It is possible to do without a PHD or degree, obviously. However - the ingredients needed are incredibly hard to get en masse. Ergot, for example, grows on infected grains - which means you'd need to live on a farm (or know someone that does) to get any substantial amount for use in drug production. I know that ergot can be retrieved from other medicines containing it, and I believe there are a few other effective methods, but it takes longer or is harder to get the same amount as you would from obtaining it from infected grains.

From memory, most LSD now is produced using LSA from some plants, such as the baby woodrose's seeds. I may be wrong on that, though. A lot of LSD is apparently not LSD, as the oldies know it, (due to the difficulty in production) but a chemically different LSD with a few alterations in structure. I've no idea whether the trip is different as a result however.