My inquiry proposal outlines the cultural differences in regards to LSD throughout the 1950's and 60's. LSD has interested me greatly because of the immediate strong opinions people have regarding the drug, positive or negative. As a result of the vastly contrasting opinions regarding proper use, LSD remains a schedule I drug in the United states, meaning possession and/or research involving LSD is illegal. In addition, all schedule I drugs are said to have no medical or scientific benefits.
My hope is that through research I can help differentiate the various subcultures within the overlying LSD cultural umbrella. This will allow my audience to better understand the true path of LSD through American culture, and why perhaps has gained a false reputation.
Monday, April 5, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Ken Kesey and The Merry Pranksters
While Dr. Leary and other psychologists were wondering the grounds at the Millbrook Estate having their own spiritual revelations, the Merry Pranksters, led by former Stanford Graduate student Ken Kesey, were off to change the world forever. Kesey was turned on to psychedelics after learning of a federally funded study that paid $75 for participants to ingest, “psychedelic compounds”. After consuming LSD, mescaline, and Ditran in conjunction with the study, Kesey’s perspective on life was changed forever.
“Before I took drugs I didn’t know what the guys in the psycho ward at the VA hospital were there for,“ said Kesey. “I didn’t understand them. After I took LSD, suddenly I saw it. I saw it all. I listened to them and watched them, and I saw that what they were saying and doing was not so crazy after all.” Kesey’s psychedelic use escalated quickly, however within three years Kesey published two novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Sometimes A Great Notion, both about personal experiences using LSD and peyote.
Summer of 1964 signified the first Merry Pranksters road trip. Fashioned in ridiculously flamboyant costumes and colorful outfits the Pranksters left California in a 1939 School bus headed to New York. The word, “FURTHUR” appeared across the front of the Pranksters bus. This was because the idea of the Pranksters was to take everything further, explore the unknown, and feel no limits. Kesey stated, “The purpose of psychedelics is to learn the conditioned responses of people and to prank them. That’s the only way to get people to ask questions, and until they ask question they’re going to remain conditioned robots.” The Pranksters views regarding LSD contrasted greatly from both the 1950’s scientists and the Millbrook estate crews view on the purpose of LSD. Kesey and his disciples urged others to break away from their conditioned robotic lives by taking LSD and releasing yourself from social obligations.
On their way back to California The Pranksters did not want to miss an opportunity to visit Dr. Timothy Leary at his Millbrook estate. However, when Kesey arrived Leary refused to meet with him. Leary told the Pranksters he would be upstairs on a serious three-day trip. Regardless, the Pranksters stayed at Millbrook for a short time and were astonished at the scene. As a result of the emphasis on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, in addition to the statues of Buddha and special meditation rooms throughout the estate, The Merry Pranksters named this the “Crypt Trip.”
Kesey and his Pranksters had an immense impact on the American youth culture in the mid to late 1960’s, especially on the Haight. As 1966 approached Haight-Ashbury was quickly becoming a haven for non-conformists, misfits, and anyone else that could fit there. In January of 1966 Ken Kesey and the Pranksters hosted the Trips Festival in the Haight. The festival was an open three-day LSD gathering that included dance floors, music, trampolines, and The Grateful Dead as the headlining band. The results of the Trips festival were remarkable, Haight-Ashbury was buzzing with excitement, and the counterculture movement was uniting.
“Before I took drugs I didn’t know what the guys in the psycho ward at the VA hospital were there for,“ said Kesey. “I didn’t understand them. After I took LSD, suddenly I saw it. I saw it all. I listened to them and watched them, and I saw that what they were saying and doing was not so crazy after all.” Kesey’s psychedelic use escalated quickly, however within three years Kesey published two novels, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Sometimes A Great Notion, both about personal experiences using LSD and peyote.
Summer of 1964 signified the first Merry Pranksters road trip. Fashioned in ridiculously flamboyant costumes and colorful outfits the Pranksters left California in a 1939 School bus headed to New York. The word, “FURTHUR” appeared across the front of the Pranksters bus. This was because the idea of the Pranksters was to take everything further, explore the unknown, and feel no limits. Kesey stated, “The purpose of psychedelics is to learn the conditioned responses of people and to prank them. That’s the only way to get people to ask questions, and until they ask question they’re going to remain conditioned robots.” The Pranksters views regarding LSD contrasted greatly from both the 1950’s scientists and the Millbrook estate crews view on the purpose of LSD. Kesey and his disciples urged others to break away from their conditioned robotic lives by taking LSD and releasing yourself from social obligations.
