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Reality Hackers/High Frontiers Issue #6, Winter 1988
Psychedelic Scenarios
by Bruce Eisner and Peter Stafford
A psychedelic soiree to benefit the Albert Hoffman Memorial Library was
recently staged at Hollywood's John Anson Ford Theater. Over two hundred
psychedelic cognoscenti, at $50 a plate, milled and mingled about on the
stage. They were later joined by an additional 1500 persons for a
presentation called "Beyond the Doors of Perception."
Dr. Oscar Janiger, the psychiatrist noted for turning on a bevy of
celebrities and artists, compared the library to a time capsule, or fossil
record, which will contain books and memorabilia of the half century since
Hoffman made his fortuitous discovery of LSD. The library will also house a
psychedelic art gallery. Some of the art will be from artists who were turned
on by Janiger back in the late 50's and early 60's. Dr. Janiger used to give
his subjects a Hopi Kachina doll and ask each one to paint it before LSD and
again later, while on the psychedelic.
The terrible triumvirate from Harvard, Leary, Alpert, and Metzner, came
together publicly for the first time in a quarter century. Metzner cleared up
the misconception that he, too, had been fired by Harvard. "I am happy to
point out that I wasn't fired. I didn't have a job there. I was a graduate
student. Subsequently, I changed my story because I realized it was much more
interesting if I said I was fired..."
Richard Alpert (introduced by MC Paul Krassner as "Just Plain Ram Dass") gave
a progress report on his well-documented journey, promising another such
report ten years hence. He began by clearing up his drug-taking status.
"People have always asked me, 'Well, you have stopped using drugs, haven't
you?'" He responded, "No, I take LSD about every two years to find out what I
forgot and to have faith in who we are." He said that he would have remained
a middle-class neurotic if not for Timothy Leary and the experiences that
propelled him on his well-chronicled journey. "As long as I live, I will be
growing into what happened to me on my first psychedelic experience."
Timothy Leary paid homage to seminal brain explorers and predicted that in
ten years, 1998 - 75% of the members of the House of Representatives and 60%
of the Supreme Court judges will have been Bob Dylan fans. He declared "The
fun has hardly begun!"
Janiger promises the library will be open by year's end and other benefits
are in the works. If you would like to donate money, psychedelic memorabilia,
or exhibits or just want more information, write The Albert Hoffmann
Foundation, 1328 Westwood Blvd. Suite 36, Los Angeles, CA 90024. Its phone
number in L.A. is (213)470-1624
---
MDMA is in Schedule I again. The seesaw battle for MDMA's legal status may
have ended in February, with the DEA adminstrator again placing it into the
most severe category in the drug schedules.
During the past three years, its status has resembled a ping-pong ball. Of
course, the ball always ends up back in the DEA's court and they always whack
it back into Schedule I.
Until 1985, MDMA was as legal as table salt. After the DEA attempted to place
it in Schedule I, a group of researchers protested and hearings ensued. In
the midst of the hearings, the DEA used its new emergency powers to
temporarily ban it. Appeals courts later found this unconstitutional because,
at the time, the DEA didn't have the authority.
At the conclusion of the hearings, the DEA's own judge recommended placing it
in the more benign Schedule III. DEa Administrator John Lawn simply ignored
the recommendation and whacked it back into Schedule I.
The researchers - led by Lester Grinspoon, M.D. of Harvard - successfully
appealed. The First Circuit Court ruled that it should be taken off Schedule
I and reconsidered by the DEA. It did not take long for the DEA to
"reconsider" and put it back in Schedule I. At this point, those who have
opposed the scheduling are ready to give up. "When you're defanging a bear
one tooth at a time, you still got a problem," said a noted chemist and
researcher.
Once diehard who is still hoping to get research going again is Rick Doblin
of Cambridge, Massachusetts. His organization, MAPS, has conducted animal
research to examine the charges of possible neurotoxicity lodged against
MDMA. His conclusions are contained in a report titled: "Risk Assessment: The
FDA and MDMA Research." (The report appears an an appendix to Bruce's book,
'Ecstasy: The MDMA Story' from Ronin Publishers in Berkeley, CA.)
The non-medical use of MDMA has not stopped with its scheduling and
continues at a very significant rate in the United States while, at
the same time, MDMA has a great, but undeveloped, therapeutic
potential. If it can be demonstrated that MDMA-induced neurotoxicity
is temporary, and that there is a no-effect level around the human
dose level, the risk of using MDMA infrequently in research seems
very minimal.
Even if neurotoxicity does occur, there are presently no behavioral
or functional effects that have been associated with it. Once careful
risk/benefit analyses can be conducted, rational decisions can be
made concerning future research. If the data comes in as preliminary
indications suggest, there can be hope that the FDA will permit
direct MDMA research in humans to begin.
Those of you who are interested in donating time or spinal fluid to Rick's
studies can contact him at: (617)547-7271