I usually try to avoid linking to Slate, because most of my friends read it anyway, but this article about the decline in LSD use in the U.S. is really good.
Also check out the Explainer piece on why Ecstasy isn't made in the U.S.
Slate really is the new New Republic.
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I met these two guys at a bar once (always a great source of reliable information, right?) These guys had a facinating story about LSD. And it was clear within minutes, just from their general demenor, that these guys were acid freaks. So bearing the source in mind:
These freaks claimed that 99% of acid in the US since the 70's has come from one source, a ring of half a dozen men in the midwest - which Slate seems to concur with (though I met these men after that bust, so they may have been just quoting news).
They also claimed that Dead shows were THE distribution source for acid - that all major deals took place AT tailgate parties. More than that, they claimed that the Dead were not only aware of this fact, but that they received huge cash kickbacks for encouraging it. How did these guys know all this, I asked? They said that they were involved somewhere high up in this chain of dealing, that they had started touring with the dead as young teens.
Finally, they talked about the good ol' days of acid and bemoned the current state of acid quality. They had witnessed acid in huge batches of solid crystal - huge enough to have a color! Acid should be clear, they claimed, and color represented minor impurities. Different color, different high, with predictable results.
What was pure, clear LSD like, I asked? "You could go to sleep on it. You could sleep like a baby - while tripping out of your fucking skull!"