Long 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.
A young child on LSD, taken at a time when LSD was legal. This video clip states that people as young as 9 were given LSD at the Millbrook Estate with Timothy Leary and his gang.
Sacred Weeds is a television series of one hour documentaries investigating the cultural impact of psychoactive plants on a broad array of early civilisations. In this episode Professor Andrew Sherratt and associates perform a scientific study on Salvia Divinorum aka Diviner’s Sage.
Watch the Sacred Weeds Documentary Video Salvia Divinorum: The Diviner’s Sage
