Hofmann’s Potion – An LSD Documentary
June 5th, 2007Long before Timothy Leary urged a generation to “tune in, turn on and drop out,†D-lysergic acid diethylamide (or LSD) was being used by researchers to understand the human mind. Discovered in 1943 by Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann, LSD was hailed as a powerful tool to treat alcoholism and drug addiction and to provide a window into schizophrenia and other mental illnesses. Much of that pioneering research was done by the team of Humphry Osmond, Abram Hoffer and Duncan Blewett, all working in Saskatchewan. While researchers were establishing the medical benefits of LSD, others — like author Aldous Huxley — promoted the drug as a powerful tool for mental exploration and self-understanding. At Harvard, Timothy Leary, Ralph Metzner and Ram Dass (then known as Richard Alpert) became popular heroes after the university cancelled their research project into psychedelics. Featuring interviews with many LSD pioneers, documentary filmmaker Connie Littlefield delves into the little-known early history of the world’s most notorious psychedelic concoction.
