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Testing LSD (please read before posting questions)

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Enoon

Enoon

Rising Star
Senior Member
OG Pioneer
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This thread is for all of those that have accidentally mislabeled their LSD or spilled it on colored paper and now are unsure of whether what they have is really LSD and how much of it is on the paper...

I will briefly go through various methods of testing for LSD and substances that are easily mistaken for it. Please correct me if I'm wrong on any of these points.
Furthermore, if you have questions concerning this or related topics you can ask your questions in this thread. Please make sure to be abiding our attitude/rules, i.e. NO SOURCING TALK.


Testing for the presence of LSD or other substances is fairly easy. There are three ways to do it:


1) Reagents
Ehrlich, Marquis and Mecke test can be used to check for what is in your sample. If LSD is present

Ehrlich will turn pinkish purple
Marquis on drops will turn orange to brown
Marquis on blotter will turn brown
Mecke on blotter will turn brownish olive green to black
Mecke on drops will turn greenish brown to black

Depending on the substance(s) present the color of each of these reagents will be different and should be consulted using the color-charts usually provided with the testing kits. However:

Testing with a single reagent provides very limited discriminatory power, and single measurements leave no room for error since there's no additional checks done to ensure that the result is valid.

Contrary to popular belief these test reagents do not positively identify any drug. It's not a case of test with reagent X and if it turns a certain color then it must be substance Y. The testing is actually reductive. What we're trying to do is eliminate other possibilities with contradictory results up to a point where it seems most probable that one drug is present.

First we have to identify the other substances that might be present and that we need to be able to distinguish. In the case of LSD we're trying to distinguish it from other high potency hallucinogens such as the DOx series of psychedelic amphetamines, benzodifurans like bromo-dragonFLY, the NBOMe-2C series, 5-MeO-AMT etc.

Ehrlich reagent is an indole-reactive test. Ehrlich would therefore be expected to give a positive response to both LSD and 5-MeO-AMT since they are indoles, but not to the DOx series, bromo-dragonFLY or the NBOMe-2C series. A positive test with Ehrlich reagent would therefore make the presence of the latter substances improbable, while not contradicting that the substance may truly contain LSD.

We then need a second test to distinguish between LSD and 5-MeO-AMT. In the presence of LSD Marquis reagent turns olive green to black. Depending on the concentration 5-MeO-AMT should give a golden/brownish hue instead. It's important that the test is done at a suitable concentration so that the end color is not too intense, as deep gold/brown may look almost black. Again, an olive colored result would make the presence of 5-MeO-AMT improbable while not contradicting what would be expected if LSD were present.

Mecke reagent could then be used as an additional check to increase the confidence of the results. Mecke would be expected to turn olive to black with LSD. Any other color change would suggest the presence of something other than LSD.

So if after three tests we haven't had a contradictory result then it seems probable (though still far from certain) that LSD was the substance in question. One should still take care when consuming a new substance though. The test results are not 100% reliable, especially if the substance was a mixture.

Read more here
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2) TLC + Reagents

Eluent: methanol:ammonia - 2.5ml of 25% ammonia and 97.5ml methanol for 100ml eluent

Merck silica f254nm plates. Run next to caffeine. Use 254nm UV to visualize

LSD should appear as a single strongly blue spot around same height as caffeine. No other LSD substitutes shines strongly blue. Run confirmatory reagent test on top of spot under normal light afterwards.


3) Black light
erowid said:
LSD fluoresces (glows) blue to blue-ish white under longwave (360 nm) UV light. Obviously other things glow under blacklight as well, so just the fact that it glows doesn't mean it's LSD, but if it doesn't glow, LSD can generally be ruled out. The glow should be apparent in both crystal form and liquid form.

Whether or not this test can be used for LSD liquid that has been dropped onto other materials such as blotter or sugar cubes is more complicated. There are reports of being able to hold a blacklight close to a hit of blotter in a dark room and see a glow in the spot on the paper where the acid was dropped. However other people report that the concentration can be low enough that it doesn't appear. An additional complication is that some paper or inks themselves glow under blacklight, so a fully glowing hit of blotter (rather than a glowing spot on the hit) doesn't identify the presence of LSD.
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Careful though, because the family of chemicals including 25I-NBOMe and 25C-NBOMe are also reported to fluoresce under uv light, glowing a pink or orangish color.

SOURCE



To test for the quantity of LSD in a given sample as well as purity there are the following methods:

1) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)
SOURCE

2) HPLC + UV-vis spectroscopy
SOURCE

These tests require lab equipment most people will not have at home, so most likely you will have to send a sample to a testing lab, if available. This means that you on your own in all probability cannot determine the quantity of the LSD in a given sample.


Substances that are often "mistaken" for LSD:

DOB, DOI, DOM, DOC and other closely related drugs (DOx)
NBOMes (25I, 25B, 25C, 25D, 25I, 25IP, etc)
Bromo-DragonFLY
lysergamides such as ALD-52
5-MeO-AMT
 
Good topic Enoon. I was hoping eventually this topic would be sticky'd and somehow knew it would be. There are many blotters out there these days that are not real LSD guys. Make sure you know what it is before taking multiple tabs at once!

Simply put, if it has bitter taste it probably isnt LSD. If it lasts an extremely long time it probably isnt either. Only way to know for certain is to invest in a cheap testing kit, knowledge is power.
 
The problem with tasting is that the ink used to color the blotters can also have a taste, so it's not a very safe / indicative way to test. Also, if you have the stuff in your mouth already, a little will also enter your system, which, if you wanted to dose LSD but find it isn't, can kind of suck.

