4 ms·

Not only Bulgaria, in Czechoslovakia similar tests were done by the army in 70s with expected results [1]. I am not surprised - a powerful unknown item is disco

Not only Bulgaria, in Czechoslovakia similar tests were done by the army in 70s with expected results [1]. I am not surprised - a powerful unknown item is discovered, so power structures take notice and do some digging. Btw Czech Stanislav Grof mentioned in article is/was a big name in clinical research of LSD. He later moved to US. He also has some good screen time in great documentary about LSD invention by Hofmann - The Substance: Albert Hofmann's LSD [2] Basically if Timothy Leary didn't abuse LSD so blatantly in everybody's face for so long, it might not have ended up in same category as heroin. Even after 60 years the damage he has done (albeit in good faith, but that doesn't matter much) is not completely reversed. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HXMHdhQL_8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HXMHdhQL_8 [2] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2075352/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2075352/

scarecrowbob 5y ago
I personally don't believe the "Leary was an op" trope, but I certainly get why folks do. So much rhetorical damage was done by so few people.
pvarangot 5y ago
I don't condone Leary's research protocols, but the whole field was plagued with what is now seen as unethical experimentation back then. Leary was fired from Harvard in 1963, according to Wikipedia, and the Stanford Prison Experiment thing happened in 1971. I really don't vibe with the manic LSD guru personality at all, never did, but the man was a consequence of his time and that kind of research happened all over the place and with all sorts of substances. I think LSD and weed would still be in the same schedule they are not, Leary or not Leary.
Synaesthesia 5y ago
The government was pretty determined to stamp out any kind of mind altering drug, ignoring the facts and opinions of experts and doctors. That was the case with LSD, it was the case with MDMA, where a lot of people testified to it's value in psychiatric medicine, but were simply ignored. I think Hoffman's essay on the subject is one of the best "LSD my problem child" and is available online.
pmoriarty 5y ago
"if Timothy Leary didn't abuse LSD so blatantly in everybody's face for so long, it might not have ended up in same category as heroin." I really don't get why Leary gets all the blame, instead of the ignorant, narrow-minded reactionaries who freaked out over it and actually made it illegal. Psychedelics were strongly associated with hippies, the antiwar movement, and the counterculture -- that (and not anything Leary said or did) is the real reason they were made illegal. There were also other events and people who inflamed the moral panic of the time, like the Manson murders, the suicide of Art Linkletter's daughter (which he blamed, without evidence, on LSD), Ken Kesey's acid tests (which were far more irresponsible than anything Leary ever did), etc.
- mistermann 5y ago
  > Psychedelics were strongly associated with hippies, the antiwar movement, and the counterculture -- that (and not anything Leary said or did) is the real reason they were made illegal. I sometimes wonder if what was going on at the time had some effect on that decision - the cold war (among others) was going strong back then and I think the spread of the hippy mentality/lifestyle would have been a genuine threat to the US's ability to win that showdown. Now that the USSR is broken up might be the chance for try number two, but now we have China to be concerned with. That said, this mainstreaming of psychedelics seems to be unfolding almost completely without government resistance, which seems surreal to me.
- colecut 5y ago
  How do you see the acid tests as irresponsible? From my perception of history, kesey and the pranksters were just trying to have a fun time and blow some minds, while Leary came across as more a religious cult type, and telling everyone to drop out of society, which to me could be seen as more irresponsible.
- jdkee 5y ago
  Nixon hated the hippies, so he started the war on drugs which included both LSD and marijuana among other drugs. https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/ https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/

scarecrowbob 5y ago

I personally don't believe the "Leary was an op" trope, but I certainly get why folks do. So much rhetorical damage was done by so few people.

pvarangot 5y ago

I don't condone Leary's research protocols, but the whole field was plagued with what is now seen as unethical experimentation back then. Leary was fired from Harvard in 1963, according to Wikipedia, and the Stanford Prison Experiment thing happened in 1971. I really don't vibe with the manic LSD guru personality at all, never did, but the man was a consequence of his time and that kind of research happened all over the place and with all sorts of substances. I think LSD and weed would still be in the same schedule they are not, Leary or not Leary.

Synaesthesia 5y ago

The government was pretty determined to stamp out any kind of mind altering drug, ignoring the facts and opinions of experts and doctors. That was the case with LSD, it was the case with MDMA, where a lot of people testified to it's value in psychiatric medicine, but were simply ignored. I think Hoffman's essay on the subject is one of the best "LSD my problem child" and is available online.

pmoriarty 5y ago

"if Timothy Leary didn't abuse LSD so blatantly in everybody's face for so long, it might not have ended up in same category as heroin." I really don't get why Leary gets all the blame, instead of the ignorant, narrow-minded reactionaries who freaked out over it and actually made it illegal. Psychedelics were strongly associated with hippies, the antiwar movement, and the counterculture -- that (and not anything Leary said or did) is the real reason they were made illegal. There were also other events and people who inflamed the moral panic of the time, like the Manson murders, the suicide of Art Linkletter's daughter (which he blamed, without evidence, on LSD), Ken Kesey's acid tests (which were far more irresponsible than anything Leary ever did), etc.

mistermann 5y ago
> Psychedelics were strongly associated with hippies, the antiwar movement, and the counterculture -- that (and not anything Leary said or did) is the real reason they were made illegal. I sometimes wonder if what was going on at the time had some effect on that decision - the cold war (among others) was going strong back then and I think the spread of the hippy mentality/lifestyle would have been a genuine threat to the US's ability to win that showdown. Now that the USSR is broken up might be the chance for try number two, but now we have China to be concerned with. That said, this mainstreaming of psychedelics seems to be unfolding almost completely without government resistance, which seems surreal to me.
colecut 5y ago
How do you see the acid tests as irresponsible? From my perception of history, kesey and the pranksters were just trying to have a fun time and blow some minds, while Leary came across as more a religious cult type, and telling everyone to drop out of society, which to me could be seen as more irresponsible.
jdkee 5y ago
Nixon hated the hippies, so he started the war on drugs which included both LSD and marijuana among other drugs. https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/ https://harpers.org/archive/2016/04/legalize-it-all/