Case Reports of Psychedelic Use and Violence
| Year of Casea | Psychedelic Substance Involved | Other Substances Involved | Subject | Description of Case |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 196219 | LSD | Unknown | A 25-year-old woman with a history of multiple prior inpatient psychiatric hospitalizations for emotional problems and prior diagnoses of psychopathic personality and alcohol addiction | A woman with prior homicidal thoughts toward her victim was admitted to an inpatient psychiatric hospital for four months and received four treatments of 50 μg LSD. She stabbed a young man to death 90 minutes after release from the hospital on the third day following her last LSD treatment. |
| 196320 | LSD | Unknown | A male psychologist | A man took three doses of LSD and, at an unknown time thereafter, developed grandiose beliefs and threatened his wife with a gun. |
| 196621 | LSD | Unknown | A 32-year-old former medical student with a history of prior LSD and other hallucinogenic substance use | A man with marital difficulties consumed a sugar cube containing LSD, went to his mother-in-law's house, and stabbed her to death. He reported amnesia for the event. He received a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia and was found not guilty by reason of insanity. |
| 196921 | LSD | Alcohol | A 24-year-old man with a history of aggravated assault and alcohol abuse | A man consumed alcohol and LSD. Approximately six hours after consuming LSD, he had an argument with someone and shot him. He was found guilty of first-degree murder. |
| 196922 | LSD | Unknown | A 37-year-old English man | A man murdered an 18-year-old woman by blunt force trauma to the head and asphyxiation with a bed sheet in the context of an LSD trip when he thought he was descending to the center of the planet and being attacked by snakes. He was found guilty of manslaughter. |
| 197023 | LSD | Possibly alcohol | A 19-year-old man | A man was acquitted of breaking and entering and attempted rape due to temporary insanity induced by consuming a drink containing LSD. No further details relating the timing of the LSD consumption and the alleged events were available. |
| 197224 | LSD | Unknown | A 22-year-old man with a history of cannabis, amphetamine, and LSD use and depression | A man took LSD from a hitchhiker and developed fears that she intended to destroy his mind. He traveled from California to Massachusetts, then over the course of eight days to London, Paris, Athens, and Tel Aviv, where he stabbed a man with a knife because he feared the man was a Nazi bragging about killing Jews. He was found unfit to stand trial and deported back to the United States. |
| 197325 | LSD | Cannabis, alcohol | A 22-year-old man with a history of chronic cannabis, LSD, and methamphetamine use, who reported previously taking LSD more than 100 times without a negative experience | A man met with his ex-girlfriend at her dormitory and stabbed her with a knife after smoking a marijuana cigarette, taking two LSD tablets of unknown doses, and drinking a glass of beer earlier in the day. He was briefly admitted to an inpatient psychiatric unit and discharged with diagnoses of “drug dependence” and “unspecified personality disorder.” Three days after discharge, he shot and killed another girlfriend, reporting that he had smoked marijuana and taken an unknown amount of LSD two days before the murder. He was found “unfit to stand trial for reasons of insanity” and sent to a state hospital. |
| 197326 | LSD | Alcohol | A man with a history of LSD use | A man stabbed a coworker to death after drinking alcohol and becoming “psychotic,” which the author inferred was due to an LSD-related flashback. |
| 200527 | LSD | None | A 26-year-old man | A man suspected of involvement in an attempted homicide tested positive for LSD. No details regarding the subject or related events were provided. |
| 200628 | 5-MeO-DIPT, 5-MeO-MIPT | None | A 22-year-old man with a history of mushroom and cannabis use and no prior negative experiences | A man purchased three designer drugs from the internet. He took “Wild Game” and “Mipty” and developed persecutory fears. He killed his girlfriend with a kitchen knife. Police found him in a suburban neighborhood naked and confused. He subsequently reported amnesia for the event. |
↵a If the year of the case is unknown, then the year of publication is provided.
LSD, lysergic acid diethylamide.