Romney+Smith

Timothy Leary on LSD Romney Smith

1. My research question is on Timothy Leary’s research on LSD and why he was an advocate for it, in contrast with reasons why people were against use of the drug 2. I am interested in this topic because since I have arrived in Boulder, I am surrounded more by recreational drug use (other than marijuana) more than I ever have been before. I want to know more about LSD and how influential Leary was during his time as an advocate for LSD.

SCHOLARLY ARTICLE: " [|Timothy Leary and LSD.] " __American Decades__. 2001. //Encyclopedia.com.// 1 Nov. 2010 < [|http://www.encyclopedia.com] >. This article explains the start of Leary becoming interested in studying drugs due to him ingesting magic mushrooms in 1960. The main points are that Leary switched from mushrooms to studying LSD and used patients and conducted experiments to study, and the youth of the 60’s became infatuated with the drug. I agree that that the youth used LSD to rebel against establishment because it is such a freeing drug, it makes sense. The government made hallucinogen’s illegal in 1966, which I semi-agree with. The drug certainly has the ability to take a toll on your brain in bad ways, however it is not necessarily that dangerous if you use it the right way.

POPULAR ARTICLE: Menand, Louis. "Acid Redux: The New Yorker." Editorial. //Acid Redux: The Life and//  //High Times of Timothy Leary//. The New Yorker, 26 June 2006. Web. 24 Oct. 2010. []

==== This article is a popular article from the New Yorker archive online. It gave me a couple good quotes from Leary and provided me with information about what LSD was used for in the 1950’s. I agree with Leary’s quote, “LSD puts the user in touch with his or her ancestral past and with the genetic memory of all life forms, which is encoded in each person’s genes,” because LSD truly does allow your mind to think in different ways and makes you realize that you are one with the earth. I found it really interesting that in the 1950’s, the military and the C.I.A. hoped to find that LSD could be used as a truth serum or a tool in mind control, although that wasn’t the case. Psychologists also used acid for research in psychosis and schizophrenia. ====

This book is a scholarly source, as it has direct essays and notes written by Timothy Leary. It gave me a lot of personal insight into his opinions on drugs
==== and LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). Leary expresses how to “activate the neural state of freedom,” and how LSD allows the mind to think in new ways an gain insight to the world around us. I agree with the proposition that the depression rate lowered during the LSD boom, because sad feelings were not as common in the 60’s when so many people were experimenting with drugs. After reading this I would like to find information on what people had to say in an argument against the positives of LSD. ====

==== This website provided me with information on LSD, such as side affects, what will occur when it is taken, and where to do it. The main points are what the drug does to you, such as sharpening the user’s insight into the self and the surroundings, improves learning and personal growth and is highly liberating. I agree with the fact that the user should not allow the symptoms to freak them out, such as body pressure, cold and heat, tingling, nausea, and shaking. From personal experience when I allowed myself to freak out it made the whole situation worse, so I had to find new surroundings and people that made me feel comfortable and then I was fine. ====