Timothy Leary was interviewed by Paul Krassner in 1995, the year before he died. In this free wheeling interview, Leary talks about LSD, Death & Dying, the Catholic Church, the Internet, Ram Dass, G. Gordon Liddy, the Weather Underground, and more. This is an edited version excerpted from the 8 part series in Nancy Cain’s video archives.
LSD
Timothy Leary on LSD, Dying, Church, Internet, Etc.
The Top 50 Trips in Movies.
Obituary: Albert Hofmann, LSD Inventor
Albert hoffman has passed away .
“I believe that if people would learn to use LSD’s vision-inducing capability more wisely, under suitable conditions, in medical practice and in conjunction with meditation, then in the future this problem child could become a wonderchild.” — Albert Hofmann (1906-2008)
For the Unrepentant Patriarch of LSD, Long, Strange Trip Winds Back to Bay Area
The small, barefoot man in black T-shirt and blue jeans barely rates a second glance from the other Starbucks patrons in downtown San Rafael, although he is one of the men who virtually made the 60s. Because Augustus Owsley Stanley III has spent his life avoiding photographs, few people would know what he looks like.
The name Owsley became a noun that appears in the Oxford dictionary as English street slang for good acid. It is the most famous brand name in LSD history. Probably the first private individual to manufacture the psychedelic, “Owsley” is a folk hero of the counterculture, celebrated in songs by the Grateful Dead and Steely Dan.
Link: For the unrepentant patriarch of LSD, long, strange trip winds back to Bay Area
Timothy Leary Interview Whilst in Prison.
April 16, 1943: Setting the Stage for the World's First Acid Trip -
Hofmann, a Swiss chemist, was researching the synthesis of a lysergic acid compound, LSD-25, when he inadvertently absorbed a bit through his fingertips. Intrigued by the stimulating effects on his perception, Hofmann decided further exploration was warranted. Three days later he ingested 250 milligrams of LSD, embarking on the first full-fledged acid trip.
Link: April 16, 1943: Setting the Stage for the World’s First Acid Trip -
Hallucinogenic Weapons: The Other Chemical Warfare
There were many acid tests happening in the 1950s and 1960s. Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters dosed sometimes-unsuspecting proto-hippies. The CIA was dosing unsuspecting mainstreamers. Leary dosed fully cognizant artists, therapists and students. But meanwhile, over at Army Chemical Center at Edgewood Arsenal in Maryland, psychiatrist James S. Ketchum was testing LSD, BZ and other psychedelic and deliriant compounds on fully informed volunteers for the U.S. military.
As an Army psychiatrist just out of residency, Dr. James E. Ketchum was assigned to Edgewoord Arsenal’s Medical Research Laboratories, first as a research psychiatrist in 1961. He became Chief of the Psychopharmacology Branch in 1963, and then became Acting Chief of Clinical Research in 1966. After a brief hiatus at Stanford University, he returned as Edgewoods’ Chief of Clinical Research in 1968, staying there until 1971. Dr. Ketchum and his team were looking, primarily, for non-lethal incapacitating agents, and he was central to many of the experiments with these compounds that took place during that time.
LSD: The Geek's Wonder Drug?
Great article on wired about LSD , Albert Hoffmans birthday , technologists and how LSD can be useful in cases where problem solving skills are required and scientific goals are to be met.
When Kevin Herbert has a particularly intractable programming problem, or finds himself pondering a big career decision, he deploys a powerful mind expanding tool — LSD-25.
“It must be changing something about the internal communication in my brain. Whatever my inner process is that lets me solve problems, it works differently, or maybe different parts of my brain are used, ” said Herbert, 42, an early employee of Cisco Systems who says he solved his toughest technical problems while tripping to drum solos by the Grateful Dead — who were among the many artists inspired by LSD.
“When I’m on LSD and hearing something that’s pure rhythm, it takes me to another world and into anther brain state where I’ve stopped thinking and started knowing,” said Herbert who intervened to ban drug testing of technologists at Cisco Systems.
The gathering included a discussion of how early computer pioneers used LSD for inspiration. Douglas Englebart, the inventor of the mouse, Myron Stolaroff, a former Ampex engineer and LSD researcher who was attending the symposium, and Apple-cofounder Steve Jobs were among them. In the 2005 book What the Dormouse Said, New York Times reporter John Markoff quotes Jobs describing his LSD experience as “one of the two or three most important things he has done in his life.”
Effects of LSD on an Artist
This interesting article goes to show the effects of LSD on an artist as he attempts to draw a portrait .
These 9 drawings were done by an artist under the influence of LSD — part of a test conducted by the US government during it’s dalliance with psychotomimetic drugs in the late 1950′s. The artist was given a dose of LSD 25 and free access to an activity box full of crayons and pencils. His subject is the medico that jabbed him.
First drawing is done 20 minutes after the first dose (50ug)
An attending doctor observes – Patient chooses to start drawing with charcoal.
The subject of the experiment reports – ‘Condition normal… no effect from the drug yet’.
Great results !
