Lizard Labs

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Lizard Labs
Founded2012[1][2]
FounderAlexander Stratford ("Al")
DefunctDecember 31, 2024 (2024-12-31)[2]
Headquarters
Maastricht
,
Netherlands
ProductsResearch chemicals and designer drugs
Websiteweb.archive.org/web/20221004035143/https://lizardlabs.eu/ (2014–2022)
web.archive.org/web/20241230074450/https://lizardlabs.nl/ (2023–2024)
web.archive.org/web/20240815015920/https://synexsynthetics.nl/

Lizard Labs, also known as Lizart Trading B.V. or Synex Synthetics B.V., was a well-known chemical producer and online vendor of legal psychoactive research chemicals that was based in Maastricht, Netherlands and operated from 2012 to 2024.[1][3][4][5][6][7][2] Its founder was a British chemist named Alexander Stratford who also went by the pseudonym "Al".[1][3][6] The company notably developed and sold designer lysergamides, or LSD derivatives and prodrugs, such as 1V-LSD.[1][3][8][9] They sold and shipped their compounds internationally, for instance to countries like Germany, France, and Japan.[1][3][8][10][11]

The company played an ongoing "cat-and-mouse game" of developing and selling novel legal LSD prodrugs to circumvent drug laws.[1][3][11][2] They initially developed the legal LSD prodrug 1P-LSD, which they released in 2012 and was later banned.[1][10][9][5] Subsequently, the company successively developed other legal LSD prodrugs including 1B-LSD, 1cP-LSD, 1V-LSD, 1D-LSD, and 1S-LSD, which were each introduced and then variably banned similarly.[1][3][12][2] 1V-LSD and other LSD prodrugs are metabolically converted into LSD in the body and are said to be very similar or almost identical in their effects to actual LSD.[1][3][6][13][14] However, according to Al, they can reportedly have differing durations from LSD, such as a shorter duration of 6 to 8 hours in the case of 1V-LSD.[1][3] Lizard Labs synthesized compounds such as 1V-LSD in-house, with the whole process in the case of 1V-LSD taking about 1 month.[1][3] In a scene in a media feature, Al was shown holding a vial containing approximately 3 or 4 grams of 1V-LSD powder, which was said to be enough to dose maybe a small country.[1][3] The company described having to employ alternative chemical synthesis routes to avoid use of controlled precursors and intermediates.[1][3] They also synthesized and sold various other legal psychoactive research chemicals besides lysergamides.[4][2]

The company's website stated that their chemicals were for research purposes only and not for human consumption.[15] However, when interviewed in a media feature, in which he was described as the inventor of "legal LSD", Al said that he wished to make the LSD psychedelic experience more accessible, highlighting potential personal benefits and relatively low risks of the drug.[1][3] As another basis for his company, he also cited the low and inconsistent quality of black-market LSD, which might or might not actually contain any LSD at all and was known to contain highly variable doses.[1][3]

Lizard Labs was interviewed by a French magazine in July 2022[11] and was covered in a short German documentary by Vice Media in August 2022.[1][3] Soon after this media coverage, in November 2022, the company was raided by an international United States-led law enforcement operation after American authorities accused them of manufacturing fentanyl.[8][10][4] Electronic devices and equipment were confiscated, employees were detained and questioned, and the company's website was shut down.[8][16] However, no substances were confiscated and no arrests were made.[8] Subsequently, the company resumed operations and its website came back online by January 2023.[2] However, it later permanently shut down at the end of December 2024.[2] The reason cited for their closing was that continued operations in the Netherlands had become increasingly challenging.[2]

Stratford and colleagues published numerous studies and patents on psychedelic lysergamides in the 2010s and 2020s, for instance the "Return of the Lysergamides" series of papers on lysergamides and lysergamide prodrugs.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][6][24] The studies included analytical, preclinical, and clinical research on these lysergamides.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][6] The papers were notably coauthored with other prominent figures in the psychedelic research community, such as Jason Wallach, Adam Halberstadt, and David E. Nichols.[17][18][19][20][21][22][23]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Niesporek, Tom (17 August 2022). Der Hype um legales LSD in Deutschland: Wie das Verbot umgangen wird [The hype surrounding legal LSD in Germany: How the ban is circumvented]. YouTube (in German). VICE auf Deutsch. Event occurs at 2:10–8:12, 20:05–20:41. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i "The End of An Era: Lizard Labs to Permanently Close on 31st December 2024". GetResponse. Lizard Labs. November 2024. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Niesporek, Tom (17 August 2022). "Wir haben den Erfinder von legalem LSD getroffen" [We met the inventor of legal LSD]. VICE. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 29 September 2025. LSD ist in Deutschland seit einiger Zeit überall verfügbar – in Onlineshops, bei Veranstaltungen und mittlerweile sogar in eigenen Läden. Und das völlig legal. Das Prinzip ist ganz einfach: die Molekülstruktur von richtigem LSD wird leicht abgeändert und man erhält einen Stoff mit nahezu identischer Wirkung. Der ist dann zwar viel weniger erforscht als LSD, aber völlig legal erhältlich. 1V-LSD heißt die Substanz, die das Verbot aktuell umgeht. Aber was passiert, wenn eine psychedelische Droge einfach so verfügbar wird? VICE hat den Erfinder der Substanz in einem Labor getroffen, in dem er arbeitet, und mit ihm über sein Projekt gesprochen. Wie hat er den Stoff entwickelt? Was treibt ihn an? Außerdem begleiten wir das erste legale LSD-Retreat in Deutschland. Was passiert, wenn LSD auf die Mitte der Gesellschaft trifft?
