The War on Drugs: A Look Back at Leary and the Psychedellic Movement
It is quite apparent that many hallucinogens have extremely harmful side effects to the user, but then again all drugs can have harmful side effects. Many over the counter drugs can kill or seriously harm a person if abused, similar to any other drug, yet this does not get them outlawed or pulled from the shelves. When looking historically at drugs in general, it is clear that societies tend to deem some types of drugs as “good” and other types as “bad”, often without any real merit. is addicted to drugs that speak to our mindset of a non-stop work ethic, specifically drugs such as caffeine and painkillers. It is frowned upon when these precognitions about what drugs are “good” and which are “bad” are challenged.
Through his research of LSD, before the drug was outlawed, Timothy Leary made many assertions the positive effects of the drug. In modern day everyone has had the harmful effects of such drugs as LSD hammered home to them, but the question is have we been getting all of the scientific points of view or just one? What if Leary’s assertions about the positive effects of LSD and other hallucinogens are true? In this paper we will explore these assertions, multiple points of view, and try to draw a conclusion not just handed to us. In addition, this research coincides with looking at how Leary and the psychedelic movement impacted the 1960’s and beyond.
Timothy Leary was introduced to the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms in the early 1960’s. He was extremely interested in the effects that hallucinogenic drugs could have on human behavior, as well as on the creative mind. Many of Leary’s initial experiments involved many famous writers from the beat generation, such as Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Willam Burroughs. As a professor at Harvard University Leary got a written research grant to study the effects of LSD on inmates in Concord prison in order to try to reduce the institution’s 80 percent recidivism rate. Leary was never one to follow many rules, and began to bring his work home with him, experimenting with the effects of LSD at home with numerous friends[1].
Leary’s work showed an extremely positive trend, he was even courted by the head of Mass General to become the head of drug research at Mass General. However while there was a definite impact, not everyone liked the change that was happening to the inmates. Jay Stevens wrote that “The prisoners were changing true enough, but they were changing in a way that made science uncomfortable: they were getting religion. And if psilocybin could do that to hard-core cons, imagine what it was doing to the members of the psilocybin project.”[2] Harvard was beginning to push Leary away from the school and his research grant.
Later in 1960, at a psychology conference in Copenhagen from August 13 to 19, Leary gave a speech on his idea of how LSD research should go forward, which he coined “Timmyball”. Here Leary elaborated on how he believed LSD could help “restore creative freedom” [3]
“It is my plan to talk to you tonight about methods of effecting change-change in man’s consciousness.
Behavior and Consciousness. Please note the paired distinction. Behavior and Consciousness. Up until recently I considered myself a behavioral scientist and limited the scope of my work to over and measurable behavior. In so doing I was quite in the Zeitgeist of modern psychology. StudyingâÂ?¦ Behavior. Routinely following the ground rules they laid down. Scrupulously avoiding that which is most important to the subject – his consciousness âÂ?¦ This decision to turn our backs on consciousness is, of course, typically Western science âÂ?¦ Tonight I speak to you from a point midway between the western and eastern hemispheres of the cortex, presenting a theory and method which is Chinese, in that behavior is seen as an intricate social game; Indian in its recognition of consciousness and the need to develop a cosmic awareness, and finally Western in its concern to do good measurably well.”[4]
As spoken in his speech, Leary had begun to focus less on the behavior hallucinogenic drugs were having and more on the effects it was having on the consciousness of its users. Not many other psychologists agreed with Leary and the methods he proposed to take, Leary began to be somewhat of an outcast in the psychological society. Knowing that he would soon be fired, Leary resigned his position at Harvard before he was asked to leave.[5]
Free of the constraints of institutionalized research Leary set out to do what he had first wished to do since trying hallucinogens, start a psychedelic revolution. Leary had always been one to buck the authorities and this gave him the perfect opportunity to do so. Leary attempted to continue his research in many different locations however he was constantly being evicted. He eventually settled into a house in Cambridge when “Peggy Hitchcock volunteered her family’s estate in upstate New York.”[6] All of Leary’s continued research was able to take place before LSD would be made illegal so he was able to attract quite a few different people to come up and experiment with him from this location. Leary found that religious people tended to have what they called “religious experiences” when using the hallucinogens, while even non-religious people experienced something deeply spiritual and eye opening. In his book “The Psychedelic Experience” Leary attempted to describe one of these experiences:
“A psychedelic experience is a journey to new realms of consciousness. The scope and content of the experience is limitless, but its characteristic features are the transcendence of verbal concepts, of space-time dimensions, and of the Penis ego or identity. Such experiences of enlarged consciousness can occur in a variety of ways: sensory deprivation, yoga exercises, disciplined meditation, religious or aesthetic ecstasies, or spontaneously. Most recently they have become available to anyone through the ingestion of psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, mescaline, DMT, etc.
