LSD felts evaluation 2023

In 2023, 122 felts declared as LSD were handed in for analysis at the Zurich Drug Information Center (DIZ). In the twelve mobile drug checks carried out in the city of Zurich in 2023, an additional seven felts declared as LSD were handed in and analyzed. An additional 205 liquid LSD samples were also analyzed. However, these were not included in the evaluation, as liquid LSD samples are usually handed in as a self-mixed product and their evaluation is therefore only of limited significance.

The detailed LSD felt evaluation 2023 can be found in the attached report. These are the most important findings from 2023:‍

- Around 85% of the LSD felts analyzed by the DIZ have a dosage of less than 100 µg LSD, although the range is very wide. Despite the high number of felt samples with an average LSD value, the few samples that contain an extremely high amount of LSD show how important it is to analyze felts before use in order to avoid the risk of an unexpected overdose. The average active substance content on the LSD felts submitted in 2023 is 76.2 µg LSD and has hardly changed compared to the previous year.

- In 2023, 14.7 % of the felts declared as LSD contained unexpected substances. These were false declarations or unintended impurities (e.g. smear contamination in minigrips already in use). One felt was a misdeclaration. Instead of LSD, the sample contained 179.5 µg 25B-NBOMe and 108.2 µg 25C-NBOMe. NBOMe compounds are psychedelics and belong to the phenethylamine group. Both substances can lead to peripheral vasoconstriction and have been linked to a number of deaths in Europe.

- In 6 of the 129 felt samples declared as LSD, no psychoactive substance could be detected and 18 samples (14 %) contained various impurities in very low doses. In 2023, 54.3 % of the LSD felts analyzed also contained the non-psychoactive iso-LSD (+14.7 %). In contrast to 2021, no LSD analogues mislabeled as LSD were detected. LSD analogs (such as 1cP-LSD) were detected in the DIZ.

- A large proportion of the LSD felts sold at the DIZ are declared to contain higher doses than they actually do. The analyses in 2023 again showed that LSD felts contain on average half the declared active ingredient content (myth of "250 microgram felts") that was stated at the time of purchase. This could lead to consumers having an unrealistic picture of what LSD doses they usually take and overdosing due to a supposedly "weak" LSD sample.

- At DIZ Zurich, almost half of the LSD felts dispensed in 2023 were obtained by users directly via online supply channels such as Telegram or the darknet. This is in stark contrast to the usual conventional supply channels (e.g. private individuals, parties, etc.) for the other substances tested, such as cocaine and amphetamine.

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You can find more information about LSD on our website here.

The results published here are not representative of the substance market in the city of Zurich.