  4. ^ a b c Psychedelic Spotlight (15 November 2022). "Raids of Shroomyz and Lizard Labs Highlights Risks of Psychedelic Gray Market". Psychedelic Spotlight. Retrieved 29 September 2025. In the EU, authorities spent last week rolling up a European-based network of drug websites alleged to be selling fentanyl or similar analogs. The international law enforcement action was led by US authorities, and also targeted the popular Dutch research chemical company Lizard Labs. Lizard Labs is well known by psychonauts worldwide as a trusted source of hard to find lysergamides, LSD analogs, and other psychoactive research chemicals. Customers woke up last week to find that the Lizard Labs domain name had been seized by US Homeland Security. These recent raids highlight the ongoing risks to the psychedelic gray market within the larger environment of the psychedelic renaissance and psychedelic decriminalization movements.
  5. ^ a b Trott, Dominic Milton (12 September 2022). The Drug Users Bible [Extended Edition]. MxZero Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9955936-9-5. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  6. ^ a b c d e Grumann C, Henkel K, Brandt SD, Stratford A, Passie T, Auwärter V (August 2020). "Pharmacokinetics and subjective effects of 1P-LSD in humans after oral and intravenous administration". Drug Test Anal. 12 (8): 1144–1153. doi:10.1002/dta.2821. PMID 32415750. Alexander Stratford,3 [...] 3 Synex Synthetics BV, Maastricht, The Netherlands [...] 1P-LSD hemitartrate (2:1) was provided by Synex Synthetics BV (Maastricht, The Netherlands) (> 98%; residual LSD content < 1%) and LSD was purchased from LGC Standards (Wesel, Germany).
  7. ^ "SYNEX SYNTHETICS B.V." transfirm.nl (in Dutch). 8 May 2025. Retrieved 29 September 2025. SYNEX SYNTHETICS BV [...] Karveelweg 20 6222 NH Maastricht [...] All organizations in this building [...] Lizart Trading BV
  8. ^ a b c d e Niesporek, Tom; Winter, Sabrina (10 November 2022). "Razzia bei Hersteller von legalem LSD: Ermittler nehmen Labor hoch" [Raid on manufacturer of legal LSD: Investigators seize laboratory]. VICE. Retrieved 29 September 2025. US-Behörden haben mehrere Websites offline genommen, die synthetische Drogen wie Amphetamine und LSD-Derivate aus Europa verkauft haben. Das gibt das US-Finanzministerium in einer Pressemitteilung bekannt. Demnach habe man mit "Partnern in den Niederlanden und dem Vereinigten Königreich" zusammengearbeitet. Nach Informationen von VICE gab es mehrere Razzien, unter anderem im niederländischen Labor Lizard Labs. Dort wurden LSD-Derivate hergestellt, die auch nach Deutschland verkauft wurden. Da es sich bei diesen Stoffen um Neuentwicklungen handelt, sind einige von ihnen in Deutschland legal erhältlich. Das ändert sich, sobald sie als verbotene Substanzen im Neue psychoaktive Stoffe Gesetz, NpSG, gelistet werden. Ein Insider bestätigte gegenüber VICE, dass am Dienstag gegen 10 Uhr die Gebäude von Lizard Labs nahe Maastricht durchsucht wurden. Ein Video, das VICE vorliegt, zeigt Polizisten auf dem Gelände. Die Polizei soll Laptops und Handys beschlagnahmt haben, allerdings keine Substanzen. Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter des Chemielabors wurden festgehalten und befragt. Festgenommen wurde dort niemand. Die niederländische Polizei hat den Einsatz bisher weder bestätigt noch dementiert.