Of course, the drug does not produce the transcendent experience. It merely acts as a chemical key – it opens the mind, frees the nervous system of its ordinary patterns and structures. The nature of the experience depends almost entirely on set and setting. Set denotes the preparation of the individual, including his personality structure and his mood at the time. Setting is physical – the weather, the room’s atmosphere; social – feelings of persons present towards one another; and cultural – prevailing views as to what is real. It is for this reason that manuals or guide-books are necessary. Their purpose is to enable a person to understand the new realities of the expanded consciousness, to serve as road maps for new interior territories which modern science has made accessible.”[7]
Leary’s research began to pick up momentum as more and more people across the country started to hear about and try LSD. Timothy Leary started to be well known for his phrase “Tune on, tune in, drop out.” More than being a scientific researcher Leary began to transition to more of being the leader and face of the psychedelic movement which was picking up tremendous momentum. Leary took well to the spotlight as someone who always yearned to be the center of attention wherever he went.[8]
The effects of this psychedelic movement, as these hallucinogen drugs were spread around at a faster rate, was beginning to pop up around various aspects of the culture. It began to show up everywhere such as art, writing, and of course music.
Artists such as the world renowned cartoonist R. Crumb were significantly influenced by the psychedelic movement. Under the influence of LSD Crumb created some extraordinarily famous comics, specifically in his “ZAP” line of comic. These were controversial to say the very least, however it is not a coincidence that Crumb is one of the only cartoonists in the world to have his work displayed in museum exhibitions. The use of bright colors in different pieces of artwork, especially in album covers and posters began to appear, and seemed to be hinting at the colors experienced during a surreal LSD “trip”. [9]
Different pieces of writing revealed equally as much as art work how much influence this psychedelic movement was having on American culture. Some of the most famous of such work is the writings of Carlos Castaneda in his three books about “The Teachings of Don Juan”. These books focused on Castaneda’s reportedly (how much of what Castaneda wrote is true, and how much was part of his imagination is constantly being debated) first hand experience with a Yacqui Indian shaman named Don Juan in . Castaneda’s books focused on his out of the ordinary experiences, and tend to be extremely soul searching, for a higher meaning of some sort.[10]
“To be a warrior, a man has to be keenly aware of his own death, but to be concerned with death would be debilitating. The idea of imminent death, instead of becoming an obsession, becomes an indifference. Only the idea of death makes a man sufficiently detached so that he can’t deny himself anything. A man of that sort, however, does not crave, for he has acquired a silent lust for life and for all things of life. He knows his death is stalking him and won’t give him time to cling to anything. So he tries without craving, all of everything.”[11]
Castaneda mainly talks about the use of drugs such as peyote and hallucinogens to help expand one’s consciousness. This concept of different perceptions and levels of consciousness that can be achieved by the human mind becomes quite a popular one. It begins to be seen in many different forms including Leary’s own idea of the human eight stages of consciousness.
Despite the psychedelic’s movement on various aspects of life and culture, its influence can be seen no greater than on its influence of the music of its time. Bands such as The Grateful Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyds are among the most famous examples of the “psychedelic music” or “acid rock” that the psychedelic movement spawned.[12] This type of music, still widely popular today, is always considered to have been significantly ahead of it’s time. This “acid rock” is also some of the most astoundingly creative music to have ever been created, which speaks loudly to Leary’s assertions that hallucinogens such as LSD could expand the creative mind.
When LSD was made illegal in 1967, Leary’s role in this psychedelic movement started to change from being an active leader to being mainly a symbol. More than just being pushed out of his leadership role, the government decided that it was going to make an example of Leary in it’s “war against drugs” (Richard Nixon would at one point call Leary “The Most Dangerous Man in America). As a result Leary would soon run into serious legal trouble, pushing him away from the forefront of the psychedelic movement as one of its main leaders.
While making LSD illegal did not by any means cause a decline the use of LSD, if anything it increased it, it did change the way the psychedelic movement was developing. The festivals with music and “electric” (LSD laced) Kool-Aid, such as the ones hosted by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, were coming to end. Mainly because “possession of LSD was now a misdemeanor and selling was a felony. Jail was not a middle-class experience”[13] This was obviously a conflict of interest considering at this point the main participants in the psychedelic movement and the counter-culture were middle class college students.
