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LSD Chemist William Pickard to Be Released from Prison
- eindiran 6y agoThere was an article several years ago in Vice which mentioned him: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nndz9z/life-is-a-cosmic-giggle-803-v18n5 https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nndz9z/life-is-a-cosmic-g...
- sibeliuss 6y agoA+ interview and history
- sybarita 6y agoI urge you to look into Krystle's story more. She's an absolutely vile person who participated in the torture and attempted murder of her boyfriend, Brandon Green. https://thislandpress.com/2013/07/28/subterranean-psychonaut/ https://thislandpress.com/2013/07/28/subterranean-psychonaut...
- _-___________-_ 6y agoIf that's true, surely there's a less rambling source available than that one?
- twirlip 6y agoThe Caselaw link posted by masklinn provides a legal summary of the kidnapping and torture of Green by Skinner and Cole. However, in contrast, I found the This Land article "Subterranean Psychonaut" by Mason, Sandel, and Chapman to be a fascinating and in-depth read. It's replete with endnotes and provides information about Cole's actions after the police picked up Green.
- sybarita 6y agoPlease read this, Krystle is an evil person https://thislandpress.com/2013/07/28/subterranean-psychonaut/ https://thislandpress.com/2013/07/28/subterranean-psychonaut...
- tdeck 6y agoAny kind of TL;DR for this? It's quite a commitment to read.
- masklinn 6y agoAccording to the testimony of Brandon Green (the victim), Cole actively participated in his torture and mutilation alongside Skinner, she apparently even paid Green's rent in advance so nobody would look too hard for him. The case is really fucked up: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ok-court-of-criminal-appeals/1251267.html https://caselaw.findlaw.com/ok-court-of-criminal-appeals/125... She got off basically scot-free (she's on youtube and IG) because she most likely snitched, and it probably helped that she was a young white woman. Not that Skinner doesn't deserve everything bad that could happen to him, he was the main torturer of Green, and a DEA informant and the reason Pickard got caught, and got life.
- cyberbanjo 6y agoIt's a gripping read. It describes a drugging, kidnapping alongside a torture, in part arising out of a love triangle and a clanenstine drug lab in an ex-Military middle silo.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- spacechild1 6y agoWow, what a crazy and sickening story! I remember that I've stumbled across her Youtube-videos (Neurosoup) about 10 years ago. I had no idea...
- ur-whale 6y agoThere's also this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=r7qliVpGEk0&feature=emb_logo https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=r7qliVpGEk0&...
- bennysonething 6y agoTwenty years!? Assuming he was non violent that is an absolutely brutal sentence.
- mhh__ 6y agoBut drugs ruin lives!
- mrmonkeyman 6y agoLSD.. it might clear up some lives.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- zelly 6y agoUnder the Federal drug kingpin law[1], after certain thresholds[2] of business having been done, the minimum sentence is life. For example, the threshold for a life sentence for cocaine is 1500 kilograms, for LSD 300 grams. Doesn't matter if you were violent or not. No suspensed sentence, no probation, no parole (Pickard seems to have gotten an exception because of coronavirus like many others). [1] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/848 https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/848 [2] https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/841#b_1_B https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/841#b_1_B
- anaisbetts 6y agoHe got an exception because the government didn't want to pay for his medical treatment, expect these "compassionate exceptions" to happen more often
- jacobush 6y agoMess them up, kick them out.
- 082349872349872 6y agoPertaining to previous psychedelic prosecution: The NYT OCR game is weak: https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/30/archives/swiss-reject-plea-by-us-for-return-of-timothy-leary.html https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/30/archives/swiss-reject-ple... In 1971 reaction GIFs had very few frames; I believe this is Leary after the decision: https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/EfA-aysZvcNpE84iYc8A217CN77cpuzPdlZjNSozRzxDQV0wqAS4kYRm6BZFf_qqehwIVUVlLH4QfNTEPJk https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/proxy/EfA-aysZvcNpE84iYc8A...
- pmoriarty 6y agoThe Psychedelic Salon podcast did a long reading of Pickard's novel, The Rose of Paraselsus, which included an introduction which went in to Pickard's background. It's well worth listening to. The first episode of the series can be heard here: [1],[2] [1] - https://psychedelicsalon.com/podcast-609-the-rose-garden-introduction/ https://psychedelicsalon.com/podcast-609-the-rose-garden-int... [2] - Direct link to the mp3: https://media.blubrry.com/psychedelic_salon/archive.org/download/609TheRoseOfParaselsus001/609-TheRoseOfParaselsus-001.mp3 https://media.blubrry.com/psychedelic_salon/archive.org/down...