I'll add how to perform the reagent test on a blotter once I have a bit more time, though if anyone wants to add this info before I do, be my guest.
 
Let me be clear - we are not talking about sourcing. We are not talking about the blotters "out there"...

Jellyfox said:
Nowadays, 95% of what is called LSD, isn't. - Timothy Leary.
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IIRC according to reports from testing agencies such as Energy Control, that statement seems quite false. I scrolled through a list of things they tested and was surprised at how many of the LSD samples were actually exactly what they assumed it to be. 95% misrepresentations, no way.

That being said, there's only one way to be sure and given the ugly substances that can be "mistaken" for LSD it's highly advisable to test it, if you don't remember what you put on the blotter.
 
Important information, and also so unfortunate that the risks of accidentally consuming an unwanted substance are so prevalent with LSD.

I have had wonderful experiences with LSD, comparable to no other in its own unique way. 20 years ago, it was a fairly safe bet that what you wound up with was either bunk or LSD. These days its such a crapshoot, even with reagents on hand, I tread very carefully into blotter hits these days. I won't take them unless I am sure that I have at least 3 days where I do not have to be at work in the horrible circumstance of consuming an unpleasant very long acting DOx series drug. The comeup is so anxiety riddled sometimes, sort of like waiting to see if I have been poisoned. Nowhere near the safe and ecstatic space that I enter my home grown mushrooms with. Taints the trip for the first of the batch.

I really despise this situation. Lucy was one of my first loves, and when I was a teenager, it was everywhere and clean. I am so hesitant these days, but when I luck out, I count my lucky stars.
 
I was meaning on making a new topic to inquire which of these testing kits were the most accurate, and ruled out the RC's that are making the rounds on blotter these days, but then I stumbled across this thread.

I will probably be taking lsd for the first time soon, and with the current explosion of research chems and the reports of numerous 25i-related deaths I know for damn sure I'll be testing my tabs beforehand. Thanks for the information Enoon! :thumb_up:
 
Thought this would be a good thread to ask this in.

Are these testing kits reliable?

I know it says to use kit a and b before hand, but those are to rule out opiates, codiene, and amphetamines...Surely this is not something to worry about with LSD? We are trying to distinguish LSD from things such as DOx and NBOMe, not opiates and amphetamines, correct?
 
1) gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS)


2) HPLC + UV-vis spectroscopy
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1) will identify the compound, but it may need to be complexed with a complexation reagent
to make it volatile. LC-MS will also identify it without the need of a complexation reagent,
but it may not say anything about the epimers present. For this, an analyte may be complexed with a beta-cyclodextrin or crown ether prior to introducing it into the sample loop, analysis in MS or MS/MS mode.

2) is used to determine purity.

Ehrlich's...well, even LSA shows up purple with ehrlich's. Ehrlich's forms an adduct at the 2-position of indole, so it will exclude anything lacking the pyrrole, such as the phenethylamines and benzodifurans.
 
I tested blacklight with blotters that are strong and sure pure lsd. Only the white of the paper glows there:grin: This is maybe the worst method to determine.

I think EZ-Test is the way to go:)
 
So is the above test that I mentioned a good way to go then Benz? As long as it is an ergoline compound such as LSD, LSA, or any analogs such as iso-lsd, it will turn purple, but all the imitation RC's out there that we dont want will not remain purple or turn a completely different color correct?

If this is the case I am going to purchase some of these, for any ergoline compounds such as LSD or LSA and such analogs of these two are of interest to me. I am ok with taking them, just not RC's.
 
then yea, they should suffice for that purpose.

spectrophotometric assays, and reagent tests in visible light,
differentiate compounds based on their structure;
the UV tests display different colors depending on the
extent of pi-bond conjugation (double-bonds). this property
is often exploited in analytical chemistry, because different compounds
have different wavelengths of max absorbance, and transmit varying intensities and hues.
this isn't a method of identification, but a determination of concentration in solution.
 
Thank you Enoon for this thread/sticky. I'm currently in the process of analyzing/testing a particular liquid solution of reported LSD. I've done a comparative UV test with what I know to be LSD with good results, but as this thread points out is in no way conclusive. Looking forward to performing a TLC test on it and going forward from there.

Cheers
-idt
 
Things are getting more complicated now that other lysergamides such as AL-LAD and LSZ are out there. I take it there is no method other than chromatography / mass spectrometry that will rule these out?


MODERATOR: NO TALK ABOUT BUYING/SELLING!
 
ॐ,

Please read the first post about no talk about sourcing and also check the Attitude page. You cannot talk, in any way, about buying/selling on this site.


The Traveler
 
Good sticky Enoon, bravo!

We can now also assume the blotter might contain AL-LAD or LSZ since they have became more abundant lately. This has gone far beyond the ridiculous, I have little faith anyone who isn't lucky or extremely clued in is getting real LSD now. Most people have never even heard of the compounds listed in this topic.
 
The Traveler said:
ॐ,

Please read the first post about no talk about sourcing and also check the Attitude page. You cannot talk, in any way, about buying/selling on this site.


The Traveler
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I'm very sorry.
I am aware of the attitude rules, and the one about sourcing in particular.
I thought I wasn't stepping out of line by simply mentioning the forms in which I know the substances to be available. Perhaps the way I worded myself was wrong, and straddling the line too much. Either way, apologies, and no hard feelings. I will be more careful next time :thumb_up:
 
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