The Social History of LSD

Extract

[...] Kesey came up with the character of Chief Broom, through whom the story of his first novel is told, from and LSD trip (Wolfe 42). Kesey wrote several passages of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest while on peyote and LSD. "He even had someone give him a shock treatment, clandestinely, so he could write a passage in which Chief Broom comes back from 'the shock shop'." Allen Ginsberg (1926 - 1997) was a writer and poet from the Beat generation that participated in the acid scene. [...]

[...] With its LSD-testing programs in college towns, such as the one where Ken Kesey and Robert Hunter, later Garcia's lyricist, first tasted the forbidden fruit, the CIA sowed the seeds of the chemical manipulations of consciousness that remain a leitmotiv of the Dead's culture of enchantment." Ken Kesey was on of the first to have LSD tested on at the Veterans Hospital in Menlo Park in 1959. He learned of the experiment from his friend, a psychology student named Vic Lovell. [...]

[...] Leary was fired from Harvard in the first year LSD is believed to have appeared on the streets, in the form of sugercubes. (Larrea) After much experimentation, Leary decided to share his discovery with the world, and became a public voice promoting lysergic acid diethylamide, and was consequently kicked out of Harvard. He used the credo "Turn On, Tune In , Drop Out" ("Flower . "Leary metamorphosized from academic professor to counterculture folk hero. He continued his research in Mexico and the Millbrook estate in N.Y., working with many influential writers, artists, scientific researchers, and philosophers. [...]

[...] Stoll reported that LSD produced disturbances in perception, hallucinations, and acceleration in thinking; moreover, the drug was found to blunt the usual suspiciousness of schizophrenic patients. No unfavorable aftereffects were described (Lee 12- 13). Other scientific studies of the century found that there is a close similarity in chemical composition mescalin and adrenalin. "Further research revealed that lysergic acid, and extremely potent hallucinogen derived from ergot, has a structural biochemical relationship to the others. Then came the discover that adrenochrome, which is a product of the decomposition of adrenalin, can produce many of the symptoms observed in mescalin intoxication." (Huxley) The government, especially the CIA, became deeply involve in research and testing of psychedelic drugs. [...]

[...] In the late eighties the psychedelic movement reemerged with the new popularity of raves, all-night events featuring dance music and hallucinogens (Larrea) marked the end of the last formal LSD research program, so not all is known abut the drug (Larrea). The psychedelic revolution came strong in the sixties, and though it may be gone, it will not be forgotten. Landmarks in the arts were created during this time. There were many speculations as to what lysergic acid does to the human mind and creativity. [...]