[H3]United States: 1970 to 2003[/H3] [DIV class="thumb tleft"] [DIV style="WIDTH: 182px"][A class=internal title="Pickard and Apperson ran an LSD lab in this former missile silo in Kansas." href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LSDMissileSilo.jpg"][img height=107 alt="Pickard and Apperson ran an LSD lab in this former missile silo in Kansas." src="vny!://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/ea/LSDMissileSilo.jpg/180px-LSDMissileSilo.jpg" width=180 longDesc=/wiki/Image:LSDMissileSilo.jpg][/A] [DIV class=thumbcaption] [DIV class=magnify style="FLOAT: right"][A class=internal title=Enlarge href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:LSDMissileSilo.jpg"][img height=11 alt=Enlarge src="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/skins-1.5/common/images/magnify-clip.png" width=15][/A][/DIV]Pickard and Apperson ran an LSD lab in this former missile silo in Kansas.[/DIV][/DIV]
American LSD usage declined in the 1970s and 1980s, then experienced a mild resurgence in popularity in the 1990s. Although there were many distribution channels during this decade, the U.S. [A title="Drug Enforcement Administration" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Administration"]DEA[/A] identified continued tours by the [A title="Psychedelic rock" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_rock"]psychedelic rock[/A] band [A title="Grateful Dead" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grateful_Dead"]The Grateful Dead[/A] and the then-burgeoning [A title=Rave href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rave"]rave[/A] scene as primary venues for LSD trafficking and consumption. American LSD usage fell sharply circa 2000. The decline is attributed to the arrest of two chemists, [A title="William Leonard Pickard" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard"]William Leonard Pickard[/A], a Harvard-educated organic chemist, and [A title="Clyde Apperson" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Apperson"]Clyde Apperson[/A]. The DEA claims these two inviduals were responsible for the vast majority of LSD sold illegally in the United States and a significant amount of the LSD sold in [A title=Europe href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe"]Europe[/A], and that they worked closely with organized traffickers. According to DEA reports, black market LSD availability dropped by 95% after the two were arrested in 2000. These arrests were a result of the largest LSD manufacturing raid in DEA history. [SUP class=reference id=_ref-29][A title="" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD#_note-29"][34][/A][/SUP]
In November of 2003, Pickard and Apperson were sentenced to two life sentences and two 30-year sentences, respectively, after being convicted in [A title="United States federal courts" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_federal_courts"]Federal Court[/A] of running a large scale LSD manufacturing operation out of several clandestine laboratories, including a former [A title="Missile silo" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missile_silo"]missile silo[/A] near [A title="Wamego, Kansas" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wamego%2C_Kansas"]Wamego, Kansas[/A].
LSD manufacturers and traffickers can be categorized into two groups: A few large scale producers, such as the aforementioned Pickard and Apperson, and an equally limited number of small, clandestine chemists, consisting of independent producers who, operating on a comparatively limited scale, can be found throughout the country. As a group, independent producers are of less concern to the [A title="Drug Enforcement Agency" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drug_Enforcement_Agency"]Drug Enforcement Agency[/A] than the larger groups, as their product reaches only local markets. Overall, LSD production in the United States is extremely limited, with very few individuals or groups capable of production.
[DIV class=editsection style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px"][[A title="Edit section: References" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=LSD&action=edit&section=20"]edit[/A]]
[A id=References name=References][/A]
[H2]References[/H2] [OL class=references] [LI id=_note-problem-child]↑ [A title="" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD#_ref-problem-child_0"]a[/A] [A title="" href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LSD#_ref-problem-child_1"]b[/A] Hofmann, Albert. LSD – My Problem Child (McGraw-Hill, 1980). [A class=internal href="vny!://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Booksources&isbn=0070293252"]ISBN 0-07-0293[/A][/LI][/OL]