- Alex3917 6y agoThanks for the link. Haven't listen to that podcast in many years, but am excited for this. It's funny that his style of thinking and writing is clearly kind of similar to Nick Sand, if you've listened to the previous episodes with him.
- kitteh 6y agoHe got a raw deal. People around him who were pretty evil got off.
- smabie 6y agoFor some reasons the feds in the 90s were unusually interested in prosecuting psychedelics. I'm of the opinion that all drugs should be legal, but even if I wasn't, I think I would still question why LSD manufacturers were getting such long sentences around that time. Never really made sense to me.
- kitteh 6y agoFriend of a friend got caught with two sheets in the 90s and I think he got 20 years for each one. Downstate Illinois. My recollection was the weight of the blotter paper was considered as the drug itself and that easily increased the federal sentencing guidelines.
- rapsey 6y agoJust how the feds when weighing pot plants weighted them with pots and all.
- TheSpiceIsLife 6y agoWhen I was arrested and searched the police didn’t even find the 200 tabs I had on me. They found everything else, but LSD is incredibly easy to hide from regular law enforcement. They found everything else, but in typical stupid-police fashion, they ballsed that up too and ended up entering a nolle prosequi (do not prosecute) at the district court level. The police prosecutor was sufficiently annoyed, and I was sufficiently elated and thankful for the woman who went before me (case unrelated) and set a strong precedent. Any chance I get to gloat. Edit to add: this happened in Australia in 2012. Not keen to repeat the experience.
- stormdennis 6y agoPeople like the DEA and the FBI can just make up statistics to make themselves look good and they're reported as fact. The drugs seized had a street value of N million dollars, the supply of LSD went down 95% after his arrest. Good job DEA
- intricatedetail 6y agoIs this comment sarcastic? What is good about this "job"?
- icelancer 6y ago>> Is this comment sarcastic yes
- matsemann 6y ago> The drugs seized had a street value of N million dollars In the words of Ali G: You're probably getting ripped off if you have to pay that much. [0]: https://youtu.be/B6Sg8D2Ci0Q?t=15 https://youtu.be/B6Sg8D2Ci0Q?t=15
- 3131s 6y agohttp://freeleonardpickard.org/Skinner-Timeline.html http://freeleonardpickard.org/Skinner-Timeline.html
- non-entity 6y agoJesus 2 life sentences for manufacturing LSD? Wonder what people were getting for drugs that actually kill people.
- seesawtron 6y agoTobacco and alcohol industry are getting government subsidies, bailouts and huge profit margins. Not sure about the other "illegal" drug manufacturers.
- mindfulhack 6y agoIt's more acceptable and state-sanctioned to sell drugs that kill people while keeping them subdued, than ones that keep them alive and open their minds. I don't want to sound like a crazy 'conspiracy theorist' or a 'hippie', but I don't know to distill this sad and truthful statement more simply than that.
- ketzu 6y agoThe reasons why tobacco and alcohol are legal are mostly historical and they are basically the only exceptions. There are many drugs that kill people but keep them subdued that are illegal. It seems to me that is not the reason for which are legal and which ones are not.
- Retric 6y agoI agree with tobacco. However, alcohol is legal in part because it’s easy to make. Even prisoners often start making alcohol let alone the general public.
- ketzu 6y agoWhile I agree that this plays a part, as it's what made it so popular to begin with, drugs 'directly' derived from plants are quite easy to make, too.
- 6y ago
- throwaway9955 6y agoFor those that want LSD but not have to be a criminal I recommend trying 1-P LSD which has the functional class of LSD without being illegal in most countries, happy tripping. If you're on the wall about trying it micro dose and work your way up to something functional.
- non-entity 6y agoIs LSD schedule I in the US? If so it might be prosecutable under the federal analogue act, although whether that act matters seems to be somewhat debated. I know some other countries have blanket bans on RCs and analogues as well.
- masklinn 6y ago> Is LSD schedule I in the US? Yes. Most psychedelics are Schedule I. Though to be fair, that's in large part due to the UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances, of which only 11 UN member states are not party.
- plmu 6y agoThe US was and is one of the driving forces behind the UN convention, however.
