Does LSD Go Bad? The Real Science of Blotter Potency and Decay

You’ve probably heard the rumors or maybe found an old stash from three festivals ago tucked inside a dusty book. People always ask: Does LSD go bad? The short answer is yes, but it doesn't "spoil" like a gallon of milk. It’s more of a slow fade into nothingness.

LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide, is one of the most fragile molecules in the world of pharmacology. It's picky. It’s sensitive. If you leave it on a sunny windowsill, it's toast in a matter of hours. But if you treat it right? It can outlive your interest in using it.

Honestly, the fear isn't that old acid will make you sick. It won't turn into a poison or a "bad trip" chemical. It just stops being acid. You end up swallowing a tiny piece of paper or a drop of distilled water that does absolutely nothing.

What Actually Happens When LSD Degrades?

The chemistry here is pretty straightforward. LSD is an organic molecule with a very specific, delicate structure. To stay active, it needs to maintain its shape. When it gets "hit" by external energy—like UV rays or heat—the chemical bonds literally break or rearrange.

Chemists call this process isomerization or oxidation. Specifically, LSD can turn into "iso-LSD," which is biologically inactive. It won't get you high. It won't give you visuals. It’s just dead weight.

According to Alexander Shulgin, the legendary chemist who wrote TiHKAL and PiHKAL, LSD is notoriously unstable in its salt form when exposed to the elements. He often noted that while many phenethylamines (like 2C-B) are robust, ergolines (like LSD) are the "divas" of the lab. They want a very specific environment, or they simply check out.

The Four Horsemen of Potency Loss

If you want to know why your tabs lost their kick, look at these four culprits:

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1. Light: This is the big one. Ultraviolet (UV) light is energy. When that energy hits the LSD molecule, it tears it apart. Even a few hours of direct sunlight can significantly reduce the potency of a blotter sheet.
2. Heat: Higher temperatures speed up chemical reactions. While room temperature (around 70°F or 21°C) is generally okay for short-term storage, prolonged exposure to heat—like a hot car or a pocket—will degrade the substance.
3. Oxygen: Oxidation is a slow burn. Over months or years, exposure to air will gradually neutralize the molecules on the surface of your blotter or in your liquid vial.
4. Moisture: This is the sneaky killer. Humidity can lead to mold on the paper, but more importantly, water (especially tap water) often contains chlorine.

The Chlorine Trap

Let’s talk about tap water for a second. This is the most common way people accidentally "kill" their LSD. If you have a liquid vial and you try to dilute it with a bit of tap water to share it, you might have just destroyed the whole batch.

Chlorine destroys LSD on contact. Even the tiny amount of residual chlorine in municipal tap water is enough to neutralize the molecule instantly. If you are dealing with liquid, you must use distilled water or high-proof ethanol (like Everclear). Anything else is a gamble you’ll probably lose.

How Long Does It Actually Last?

In "street" conditions—meaning a baggy in a drawer—you can expect a noticeable drop in potency after about six months to a year. It might still work, but that 100µg tab might feel more like 60µg.

However, in controlled conditions, the longevity is incredible. There are documented cases of researchers testing LSD that was sealed in amber glass ampoules under nitrogen gas back in the 1950s. When opened decades later, the material was still almost 100% pure.

You probably don't have a nitrogen-flushed lab. That's fine.

For the average person, "bad" acid is usually just "weak" acid. I’ve seen reports on forums like Erowid or Bluelight where users found tabs from the 1990s in the back of a freezer. If they were wrapped tightly in foil and kept frozen, they often worked just as well as the day they were laid.

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Storage Realities: Blotter vs. Liquid vs. Gel Tabs

Not all forms of the drug age the same way.

Blotter paper has the highest surface area. Because the LSD is spread out over the fibers of the paper, it’s the most exposed to oxygen. It’s the most vulnerable.

Gel tabs (windowpanes) are a bit more resilient. The LSD is suspended inside a gelatin matrix. This acts as a physical barrier against oxygen and moisture. Gels tend to hold their "punch" longer than paper if kept in a cool place.

Liquid LSD is a wild card. If it's in alcohol, it's fairly stable. If it's in water, it's at risk of bacterial growth or evaporation. Always keep liquid in a dark (amber) glass dropper bottle. Plastic can actually "leach" the LSD or allow oxygen to permeate over time.

Best Practices for Longevity

If you want to ensure your stash doesn't go bad, you need to mimic a lab environment as much as possible. It's not hard, but it requires being a little bit "extra."

• Wrap it in foil. Aluminum foil is a total light block. Don't use plastic wrap alone; it lets light through.
• Airtight is right. Put that foil packet inside a small amber glass jar or a high-quality vacuum-sealed bag.
• The Fridge/Freezer Debate. Many people swear by the freezer. It’s great for long-term storage (years), but it has a catch: condensation. If you take a cold jar out of the freezer and open it immediately, moisture from the air will condense on your tabs. This ruins them. You must let the container reach room temperature before opening it.
• Silica Gel. Throw one of those "Do Not Eat" desiccant packets into your storage jar. It sucks up any stray moisture.

Signs Your LSD Has Degraded

How can you tell if it's gone bad without taking it? Honestly, you can't really tell by looking.

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• Discoloration: If blotter paper has turned brown or yellow, it might be a sign of oxidation, but it could also just be the paper aging or the ink bleeding.
• Brittle Gels: If gel tabs become extremely hard and cracked, they might have been exposed to too much heat or air.
• The Blacklight Myth: Some people suggest using a UV light (blacklight) to see if the tabs glow, as LSD is fluorescent. Do not do this. The UV light used to check for the glow is the very thing that destroys the molecule. You’re literally killing the potency just to see if it’s there.

Safety and Efficacy

A common concern is whether "expired" LSD is dangerous. There is no evidence that the breakdown products of LSD (like lumi-LSD or iso-LSD) are toxic. They just don't do anything.

The real danger is inconsistency. If you have old tabs and you assume they are weak, you might be tempted to take three instead of one. If those tabs happened to be stored well and haven't lost potency, you are now on a much more intense journey than you planned for.

Always test your substances with a reagent kit (like the Ehrlich or Hofmann reagents). While these won't tell you the potency, they will tell you if the substance is actually an indole/lysergamide and not a dangerous research chemical like 25I-NBOMe, which is much more stable but significantly more toxic.

Practical Next Steps for Storage

If you're looking to preserve what you have for the long haul, follow this specific workflow to prevent your LSD from going bad:

1. Prepare the layers: Wrap your tabs tightly in a small piece of uncolored parchment paper, then wrap that in a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil.
2. Vacuum seal: If you have a vacuum sealer, use it. If not, use a small glass vial with a tight-sealing lid.
3. Minimize air: Fill any empty space in the vial with cotton balls or a silica desiccant pack to minimize the amount of "dead air" sitting against the drug.
4. Choose your "Vault": A cool, dark closet is usually sufficient for 1-2 years. For 5+ years, use the back of the freezer, but remember the rule: Never open the container until it has fully thawed to room temperature.

By controlling for light, heat, and moisture, you effectively "pause" the clock on molecular decay. LSD doesn't have a set expiration date; it only has a half-life determined by your storage habits. Treat it like a delicate photographic film or a fine wine, and it will remain effective for a very long time.