Frequent cries of witchcraft, false accusations and the abundancy death riddled Salem, Massachusetts in 1692.Many historians, who have wonder what caused the mass hysteria, have studied the horrid event. Some have concluded that a fungus, named Ergot, was ingested by the girls at the heart of it all and it caused them to experience symptoms that were commonly associated with witchcraft during the time (Woolf). A chemical in Ergot, known as Ergotamine, is an active chemical ingredient in the psychedelic drug known as Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (LSD) which is also known as simply Acid. Starting from its creation, the CIA experimenting with it and the counterculture that it brought LSD has had a sizeable impact throughout its existence. The …show more content…
The agency goal was to find a way to use the psychedelic as a tool for mind control. The CIA had very little morals while conducting most of their experiments. When they first acquired the drug they first decided to experiment on their agents. Lee Harvey Oswald, a former CIA agent and best known as John F. Kennedy’s killer, was thought to be administered the drug in his time with the agency so he could be prepared for a mission he was assigned in Soviet Union (Hanauer). After agents began to dislike test being conducted on them the agency moved to other unwilling participants. College students, sex workers, drug addicts, and prisoners were given the drug. Most of the persons had the drug administered to them unknowingly or against their will. A prison in Lexington, Kentucky, that also doubled as a drug rehab center, administered the drugs to prisoners and patients (Van Horne). A doctor there held the testing and if the participants cooperated they were given a drug of their choice. Even though the CIA used Acid with negative morals, the counterculture it brought was far from …show more content…
Psychiatrist Dr. Sydney Cohen wanted to find participants that can verbalize their experience so he introduced the drug into the artistic community(Hurtado). The forceful psychedelic took California by storm in the 60s and 70s and everything from music to clothes to people’s lifestyle’s and even religion was influenced by the drug. Albert Huxley, a British Writer, saw the use of the drug as a religious experience. Many bands such as the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Quicksilver Messenger Service, the Doors, and Pink Floyd were hoping on the psychedelic bandwagon(Rolling Stone Magazine). The Beatles album “Revolver” was their first album after band members John Lennon and George Harrison had their first experience with the drug at their friend’s home and the album was heavily influenced by it. The Grateful Dead’s sound technician, Owsley Stanley, was not only innovative in the music industry but also was one of the top producers of the drug in the counter culture era.
LSD has come a long way since its introduction into the world. It has yielded many research opportunities and brought along a cultural movement that will always be associated with the 70s. LSD will hopefully, in the future, be used more commonly used in our
You may ask, what is LSD? LSD is a type of acid or known by its scientific name Lysergic Acid Diethylamide which is a psychedelic. It was discovered by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann in 1943. Although researched, scientist could not find a medical use for it.
In 1959, Kesey volunteered himself for a government-funded psychoactive drug research program. The program, held at Menlo Park Veterans Hospital, was testing hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD, mescaline, and psilocybin. During the program, which lasted several weeks, Kesey took these drugs and kept his experiences in writing for the researchers. After ...
Lysergic acid diethylamide was the first synthetic hallucinogen that was discovered. Lysergic Acid Diethylamide, better known as LSD and was first synthesized by Albert Hofmann on November 16, 1938. The discovery took place in Basel, Switzerland when Albert Hofmann joined Author Stroll’s pharmaceutical-chemical department of Sandoz Laboratories. This acid is found on ergot fungus; this type of fungus naturally grows on grains. Albert Hofmann studied ergot fungus with the hope to create a respiratory and circulatory stimulant. Hoffman began to lose interest since his research would not advance, so he decided to set it aside for approximately five years. On April 16, 1943 he decided to re-open the experiment and accidentally absorbed a small amount through his finger tips. That is when he discovered the true potential of LSD. He described the experience as:
There were leaders such as Timothy Leary, Harvard Professor, who was helped spread the hippies drug use. He recommended the use of LSD and used his famous slogan, “tune in, ten on, and drop out”, to inspire the American youth. Later during his career, he was fired for being unreliable to showing up to his classes. Leary had a belief that LSD showed improvements for therapy, that the human mind would expand and there would be personal truth. During the hippie movement he was constantly arrested and was known as “-in the words of president Richard Nixon - “the most dangerous man in America”” (Bliss Jim, “The death of Timothy Leary, ‘The most dangerous man in America’”). Later in 1995, Leary was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer. And then in 1996, he died lying in bed with his
LSD stands for Iysergic acid diethylamide. LSD is a hallucinate know to be the most powerful drug of this kind. LSD is commonly known as acid. This drug changes a person’s mental state by distorting the perception of reality to the point where at high doses hallucination occurs. Acid is derived from a fungus that grows on rye and other grains. It is semi-synthetic. It’s manufactured chemically in illicit laboratories, except for a small percent, which is produced legally for research.