On their way back to California The Pranksters did not want to miss an opportunity to visit Dr. Timothy Leary at his Millbrook estate. However, when Kesey arrived Leary refused to meet with him. Leary told the Pranksters he would be upstairs on a serious three-day trip. Regardless, the Pranksters stayed at Millbrook for a short time and were astonished at the scene. As a result of the emphasis on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, in addition to the statues of Buddha and special meditation rooms throughout the estate, The Merry Pranksters named this the “Crypt Trip.”
Kesey and his Pranksters had an immense impact on the American youth culture in the mid to late 1960’s, especially on the Haight. As 1966 approached Haight-Ashbury was quickly becoming a haven for non-conformists, misfits, and anyone else that could fit there. In January of 1966 Ken Kesey and the Pranksters hosted the Trips Festival in the Haight. The festival was an open three-day LSD gathering that included dance floors, music, trampolines, and The Grateful Dead as the headlining band. The results of the Trips festival were remarkable, Haight-Ashbury was buzzing with excitement, and the counterculture movement was uniting.
Dr. Timothy Leary and the Millbrook Estate
LSD was first introduced to the public on a national scale in the early 1960’s. This is often attributed to the efforts of Dr.’s Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert. Upon their dismissal from Harvard University in 1963, for carrying out experiments involving LSD, Leary and Alpert founded the International Federation for Internal Freedom, IFIF. After a brief, yet successful stint of psychedelic experiments in Mexico in the summer of 1963 Leary and Alpert brought the organization back to the United States. Shortly after, Leary met a young stockbroker and LSD enthusiast, William Hitchcock. Hitchcock, the recipient of a sizeable family inheritance, made numerous donations to Leary and his fellow LSD aficionados. In 1963 Hitchcock leased out his families four hundred thousand acre estate to Tim Leary and his crew for only five hundred dollars a month. This marked the beginning of the days at the Millbrook Estate.
The men and women living at the Millbrook Estate throughout the 1960’s shared similar views in regards to LSD. Their goal was to ‘use Millbrook as a setting to explore the realities of [his or her] own nervous systems in a creative way’. Dr. Leary was convinced that LSD held the key to a new life understanding. He and his colleagues took great pride in their work, and felt it was their job to encourage everyone to, “Turn on, Tune in, and Drop out.” When asked about his time at Millbrook Michael Hollingshead, a prominent British Doctor, and close friend of Tim’s stated, ”We lived out a myth which had not yet been integrated into our personalities. Millbrook was itself the work of art… Like Kafka’s Castle, it gave out messages into the aether in the form of one high resonant sound, which vibrated on the ears of the world, as if it were trying to penetrate beyond the barrier separating ‘us’ from ‘them’. We felt satisfied that our goal was Every Man’s, a project of Every Man’s ambition. We sought that for unitary state of divine harmony, an existence in which only the sense of wonder remains, and all fear is gone.”
Experiments at Millbrook continued until the spring of 1967, when the government’s frequent narcotic search and seizures forced an end to Leary’s time at the estate.
Although it began and ended in just four years, the Millbrook estate era had an everlasting affect on people’s perceptions of LSD. Unlike the research done by scientists and government officials in the 1950’s, Dr. Leary and the growing youth counterculture received unprecedented amounts of publicity from the media throughout the 60’s. During the early part of the decade Leary’s proselytizing words could be heard everywhere, however the medias over involvement in Leary’s life would prove to have a permanently damaging effect on his reputation. It surfaced that Leary admitted to still feeling a ‘psychic displacement’ years after his first LSD trip. When speaking about the trip he said, “I have never recovered from that shattering ontological confrontation. I have never been able to take myself, my mind, and the social world around me seriously.” Leary’s growing confusion led him to publish his own, ‘updated’, version of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which he declared the ultimate psychedelic manual (A guide/set of instructions used by someone during an LSD trip that supposedly helps the person confront their acid trip with minimal fear and anxiety. Interestingly enough, many LSD users reported having worse experiences uses Leary’s manual). The manual went against the traditional idea that every person should have their own unique experience; therefore sparking disagreements among various acid veterans in the mid 1960’s. Leary caught heavy criticism within the psychedelic community after publishing his manual. Even Dr. Hollingshead, changed his stance on LSD after he saw what Leary had gone through. “Let’s face it-LSD is not the key to a new metaphysics of being or a politics of ecstasy. The ‘pure light’ of an acid session is not this-it may even be the apotheosis of distractions, the ultimate and most dangerous temptation. But it does allow one to live at least for a time in the light of the knowledge that every moment of time is a window into eternity, that the absolute is manifest in every appearance and relationship. ”Despite strong dissenting opinions Leary kept some of his core followers, and persisted that if a particular spiritual state could be produced regularly the psychedelic movement would skyrocket.