The government banned LSD and really started its war on psychedelic drugs on a whole as a reaction to the counterculture.[14] This brings up the main question of whether or not the government was right in starting this war on psychedelic drugs. Instead of looking at the medical evidence provided to them, the government made a choice to make LSD illegal based on their fears of the recreational use taking place. This also in the process effectively brought to a screeching halt all progress that was being made in the field of using hallucinogenic drugs as working medicines. A recent medical journal looks back on this:
“That psychedelic drugs, such as LSD and MDMA (ecstasy), can be effective treatments for various psychiatric illnesses is an old idea. Once considered wonder drugs for their effects on anxiety, depression, alcoholism, and other mental illnesses, they have been effectively banished from medical practice after legal rulings banned their sale and use. Although such bans were largely put in place to quash concerns about rampant recreational drug use fuelling the counter cultures of the 1960s and 1980s (LSD and MDMA, respectively), criminalisation of these agents has also led to an excessively cautious approach to further research into their therapeutic benefits.”[15]
In the same article, the author goes on to say there has never been any real evidence for the banning of such drugs. In their war to stop the recreational use of the counter-culture psychedelic movement the government has also killed extremely promising scientific research, despite no scientific evidence or reason to stop:
“Exaggerated risks of harm have contributed to the demonisation of psychedelic drugs as a social evil. But although this dangerous reputation – generated and perpetuated by the often disproportionately stiff penalties for their use – is helpful for law enforcement, it does not correspond to the evidence. Rather, the social prescription against psychedelic drugs that hinders properly controlled research into their effects and side-effects is largely based on social and legal, as opposed to scientific, concerns.”[16]
In addition to no significant medical evidence for the government banning of LSD, there has been much evidence provided by different psychologists in recent years pointing to the fact that LSD may have many beneficial effects when used correctly. The limited research that has been able to be done has proved to be extremely promising:
“Early research suggested medical promise for psychedelic drugs. According to a 1992 report by Richard Yensen, Ph.D., and Donna Dryer, M.D., director and medical director at the Orenda Institute, a 1960s’ study of 135 alcoholics found that six months after treatment with LSD, 53 percent of a high-dose group reported abstinence compared with 33 percent of a low-dose group. Alcoholics receiving conventional therapy had a 12 percent improvement rate.
In a study of 31 cancer patients suffering from anxiety, depression and uncontrollable pain, 71 percent showed improvement in their physical and emotional status after each LSD session.
According to Yensen, researchers also observed that many cancer patients receiving LSD reported that their desire for addictive pain medicines, such as morphine, had diminished or vanished, along with the pain.”[17]
These initial reports of the vast potential for research into psychedelic drugs, and their possible benefits have clamored researchers to ask for more freedom to research these drugs with strict government mandates on them:
“There are many psychological areas that call for further investigation, including elucidation of the psychedelic state and an overall topographical map of consciousness, where the use of LSD could be beneficial. The therapeutic value of LSD for clinical use should also be investigated. Studies of tolerance to closely related hallucinogenic anologues and discriminative stimulus properties of hallucinogens may allow us to understand what physiological changes they produce in common, as well as animal perceptions of hallucinogens. This should help us understand structure-activity relationships and how the hallucinogens work on a molecular level. [36] We should also determine how we can best utilise LSD and its derivatives and which derivatives are most useful for different groups. An example of a very positive result in this area was the response of sociopaths – traditionally a very treatment-resistant group – to LSD. [37] Also, the relationship between relatively long-lasting psychedelic drug-induced psychose s and affective disorder certainly deserves further study.”[18]
Without any real medical reasons to ban such drugs, as well as the possible benefits that increased research could discover, it begs the question why was the government so afraid of what this psychedelic movement might produce? While it may not be apparent to the objective observer, from the point of the view of the government there were many things to be afraid of with these psychedelic drugs gaining wide scale recreational acceptance. More specifically the government was afraid of the radical counter-culture, and their calls to change the establishment. Many people in the government viewed drugs such as marijuana and LSD as the fuel for this counter-culture, so it only would make sense to cut it off at its source. Considering the government’s position on this issue, the stance they took can not be looked upon as completely unreasonable. However, was it truly the best course of action if perhaps the benefits of controlled LSD use and even possibly mild recreational use’s benefits outweighed the drug’s negatives?
Interesting of note, when looking at this issue as a whole, is the government’s more direct involvement with LSD during the 1960’s. While Leary’s research and the psychedelic movement that came from it are much better known, the CIA was also doing its own research into LSD during this same time period. However the CIA had a dramatically different focus than focus of Leary and his colleagues. Instead of focusing on ways to use the drugs to expand one’s mind, the CIA was far more interested in how to use the drug as a sort of “truth-serum”.[19] The exploits of the CIA with LSD seem to be wide ranging and provide a more sinister backdrop to the LSD research going on during this period:
“Lee says the CIA became interested in LSD as a “truth serum” after Gen. William “Wild Bill” Donovan, chief of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the
CIA’s wartime predecessor, authorized, in 1942, a top-secret research program to develop a speech-inducing drug for use in intelligence operations.