- dr_dshiv 6y agoIs the effect exactly the same or somewhat different?
- luckylion 6y agoVery close / the same in my experience. I've never had the exact same effect even from two doses of LSD from the same sheet, much less different producers, but 1p-lsd was just fine and felt the same to me. I bought a bit before it was put on the controlled substances list in my country. A good demonstration that legal LSD doesn't end the world: it was legal, it was LSD, the world didn't end!
- intricatedetail 6y agoGovernment comitted crime against humanity. Suppression of research and freedom is unforgivable.
- thinkingemote 6y agoHe wasn't doing research.
- ethanbond 6y agoBut all of his customers were :) Only being half humorous here.
- kanobo 6y agoIronically if prisons in the US were actually for rehabilitation, LSD therapy could help some.
- retreatguru 6y agoThis should be at the top. There is so much truth to this!
- braindead_in 6y agoHe is gonna love his first trip once he's out. Respect.
- rv-de 6y agoif the drug legalization momentum keeps up in the US, he might be back in business one day - which would be awesome. psilos are great and all but LSD brings the right amount of fun to tripping in my experience.
- melenaboija 6y agoI found this video with some opinions about the case. I would say it is biased but I though it was interesting. https://youtu.be/Ly6Zn1a-Xc0 https://youtu.be/Ly6Zn1a-Xc0
- nlh 6y agoI found this line from the article particularly interesting: “The court concluded that the 20 years served are sufficient for meeting the goals of incapacitation, deterrence, retribution, and rehabilitation.” Deterrence and rehabilitation (yeah, right) I knew were “goals” of the US prison system, but I never realized that “incapacitation” and “retribution” were actual legally-stated goals.
- aspenmayer 6y agoMaybe we’re the bad guys?
- beervirus 6y agoThere are different theories of criminal punishment (i.e., different people subscribe to different philosophical justifications). Incapacitation is basically a special case of deterrence, in that you're deterring the individual who's in prison. Retribution is a little more controversial, but plenty of people see it as a valid goal.
- melq 6y agoTechnically speaking, retribution is a punishment dealt to someone for committing a crime, so any prison sentence is an act of retribution.
- WillDaSilva 6y agoI'd argue that if the intention is entirely to rehabilitate (and incapacitate if necessary) then a prison sentence would only incidentally be a punishment.
- baron816 6y agoGovernment policy: prevent people from ruining their lives with drugs by ruining it for them with prison.
- marcrosoft 6y agoThere should be no victimless crimes! This man made a product that others willingly wanted for themselves. There are no victims here. This can be applied to seatbelts, helmet laws, etc.
- dEnigma 6y agoI don't know. It could be traumatizing to kill someone in a rather unspectacular car crash just because they weren't using their seatbelt. Same for helmets.
- atom-morgan 6y agoThe possibility of someone else's trauma shouldn't infringe on my freedom to ride a bike without a helmet.
- dwater 6y agoYou may do so on your own private property. If you wish to use public roadways, you must abide by the laws set by your state, which must balance the costs to society of your choices against your ability to make them.
- craftinator 6y agoThis is a disgusting comment.
- platistocrates 6y agoSelf referential comment.
- newbie789 6y agoThis is delightful news. I really hope in the coming decades the research of organizations like MAPS get more attention and become completely mainstream. Making psychedelics Schedule 1 set us back decades that could have been spent doing important research on a large number of mental health conditions.
- rdmirza 6y agoMAPS (multidisciplinary association of psychedelic studies) is systematically demonstrating the positive effects of psychedelics. Their most impressive work is in PTSD. In Phase 2 trials, they took people with established PTSD (for years) and undertook ~3 guided psychotherapy sessions with MDMA. Within 2 months, 53% no longer met criteria for PTSD and at 12 months 68% didn't. Far more efficacious that anything else we have. Powerful tool for psychologic healing.
- chmod775 6y agoWhat about the control groups in those trials? How many people? Hard to tell how effective the treatment is with nothing to compare to.
- MacsHeadroom 6y ago22% in the drug-free therapy control groups. It's a pretty major difference. Psychedelics work at changing the mind and they work astonishingly well, provided their consumption accompanies skilled counseling. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-019-05249-5 https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00213-019-05249-5
- james_s_tayler 6y agoEMDR also works.
- shitgoose 6y agoTwo life sentences. Barbaric.