ALD-52

ALD-52, also known as 1-acetyl-LSD, has chemical structural features similar to lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), a known psychedelic drug. Similarly, ALD-52 has been reported to produce psychoactive effects, but its pharmacological effects on humans are poorly understood. Given its psychoactive properties, it has been reported to be consumed as a recreational drug, and the purported first confirmed detection of the substance on the illicit market occurred in April 2016.

ALD-52 was initially synthesized in 1957 by Albert Hofmann, who is accredited as the first individual to have synthesised LSD, a chemical analogue of ALD-52. Until the rise in popularity of psychedelics in the 1960s, ALD-52 was not widely studied. It is assumed to act as a prodrug to LSD in humans, but this has yet to be scientifically verified.

Effects
In Entry 26 of his compendium TiHKAL, which discussed LSD, chemist Alexander Shulgin touched briefly on the subject of ALD-52. His comments there are vague, second-hand accounts saying doses in the 50–175 μg range have resulted in various conclusions. One account found that there was less visual distortion than with LSD and it seemed to produce less anxiety and tenseness and that it was somewhat less potent. One subject claimed it was more effective in increasing blood pressure, and another could not tell them apart.

Safety
In The Hallucinogens by Hoffer and Osmond (1967), ALD-52 is listed as having a lower (approximately 1/5) intravenous toxicity (in rabbits), a lower (approximately 1/8) pyretogenic effect, an equal psychological effect in humans, and double the "antiserotonin" effect as compared with LSD. Human experiments have not been well documented.

History
In a Reddit AMA with the director of the movie The Sunshine Makers, Tim Scully says:

"The Orange Sunshine we delivered was LSD 25. ALD 52 was an ill-advised desperate defense strategy that failed miserably... The story of Orange Sunshine is complicated by the fact that The Brotherhood distributed LSD from more than one manufacturer as Orange Sunshine. Nick and I made the original Orange Sunshine in Windsor. That was the last lab I worked in making LSD. Ron Stark managed several LSD labs in Europe and most of his output was tableted and sold as Orange Sunshine. At least some of the LSD that his labs made was not pure."

Tim Scully has confirmed that the speculation below is incorrect.

The Orange Sunshine variety of LSD that was widely available in California through 1968 and 1969 was produced in the Sonoma County underground chemistry lab of Tim Scully and Nicholas Sand. It was shut down by the police, and Scully was arrested and prosecuted. This resulted in the first drug analogue trial, where Scully claimed that he and his partners did nothing illegal, because they were producing ALD-52, which was not an illicit drug. However, as the prosecution claimed, there were problems with such a rationale—ALD-52 was claimed to readily undergo hydrolysis to LSD, and secondly, the synthesis of ALD-52 required LSD. (The second point was based on the methods available in the scientific literature at the time). Scully was convicted and served time in prison.

Austria
ALD-52 is technically not illegal but it may fall in the NPSG (Neue-Psychoaktive-Substanzen-Gesetz Österreich) as an analogue of LSD.

Denmark
ALD-52 is not listed as an illegal substance in Denmark as of April 2019, and its chemical class 'lysergamide' is not banned under the Analogue Act (some LSD analogues are, however, prohibited).

Finland
ALD-52 is labeled a controlled psychoactive substance in Finland as of 2014.

Germany
ALD-52 is controlled under the NpSG as of July 18, 2019. Production and import with the aim to place it on the market, administration to another person and trading is punishable. Possession is illegal but not penalized.

Latvia
ALD-52 is illegal in Latvia. Although it is not officially scheduled, it is controlled as an LSD structural analog due to an amendment made on June 1, 2015.

Romania
1P-LSD is illegal to produce or sell in Romania. It is not included directly in the list of controlled substances, but it is included in an analogue act. However, it is not, as of yet, classified as illegal to use.

Singapore
ALD-52 is a class A controlled drug, and is illegal to traffic, manufacture, import, export, possess, or consume in Singapore as of December 1, 2019, punishable with a minimum of five years' imprisonment and five strokes of the cane.

Switzerland
Since March 2018, ALD-52 is illegal in Switzerland and has been put in the RS 812.121.11.

United Kingdom
On June 10, 2014, the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended that ALD-52 be specifically named in the UK Misuse of Drugs Act as a class A drug despite not identifying it as ever having been sold or any harm associated with its use. The UK Home office accepted this advice and announced a ban of the substance to be enacted on 6 January 2015 as part of The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 (Amendment) (No. 2) Order 2014.

United States
ALD-52 is unscheduled in the United States. It may be considered an analogue of LSD, a Schedule I drug under the Controlled Substances Act. As such, the sale for human consumption or the use for illicit non-medical or scientific use could be prosecuted as crimes under the Federal Analogue Act however could be legal for medical and research uses like a research chemical.