acid and I don’t know what to do.”

My mother gets on the phone.

“Jaaaake. Yeah, what’s wrong? Whaaat? (Even-toned voice). Okay, calm down. Jake, just go home and rest. You’ll be okay. You have someone drive you? (She’s Asian, with a fairly strong accent and hard to miss grammatical mistakes). Okay. Jake? Are you listening to me? How much did you take? Okay, then. Oh Jake, you stupid boy. Go home. Go home! Go sleep! Okay then, okay. Bye”

My mother puts the phone down. She doesn’t talk to me, but I can hear her relating the entire episode to my father in their native language. Then, they both shake their heads in disbelief or disgust or disappointment, and resume watching their rented foreign video tapes.

I can’t believe it. I can’t believe what just happened. The only explanation I can come up with is that because they are both doctors, they are so desensitized to medication and drugs that they just treat him like a patient. Detach themselves from his diagnosis.

Maybe this made it easier for me to throw away years of hard work for one drop of acid in the summer of 19__.