  9. ^ a b Halser, Marlene (28 February 2023). "Regulierung von LSD: Legale Trips dank Tippfehler im Gesetzentwurf?" [Regulation of LSD: Legal trips thanks to typos in the draft law?]. Die Zeit (in German). Retrieved 29 September 2025. Hergestellt werden solche Derivate für den deutschen Markt meist von Lizard Labs, einem Labor in Holland, das auf die Entwicklung solcher Stoffe spezialisiert ist. Das erste Derivat, 1P-LSD, kam 2015 auf den Markt. [...]
  10. ^ a b c Vorobyov, Niko (24 May 2023). "It's Surprisingly Easy to Get 'Legal' LSD in Japan". VICE. Retrieved 29 September 2025. 1V-LSD and 1D-LSD are part of the lysergamide family of hallucinogenic compounds, the most famous of which is, of course, acid or LSD. Unlike acid, however, research about these other substances is scarce, but experiments on mice show 1V-LSD activates the same brain receptors as acid. 1V-LSD is a slightly modified molecule of 1P-LSD, which was itself being sold as a "legal acid" in online shops around 2012. The LSD pro-drugs were supplied by European companies such as Holland-based Lizard Labs, which was recently targeted by law enforcement in 2022 after American authorities accused them of clandestinely manufacturing fentanyl.
  11. ^ a b c Chiara, Jean-Baptiste (27 July 2022). "LSD light : Gobe, c'est du légal !" [LSD Light: Swallow It, It's Legal!]. Technikart (in French). Retrieved 29 September 2025. Sorti du labo hollandais Lizard Labs, cet acide est l'œuvre d'un chimiste qui contourne la loi en modifiant la structure moléculaire des substances. Dès 2015, il crée le 1P-LSD, ce qu'on appelle un « research chemical » (RC), qui n'est pas destiné à être consommé, mais étudié… [...] Nous sommes entrés en contact avec cet artiste de la molécule, l'un des seuls dans le monde à fabriquer du LSD en quantité industrielle, qui se décrit comme « entrepreneur, chimiste, ingénieur, penseur, bricoleur… peut-être artiste, je ne suis pas sûr de celui-là. ». Il nous explique : « J'ai créé le 1P-LSD car je crois que les psychédéliques devraient être accessibles à tous ceux qui veulent les explorer. Ce sont des outils très utiles pour sonder la psychologie humaine et le fonctionnement de la conscience. Le 1P-LSD a été la première substance que j'ai inventée, et une découverte assez fortuite, je ne m'attendais pas à ce qu'il fonctionne aussi bien ». Si le 1P-LSD est un secret de polichinelle en 2015, le plan se fait connaître en Allemagne vers la fin de la décennie. Avant qu'une loi allemande ne l'interdise en 2019, suivie par une loi française en 2020. Mais notre chimiste militant, ce résistant de l'ouverture des conscience, répond instantanément à ce « ban », et crée alors une nouvelle substance dès la fin 2019 : le 1cP-LSD. [...]
  12. ^ Încrosnatu, Dănuț (17 July 2023). "From 1V-LSD to 1D-LSD: The Evolution of Legal Lysergamides". Sociedelic. Retrieved 29 September 2025. Before [...] 1D-LSD, there was 1V-LSD, also known as 1-valeryl-LSD. This compound was widely accepted in Germany and other parts of the world due to its legal status and similar effects to LSD, the most well-known lysergamide. From [...] Lizard Labs [has come] [...] 1D-LSD. [This has] led to the synthesis of this novel German-legal lysergamide, a [...] successor to 1V-LSD. [...]
  13. ^ Ponce, Julio de Carvalho (2024). "The use of prodrugs as drugs of abuse". WIREs Forensic Science. 6 (3). doi:10.1002/wfs2.1514. ISSN 2573-9468. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  14. ^ Schifano F, Vento A, Scherbaum N, Guirguis A (2023). "Stimulant and hallucinogenic novel psychoactive substances; an update". Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol. 16 (11): 1109–1123. doi:10.1080/17512433.2023.2279192. PMID 37968919.
  15. ^ Polonyi, Max (16 July 2021). "(S+) 1CP-LSD und Hilaritas-Gründer Carl Philipp Trump: »Probier doch mal mein LSD«" [(S+) 1CP-LSD and Hilaritas founder Carl Philipp Trump: "Try my LSD"]. Der Spiegel (in German). Retrieved 29 September 2025. Trump bezieht 1CP-LSD von einer Firma aus den Niederlanden. Er fand die Firma vergangenen Sommer durch eine Empfehlung im Internet. Die Firma heißt Lizardlabs. Lizardlabs ist nicht mehr als ein Labor in einem Industriegebiet in Maastricht, eine kleine Lagerhalle zwischen Wiesen und Kanälen. In dem Labor werden Forschungschemikalien produziert. Die Produkte, so steht es auf der Website von Lizardlabs, würden nur für den Laborgebrauch verkauft. »Strictly not for human consumption or any form of in-vivo research or experimentation«. Nicht für den menschlichen Konsum oder jegliche Form von Lebendexperiment. Auf der Website gibt es keine Telefonnummer und keine Namen, nur eine E-Mail-Adresse, über die man sich bewerben kann. Das Logo von Lizardlabs ist ein grinsendes Chamäleon.