Beginning with the late 1960’s counterculture in San Francisco, music and drugs will forever be inter-linked. Hippie bands such as the Grateful Dead, the Allman Brothers, and Phish are associated with marijuana, mushrooms, and LSD. Modern electronic “rave” , or club music is associated with MDMA or Ecstasy. When one thinks of rock and roll, sex and drugs immediately come to mind. While the use of drugs is not essential for the creation or performance of all new music, it was certainly in important factor for the counterculture music of the late 1960’s. While some of the most important and influential music was made with the help of psychoactive drugs, it was often to the detriment of the artist. Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, and countless other tremendously talented artists had their lives cut short due to drug use. Drugs were most often good for the music, but deadly for the music makers.
Hofmann, A. (1970, January 1). The Discovery of LSD. The Discovery of LSD. Retrieved May 12, 2014, from http://www.psychedelic-library.org/hofmann.htm
Leary being most remembered for being the man who brought psychedelic drugs into American culture, but he thought of himself as a philosopher more than anything else did. He was an undisputed leader of the psychedelic movement. “Leary, while he was lecturing at Harvard University, was the most prominent pro-LSD researcher. “Leary claimed that using LSD with the right dosage, “set” (what one brings to the experience), and setting, preferably with the guidance of professionals, could alter behavior in dramatic and beneficial ways and open people’s eyes to ideas and visions that were not possible without tripping on LSD.” Leary also experimented on himself, as well as, Harvard students, which the University was not pleased and was fired.” Leary would be a main contributor of LSD to many who attend The Human Be-In or the Gathering of the Tribes in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on January 14, 1967, which was considered the prelude to the Summer of Love in
The emergence of the counterculture of the 1960s set off a new wave of music and created an alternative lifestyle. The association of drugs with the counterculture is a limited assumption as drugs were present in the mainstream culture as well. The predecessor of the 60s counterculture, the Beat movement, was not entirely different and it is evident how the Beat lifestyle fostered an environment where the emergent hippie and acid-head culture could take root. Within the drug culture there were splits in ideology, between the Leary and the Kesey groups and the mainstream culture against the counterculture’s use of drugs.
"Psychedelic 60's: Foreword." University of Virginia Library. 16 Dec. 2009. Web. 29 May 2010. .
In an attempt to synthesize my own personal academic area of interest, that is: the history of the psychedelic movement in twentieth century America, with the content of the Asian Religions course, I have elected to study the relationship between the influx of Buddhist philosophy and the psychedelic counter-culture movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The subject, although highly specific, has nonetheless generated intellectual interest substantial enough to warrant a sub-field of study, in terms of Buddhist/American History examination. This paper will focus on the thought of the main harbingers of this movement, specifically Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Dr. Timothy Leary. This study will also examine the corruptions of classical Buddhist philosophy wrought by these intellectuals concerned with integrating the psychedelic experience in an Eastern context. The connection between Buddhism and psychedelics in the American experience is a subject of contention because of the controversial associations of chemically altered perception as compared to traditional Bodhicitta, or the mind of enlightenment. The author Emma Layman, in her book Buddhism in America, asserts:
In the history of mankind, the hallucinogens have probably been the most important of the narcotics. Their fantastic effects made the...
Psychedelic drugs were really popular with musicians and artists and it had mostly affected music. It had mostly began in the 1960’s. This was the beginning of the “hippie music” or a new genre of music that is know as psychedelic rock. Many artists during these times were very hippie like and not a lot of hard of rock was out. The
Ken and his friends took part in an experiment, taking drugs that caused hallucinations. When testing the new psychometric drugs, Kesey discovered the most popular drug used in the area, LSD. LSDs are lysergic acid diathylamide drugs, commonly referred to as acid. Later they experimented with the drugs on their own and more and more people joined in (Sixties). This drug was the most powerful for creating a temporary alternate reality. Kesey, who attended Stanford on a creative writing scholarship, not only housed those looking for free drugs, but also aspiring authors and musicians. Kesey thought the use of drugs helped artists of all kinds, since it appeared to help him write his book One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (Hoshyns 31-33). Later, Kesey planned a music festival called “Trips Festival”, where over twenty thousand people dressed in costumes attended to join in the carefree lifestyle the hippies had. This caused Haight-Ashbury to become known for the hippies that lived there and the drug-filled atmosphere. A group called the Merry Pranksters formed in Kesey's house and they would go around organizing concerts and drawing in crowds to take the hallucinogenics (Sixties). The Merry Pranksters also bought a bus and painted it with patterns to create spiritual significance. This bus was the first example of the vans associated with hippies in modern times. They
“Turn on, tune in, drop out”: These six words can instantly transport a rush of nostalgia to anybody who grew up during the 1960s and 1970s. This iconic phrase came from no other than Timothy Leary. Leary was a psychologist and writer who advocated for the exploration and use of Lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD. Among other popular hippie figures such as the band Grateful Dead, or singers Joan Baez and John Lennon, Timothy Leary stood out as a strong leader in the movement. Of all the important figures in the Hippie Movement, Timothy Leary had the greatest impact on hippie culture.