The book says that in the early ’50s, the CIA began dabbling with LSD, which had been first synthesized in 1938 by Dr. Albert Hofmann, a chemist in . Numerous CIA agents experimented with the drug to gain firsthand knowledge of the experience. At one point, a group of CIA personnel planned to put the drug in the punch served at their annual Christmas party to observe the reactions.
The book also says that the CIA had induced an American drug company to synthesize the secret formula for LSD devised in and that the drug company succeeded in making LSD “available in the in tonnage quantities.”
It says that eventually, in collaboration with the medical and scientific communities that were working on LSD’s capability as a diagnostic tool for schizophrenia, “the CIA victimized certain groups of people who were unable to resist: prisoners, mental patients, foreigners, the terminally ill, sexual deviants, ethnic minorities.”
For example, inmates at the LexingtonNarcoticsHospital in Kentucky were given LSD for 75 consecutive days at the behest of the CIA.”[20]
Some have even attributed that the CIA unintentionally helped fuel the psychedelic movement into what it became by introducing large quantities of LSD into the country, it is has been said that one of the CIA’s own agents became “the largest single source of acid”.[21]
With so many different issues and perspectives on the psychedelic movement, as well as LSD in general, it can be hard to draw any definitive conclusions. Yet, it does become clear when trying to make sense of the information, that some things stay consistent. It is clear that Leary, the catalyst of this movement was unfairly persecuted for a portion of his life as a result of his involvement in this movement. It is also clear that many positive contributions to the arts and culture came out of this psychedelic movement that most likely would of not of come about without the powerful creative effect of LSD and other hallucinogens. There is also too much promising potential in hallucinogenic research for its research to go on being curbed. While there are no definitive facts that prove or disprove Leary’s assertions, about the positive effects of LSD, mainly only personal opinions based on different people’s experiences with the drugs, it is necessary that research is allowed to continue so that we can find out as a civilization how much truth is behind them, so we may decide for ourselves, and not allow the government to make the decisions for us.
Works Cited (in order cited):
Peter O. Whitmer with Bruce VanWyngarden. Aquarius Revisited. New York: Macmillian Publishing Company, 1987
Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast, eds. St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000
Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner, and Richard Alpert. THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE, A manual based on THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD. Secaucus, NJ: The Citadel Press, 1983.
Castaneda, Carlos. A Separate Reality. New York: Touchstone, 1972.
“Reviving research into psychedelic drugs(Editorial).” The Lancet. April 15, 2006.
Kurtzweil, Paula. “Medical possibilities for psychedelic drugs.”FDA Consumer September 1995: pp25(4).
Hunt, Niall. “Time to tune in again? (Possible resumption in LSD research).”Chemistry and Industry Nov 6, 2000: p710.
McCabe, Bruce. “LINKING THE CIA WITH LSD”Boston Globe. July 8, 1986
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
[1] Aquarius Revisited, Whitmer, Page 30-31
[2] St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3, p112
[3] Aquarius Revisited, Whitmer, Page 32
[4] Aquarius Revisited, Whitmer, Page 32
[5] St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3, p112
[6] St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3 p113
[7] THE PSYCHEDELIC EXPERIENCE, A manual based on THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD,
by Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner & Richard Alpert, Section I
[8] St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 3 p113
[9] St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 4 p129
[10] St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 1 453-454
[11]A Separate Reality, Castaneda, p150-151
[12] St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture, Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 4 p128
[13] Aquarius Revisited, Whitmer, Page 184
[14] “Reviving research into psychedelic drugs.(Editorial).” The Lancet, April 15 2006
[15] “Reviving research into psychedelic drugs. (Editorial).” The Lancet, April 15 2006
[16] “Reviving research into psychedelic drugs. (Editorial).” The Lancet, April 15 2006
[17] “Medical possibilities for psychedelic drugs”. Paula Kurtzweil. FDA Consumer (Sept 1995): pp25
[18] “Time to tune in again? (Possible resumption in LSD research)” Niall Hunt. Chemistry and Industry (Nov 6, 2000): p710.
[19]LINKING THE CIA WITH LSD , Bruce McCabe , Boston Globe, July 8, 1986
[20]LINKING THE CIA WITH LSD , Bruce McCabe , Boston Globe, July 8, 1986
[21]LINKING THE CIA WITH LSD , Bruce McCabe , Boston Globe, July 8, 1986