  16. ^ Daly, Max (11 November 2022). "US Takes Down European Websites Blamed for Selling Fentanyl". VICE. Retrieved 29 September 2025. The US government is also believed to be behind the targeting on Tuesday by Dutch police of a laboratory, Lizard Labs, near the city of Maastricht, which makes LSD analogues currently legal in some countries, including Germany. The raid was confirmed to VICE World News by insiders, who filmed police entering the warehouse. Equipment was seized and the lab's website was shut down by the US government.
  17. ^ a b c Brandt SD, Kavanagh PV, Westphal F, Stratford A, Elliott SP, Hoang K, Wallach J, Halberstadt AL (September 2016). "Return of the lysergamides. Part I: Analytical and behavioural characterization of 1-propionyl-d-lysergic acid diethylamide (1P-LSD)". Drug Test Anal. 8 (9): 891–902. doi:10.1002/dta.1884. PMC 4829483. PMID 26456305.
  18. ^ a b c Brandt SD, Kavanagh PV, Westphal F, Elliott SP, Wallach J, Colestock T, Burrow TE, Chapman SJ, Stratford A, Nichols DE, Halberstadt AL (January 2017). "Return of the lysergamides. Part II: Analytical and behavioural characterization of N6 -allyl-6-norlysergic acid diethylamide (AL-LAD) and (2'S,4'S)-lysergic acid 2,4-dimethylazetidide (LSZ)". Drug Test Anal. 9 (1): 38–50. doi:10.1002/dta.1985. PMC 5411264. PMID 27265891.
  19. ^ a b c Brandt SD, Kavanagh PV, Westphal F, Elliott SP, Wallach J, Stratford A, Nichols DE, Halberstadt AL (October 2017). "Return of the lysergamides. Part III: Analytical characterization of N6 -ethyl-6-norlysergic acid diethylamide (ETH-LAD) and 1-propionyl ETH-LAD (1P-ETH-LAD)". Drug Test Anal. 9 (10): 1641–1649. doi:10.1002/dta.2196. PMC 6230477. PMID 28342178.
  20. ^ a b c Brandt SD, Kavanagh PV, Twamley B, Westphal F, Elliott SP, Wallach J, Stratford A, Klein LM, McCorvy JD, Nichols DE, Halberstadt AL (February 2018). "Return of the lysergamides. Part IV: Analytical and pharmacological characterization of lysergic acid morpholide (LSM-775)". Drug Test Anal. 10 (2): 310–322. doi:10.1002/dta.2222. PMC 6230476. PMID 28585392.
  21. ^ a b c Brandt SD, Kavanagh PV, Westphal F, Stratford A, Elliott SP, Dowling G, Wallach J, Halberstadt AL (August 2019). "Return of the lysergamides. Part V: Analytical and behavioural characterization of 1-butanoyl-d-lysergic acid diethylamide (1B-LSD)". Drug Test Anal. 11 (8): 1122–1133. doi:10.1002/dta.2613. PMC 6899222. PMID 31083768.
  22. ^ a b c Brandt SD, Kavanagh PV, Westphal F, Stratford A, Odland AU, Klein AK, Dowling G, Dempster NM, Wallach J, Passie T, Halberstadt AL (June 2020). "Return of the lysergamides. Part VI: Analytical and behavioural characterization of 1-cyclopropanoyl-d-lysergic acid diethylamide (1CP-LSD)". Drug Test Anal. 12 (6): 812–826. doi:10.1002/dta.2789. PMC 9191646. PMID 32180350.
  23. ^ a b c Brandt SD, Kavanagh PV, Westphal F, Pulver B, Morton K, Stratford A, Dowling G, Halberstadt AL (April 2022). "Return of the lysergamides. Part VII: Analytical and behavioural characterization of 1-valeroyl-d-lysergic acid diethylamide (1V-LSD)". Drug Test Anal. 14 (4): 733–740. doi:10.1002/dta.3205. PMC 9191648. PMID 34837347. Alexander Stratford5 [...] 5Synex Synthetics BV, Maastricht, The Netherlands [...] 1-Valeroyl-LSD hemitartrate (2:1) powder (1V-LSD) was supplied by Synex Synthetics BV, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
  24. ^ "Prodrugs of substituted ergolines". Google Patents. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
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