I believe that Tim Leary had varying effects on LSD’s role in American culture. He acted as a spokesperson for LSD until the day he passed away. For numerous years he was the driving force behind the entire psychedelic and LSD movement. However, I feel that if he had produced more definitive scientific studies while at the Millbrook estate, the scientific community, and more importantly the government would have been inclined to listen to his opinions.
The men and women living at the Millbrook Estate throughout the 1960’s shared similar views in regards to LSD. Their goal was to ‘use Millbrook as a setting to explore the realities of [his or her] own nervous systems in a creative way’. Dr. Leary was convinced that LSD held the key to a new life understanding. He and his colleagues took great pride in their work, and felt it was their job to encourage everyone to, “Turn on, Tune in, and Drop out.” When asked about his time at Millbrook Michael Hollingshead, a prominent British Doctor, and close friend of Tim’s stated, ”We lived out a myth which had not yet been integrated into our personalities. Millbrook was itself the work of art… Like Kafka’s Castle, it gave out messages into the aether in the form of one high resonant sound, which vibrated on the ears of the world, as if it were trying to penetrate beyond the barrier separating ‘us’ from ‘them’. We felt satisfied that our goal was Every Man’s, a project of Every Man’s ambition. We sought that for unitary state of divine harmony, an existence in which only the sense of wonder remains, and all fear is gone.”
Experiments at Millbrook continued until the spring of 1967, when the government’s frequent narcotic search and seizures forced an end to Leary’s time at the estate.
Although it began and ended in just four years, the Millbrook estate era had an everlasting affect on people’s perceptions of LSD. Unlike the research done by scientists and government officials in the 1950’s, Dr. Leary and the growing youth counterculture received unprecedented amounts of publicity from the media throughout the 60’s. During the early part of the decade Leary’s proselytizing words could be heard everywhere, however the medias over involvement in Leary’s life would prove to have a permanently damaging effect on his reputation. It surfaced that Leary admitted to still feeling a ‘psychic displacement’ years after his first LSD trip. When speaking about the trip he said, “I have never recovered from that shattering ontological confrontation. I have never been able to take myself, my mind, and the social world around me seriously.” Leary’s growing confusion led him to publish his own, ‘updated’, version of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which he declared the ultimate psychedelic manual (A guide/set of instructions used by someone during an LSD trip that supposedly helps the person confront their acid trip with minimal fear and anxiety. Interestingly enough, many LSD users reported having worse experiences uses Leary’s manual). The manual went against the traditional idea that every person should have their own unique experience; therefore sparking disagreements among various acid veterans in the mid 1960’s. Leary caught heavy criticism within the psychedelic community after publishing his manual. Even Dr. Hollingshead, changed his stance on LSD after he saw what Leary had gone through. “Let’s face it-LSD is not the key to a new metaphysics of being or a politics of ecstasy. The ‘pure light’ of an acid session is not this-it may even be the apotheosis of distractions, the ultimate and most dangerous temptation. But it does allow one to live at least for a time in the light of the knowledge that every moment of time is a window into eternity, that the absolute is manifest in every appearance and relationship. ”Despite strong dissenting opinions Leary kept some of his core followers, and persisted that if a particular spiritual state could be produced regularly the psychedelic movement would skyrocket.
