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If you are interested in the topic, you can check the autobiography of the biggest manufacturer of LSD in history: "The Rose Of Paracelsus" by William Leonard

by edweis 1y ago

If you are interested in the topic, you can check the autobiography of the biggest manufacturer of LSD in history: "The Rose Of Paracelsus" by William Leonard Pickard [1]. It is both poetic and fascinating. It's not an easy read but I recommend it. [1] https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28930020-the-rose-of-paracelsus https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/28930020-the-rose-of-par...

WalterGR 1y ago
The author's Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard
woleium 1y ago
There is the story in Dr. James Ketchum‘s memoir of a barrel containing 40lbs of LSD turning up in his offices. He worked on the Edgewood arsenal as part of the US military. This was enough LSD to make several hundred million people trip and worth nearly $1 billion at street value. Are you suggesting that Pickard manufactured more than that?
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- snypher 1y ago
  Easily. DEA alleged he made 2lbs every 5 weeks, from the late 80's to late 90's. They also seized 'up to' 80lbs.
  - dyauspitr 1y ago
    Where’s the demand for all that LSD. I can’t imagine more than 30 million people ever doing it and probably less than 2 million habitual users in the US.
    - mitb6 1y ago
      The production of LSD was highly concentrated, the DEA claimed that after Pickford's arrest, availability dropped by 99.5%, it looks quite a while to recover. His supply basically was the entirety of demand at the time.
      - skyyler 1y ago
        Street prices went from $1/dose to well over $10. Basically overnight.
    - bag_boy 1y ago
      Jam band tours
    - woleium 1y ago
      Im not sure there are habitual users, in the way there are habitual users of tobacco or alcohol
      - airbreather 1y ago
        In Australia during university around the second the summer of love period we ended up doing acid at least once a week (mostly weekends) for near two years. Probably about half time in the city at clubs and parties, and half time out in the forests and remote beaches. Strawberry double dips were prevalent, a few other designs, microdots etc. I'm pretty sure it gave me a perspective still today, that I would not otherwise have. I don't think it caused any "damage". I still graduated with one of the hardest 4 year degrees and went on to use the degree in a career. I don't have any regrets about it all and the events that unfolded. There were, however, many, many notable incidents and events, most of them more than little bit funny, even today. I don't really remember expressly how, why it ended, it was like organic decay. I think it just ran it's course with availability of LSD, us having the time and places to do it, and eventually I think life just took over. But, definitely, there were some regular repeat customers.
    - bryanrasmussen 1y ago
      you can increase the amount you take over time. and obviously lots of people take it more than one time in their life without being habitual. But maybe the guy was a bit weird and produced more than was actually needed.

by edweis 1y ago

WalterGR 1y ago

The author's Wikipedia entry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard

woleium 1y ago

There is the story in Dr. James Ketchum‘s memoir of a barrel containing 40lbs of LSD turning up in his offices. He worked on the Edgewood arsenal as part of the US military. This was enough LSD to make several hundred million people trip and worth nearly $1 billion at street value. Are you suggesting that Pickard manufactured more than that?

deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
snypher 1y ago
Easily. DEA alleged he made 2lbs every 5 weeks, from the late 80's to late 90's. They also seized 'up to' 80lbs.
- dyauspitr 1y ago
  Where’s the demand for all that LSD. I can’t imagine more than 30 million people ever doing it and probably less than 2 million habitual users in the US.
  - mitb6 1y ago
    The production of LSD was highly concentrated, the DEA claimed that after Pickford's arrest, availability dropped by 99.5%, it looks quite a while to recover. His supply basically was the entirety of demand at the time.
    - skyyler 1y ago
      Street prices went from $1/dose to well over $10. Basically overnight.
  - bag_boy 1y ago
    Jam band tours
  - woleium 1y ago
    Im not sure there are habitual users, in the way there are habitual users of tobacco or alcohol
    - airbreather 1y ago
      In Australia during university around the second the summer of love period we ended up doing acid at least once a week (mostly weekends) for near two years. Probably about half time in the city at clubs and parties, and half time out in the forests and remote beaches. Strawberry double dips were prevalent, a few other designs, microdots etc. I'm pretty sure it gave me a perspective still today, that I would not otherwise have. I don't think it caused any "damage". I still graduated with one of the hardest 4 year degrees and went on to use the degree in a career. I don't have any regrets about it all and the events that unfolded. There were, however, many, many notable incidents and events, most of them more than little bit funny, even today. I don't really remember expressly how, why it ended, it was like organic decay. I think it just ran it's course with availability of LSD, us having the time and places to do it, and eventually I think life just took over. But, definitely, there were some regular repeat customers.
  - bryanrasmussen 1y ago
    you can increase the amount you take over time. and obviously lots of people take it more than one time in their life without being habitual. But maybe the guy was a bit weird and produced more than was actually needed.