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LSD: THE FIRST 50 YEARS
Since even TMA wasn't familiar with the Albert Hofmann Foundation,
I must assume that its fame and its message of mind expansion haven't
quite transcended the boundaries of LA yet. Not that I'm terribly
surprised, mind you; after all, the AHF is a brand new outfit,
inaugurated less than six months ago.
The AHF is without exaggeration the single most valuable source of
information on psychedelics in the world today. This non-profit
foundation is entirely funded from private donations and is therefore
independent of any religious, institutional or governmental
surveillance. One of its primary functions is educational, to make its
resources available to the public. I consider this a most valuable
service, having faced the sorts of very rude censorship moves against
most things psychedelic that I have come across in such venerable
places as the UCLA biomed library, among others.
One of the current goals of the AHF is to spread the word of its
existence in order to reach those people whose lives might benefit from
taking advantage of the services it offers. Lucky for you, as a
volunteer AHF associate, I'm here to do some spreading of words. First,
let's take a look at the man who started it all: Albert Hofmann: a
short bio...
Albert Hofmann (1906- ), now retired as Director of Research for
Sandoz Laboratories, Ltd., a Swiss pharmaceuticals company, is best
known for his study of ergot, a substance derived from a rye fungus.
From it, he produced, quite accidentally, lysergic acid diethylamide-
25, LSD for short. Tested on mice in 1938, the substance failed to
arouse interest among pharmacologists and physicians, so it was
shelved. On April 16, 1943, however, Hofmann repeated the synthesis
of LSD-25, but was forced to suspend his work and proceed home because
of the onset of "a not unpleasant intoxicated condition, characterized
by an extremely stimulated imagination." Thus Hofmann embarked on the
first recorded acid trip in history. Three days later he decided
to systematically study the unexpected mental effects; he started
by ingesting O.25 milligrams of the substance, an enormous dose in
LSD terms. Feeling much disoriented he pedaled home once again,
experiencing one of the most memorable bicycle rides in history.
Hofmann subsequently participated in LSD sessions with some of the most
distinguished European writers and philsophers.
Hofmann's genius in organic chemistry was reconfirmed in 1958 when
he synthesized psilocybin, the active ingredient in Mexico's magic
mushroom. This was the drug used in the first two years of the Harvard
Psychedelic Research Project, directed jointly by Timothy Leary, Ph.D.,
Ralph Metzner, Ph.D. and Richard Alpert, Ph.D. (aka RamDass). Hofmann
believed in supplying psychedelic substances to qualified researchers
for further study and the Harvard Project symbolized the first
concerted effort by a group of American psychologists to use a
psychedelic substance as a tool in the study of the human mind.
The inevitable clash with the scientific mainstream-establishment
at ultra-conservative Harvard and the subsequent dismissal of all
faculty and graduate students associated with the project not only
illustrated the silly power politics that govern academia, but the
tenets of American psychology in the 60s, which simply discounted as
irrelevant the human mind as a determinant of free will and behavior.
Largely as a consequence of the highly politicized and paranoid
reactions of government and lawmakers, psychedelic substances
have been barred from legal scientific study in most parts of the
world.
The AHF was created in 1988, on the occasion of celebrating 50
years of consciousness research, research often carried out privately
and insecrecy. One of the functions of the AHF is to bring to light
a substantial amount of this "underground material" and to make
available to the public all information, documents, research reports,
art etc. that chronicle the pioneering efforts in psychedelic
mind/brain exploration.
The board of advisers and supporters of the AHF bring together
some of the most prominent names and personalities from this pioneering
psychedelic era, e.g. Oscar Janiger, Allen Ginsberg, Laura Huxley,
John Lilly, Alexander Shulgin, Stanilav Grof and many others. However,
one name is conspicuously absent from this list of 60s celebs, that of
Timothy Leary, ex(?)-LSD guru and current philosopher-at-large.
This is not an oversight, nor does it mean Leary isn't a potent
player behind the scenes. There are pragmatic reasons to consider,
however, and the AHF's aim of being a completely legit, squeaky clean
organization for purely educational purposes, is-officially at least-
not quite compatible with Leary's record and past lifestyles. "If I
were trying to curry favor with the Establishment", Leary said, "I
wouldn't ask me to join, either." It's but a sign of the times, that
Leary's seven years spent in various state and federal penitentiaries
poignantly appeared to herald future government drug policy.
In this War-on-Drugs decade of the 1980s, a reactionary period of
blanket prohibition, censorship and paranoid ignorance of all things
psychedelic, the Albert Hofmann Foundation-and all the people who make
it possible-transmit a strong, powerful message long overdue: the fact
that the scientific achievement of psychedelic mind exploration is here
to stay; as a matter of fact, the best is yet to come.
While the man may not be 'establishment' enough to officially
represent the AHF, Timothy Leary nonetheless aptly summarized
the foundation's message of optimistic encouragement and a future
mission at outdoor dedication ceremonies for the AHF held in July, 1988
in the Hollywood Hills: "Everything's gonna be alright, the *fun* has
just begun!" For more information and/or to get on the mailing list,
contact:
THE ALBERT HOFMANN FOUNDATION
132 West Channel Road, Suite 324
Santa Monica, CA 90402
(213)281-8110 (message recording)
Also, feel free to bug me about any questions, concerns, issues
you have regarding the AHF or psychedelics in general.
[Don't forget to JUST SAY *KNOW*!]