I believe that Tim Leary had varying effects on LSD’s role in American culture. He acted as a spokesperson for LSD until the day he passed away. For numerous years he was the driving force behind the entire psychedelic and LSD movement. However, I feel that if he had produced more definitive scientific studies while at the Millbrook estate, the scientific community, and more importantly the government would have been inclined to listen to his opinions.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
LSD and the science community in the 1950's
Throughout the 1950’various scientists experimented with LSD both as a personal tool for enlightenment, as well as a cure for certain psychiatric cases. For example, Dr. Humphry Osmond, doctor at the Princeton Neuropsychiatric Institute, conducted a study involving nearly one thousand hard-core alcoholics. Under the influence of infamous acid supporter Captain Alfred M. Hubbard, Osmond hypothesized that alcoholics could benefit from the ‘deep genuine religious experience’ that came along with the consumption of LSD. The results were astounding; after thirteen years of utilizing this method Osmond and his colleagues concluded that when psychedelic therapy is given to alcoholics approximately one-third would remain sober, the other one-third will show considerable benefit. This study led Hubbard, Osmond, as well as many other young scientists to wonder about the capabilities of LSD. Many felt that LSD could possibly help more then just the sick and mentally ill, they felt that it could help transform peoples belief systems and thereby help to promote world peace.
Another prominent scientist in the early development of LSD was Dr. Sidney Cohen. Once a professor at the University of California, Cohen gathered information from forty-four doctors regarding over five thousand patients; The most frequent complaints voiced by psychedelic therapists was “unmanageability”. Only eight instances of “psychotic reaction lasting longer then forty-eight hours” were reported in the twenty-five thousand cases surveyed. Not a single case of addiction was indicated, nor any deaths from toxic effects.
Based on these findings Dr. Cohen concluded that with the proper precautions and given to the proper people psychedelics could yield great benefits. Unfortunately, these tests were not all so well received.
The biggest obstacle for these visionary scientists would be the preconceived views the US government had on LSD as a result of their tests during the 1950’s. For example, according to Robert Bernstein, former assistant surgeon general of the American Army, “perhaps by coincidence, LSD was almost simultaneously recognized by the army as a military threat and by certain segments of our US population as a means for self fulfillment.” The governments view on LSD would not easily be swayed, however a young Harvard professor by the name of Timothy Leary was willing to do anything to try.
Another prominent scientist in the early development of LSD was Dr. Sidney Cohen. Once a professor at the University of California, Cohen gathered information from forty-four doctors regarding over five thousand patients; The most frequent complaints voiced by psychedelic therapists was “unmanageability”. Only eight instances of “psychotic reaction lasting longer then forty-eight hours” were reported in the twenty-five thousand cases surveyed. Not a single case of addiction was indicated, nor any deaths from toxic effects.
Based on these findings Dr. Cohen concluded that with the proper precautions and given to the proper people psychedelics could yield great benefits. Unfortunately, these tests were not all so well received.
The biggest obstacle for these visionary scientists would be the preconceived views the US government had on LSD as a result of their tests during the 1950’s. For example, according to Robert Bernstein, former assistant surgeon general of the American Army, “perhaps by coincidence, LSD was almost simultaneously recognized by the army as a military threat and by certain segments of our US population as a means for self fulfillment.” The governments view on LSD would not easily be swayed, however a young Harvard professor by the name of Timothy Leary was willing to do anything to try.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Interview With Dr. Timothy Leary
Dr. Timothy Leary, LSD’s prophet in the 1960’s had strong opinions on the uses of LSD. In an interview done at Millbrook mansion Leary spoke about the true uses of LSD. He emphasized that rather then taking LSD to feel relaxed, like a barbiturate drug, or to feel awake, such as an amphetamine drug, LSD should be used to expand consciousness. Leary felt that a person’s bad experience on LSD was a result of their lack of knowledge, or lack of preparedness to take the chemical. To further develop this point Leary used this example; if a drunk is given a car and keys he will do damage on the road. Likewise, if you take LSD and your mind is not prepared you are likely to become subject to a bad experience.
Throughout the interview Leary also compared LSD to a microscope. He stressed that like a microscope, LSD is an instrument to examine ones self. He said that with a microscope you could see things that appeared as though they did not exist before. The same happened with LSD; you weren’t experiencing something out of this world and crazy, just something that seemed as if it was invisible before. And, as a result of this new information, LSD would give the user a new perspective on life.
I felt that the most interesting part of the interview was when Leary spoke about whom he felt should use LSD. In contrast to popular belief, Leary did not think every person on the planet should be popping LSD like vitamins. Leary frequently warned that only trained responsible adults should use LSD as an instrument to better themselves. Leary knew the harm LSD could cause on the unprepared mind and did not view LSD as a drug in the way some others did. He was convinced that when used properly LSD could help people around the world.
WATCH THE INTERVIEW-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8knnO38JAw
Throughout the interview Leary also compared LSD to a microscope. He stressed that like a microscope, LSD is an instrument to examine ones self. He said that with a microscope you could see things that appeared as though they did not exist before. The same happened with LSD; you weren’t experiencing something out of this world and crazy, just something that seemed as if it was invisible before. And, as a result of this new information, LSD would give the user a new perspective on life.
I felt that the most interesting part of the interview was when Leary spoke about whom he felt should use LSD. In contrast to popular belief, Leary did not think every person on the planet should be popping LSD like vitamins. Leary frequently warned that only trained responsible adults should use LSD as an instrument to better themselves. Leary knew the harm LSD could cause on the unprepared mind and did not view LSD as a drug in the way some others did. He was convinced that when used properly LSD could help people around the world.
WATCH THE INTERVIEW-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8knnO38JAw
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Government and LSD throughout the 1950's and 60's
LSD has historically been associated with the counterculture of the 1960’s. However, Swiss doctor Werner Stoll did the first scientific studies revolving around LSD and its psychological properties in 1947. Stoll reported in the Swiss Archives of Neurology that LSD caused disturbances in perception, hallucinations, and acceleration in thinking. Shortly after this discovery was made LSD’s future would be shaped forever when the CIA got hold of the chemical in the early 1950’s.
The next major turning point for LSD came in April of 1953 with the birth of the CIA operation MK-ULTRA. This operation focused on the use of drugs to manipulate and control mind functions in different scenarios. Perhaps one of the most notable and questionable operations within MK-ULTRA was operation midnight climax. Overseen by Dr. Gottlieb and CIA agent George Hunter White. Operation midnight climax included the hiring of prostitutes to lure unsuspecting lab victims into trying LSD laced cocktails. Through a double-sided mirror White could observe and report what the people did under the influence of LSD. Experiments like this continued until the mid to late 1960’s.
In addition to reports done on unknowing civilians, the government also used its own military as guinea pigs while experimenting with LSD. By the mid 1960’s nearly fifteen hundred military personnel had served as guinea pigs in LD experiments conducted by the US Army Chemical Corps.
By 1966 the United States Government made LSD an illegal substance. What I found most interesting about the governments involvement in LSD was the fact that their thoughts about the chemical are so one sided. Throughout the 1950’s the US government and the CIA were only interested in LSD’s use as an incapacitating agent. Scientists funded through the government ignored to entertain even the possibility that LSD may have some positive personal or medical uses. Once LSD proved that it was not the truth serum drug, nor the interrogation weapon that would give the US the upper hand in the Cold War, the US government wanted it gone entirely.
The next major turning point for LSD came in April of 1953 with the birth of the CIA operation MK-ULTRA. This operation focused on the use of drugs to manipulate and control mind functions in different scenarios. Perhaps one of the most notable and questionable operations within MK-ULTRA was operation midnight climax. Overseen by Dr. Gottlieb and CIA agent George Hunter White. Operation midnight climax included the hiring of prostitutes to lure unsuspecting lab victims into trying LSD laced cocktails. Through a double-sided mirror White could observe and report what the people did under the influence of LSD. Experiments like this continued until the mid to late 1960’s.
In addition to reports done on unknowing civilians, the government also used its own military as guinea pigs while experimenting with LSD. By the mid 1960’s nearly fifteen hundred military personnel had served as guinea pigs in LD experiments conducted by the US Army Chemical Corps.
By 1966 the United States Government made LSD an illegal substance. What I found most interesting about the governments involvement in LSD was the fact that their thoughts about the chemical are so one sided. Throughout the 1950’s the US government and the CIA were only interested in LSD’s use as an incapacitating agent. Scientists funded through the government ignored to entertain even the possibility that LSD may have some positive personal or medical uses. Once LSD proved that it was not the truth serum drug, nor the interrogation weapon that would give the US the upper hand in the Cold War, the US government wanted it gone entirely.
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