Timothy Leary was one of the most vocal advocates of LSD
experimentation. He taught psychology at Harvard and by 1960 was
doing experiments with LSD and other hallucinogens, first on
prison inmates and then on himself and his friends. LSD was not
illegal at the time. In 1960, Allen Ginsberg, supervised by
Leary, ingested psilocybin mushrooms, (under the influence of
the drug, he phoned Jack Kerouac, identifying himself as God to
the telephone operator), and began to spread the word about the
new powerful psychedelic drugs. When Harvard dismissed Leary in
1963 for involving his students in his first-hand research into
LSD and other psychedlic drugs, he set up the Castalia Institute
in Millbrook, New York, to continue his studies. Leary's
approach to taking LSD was the opposite of
Ken
Kesey's, Leary believed in "set and setting," a practice of
taking the drug in a controlled environment, as a safeguard
against bad trips. He coined the phrase "Turn On, Tune In, and
Drop Out," and formed the "League of Spiritual Discovery," an
LSD advocacy group. In the mid sixties, he began attending
numerous musical events and public forums that promoted the use
of LSD. Leary spent a number of years in prison for various
charges related to drug possession.
experimentation. He taught psychology at Harvard and by 1960 was
doing experiments with LSD and other hallucinogens, first on
prison inmates and then on himself and his friends. LSD was not
illegal at the time. In 1960, Allen Ginsberg, supervised by
Leary, ingested psilocybin mushrooms, (under the influence of
the drug, he phoned Jack Kerouac, identifying himself as God to
the telephone operator), and began to spread the word about the
new powerful psychedelic drugs. When Harvard dismissed Leary in
1963 for involving his students in his first-hand research into
LSD and other psychedlic drugs, he set up the Castalia Institute
in Millbrook, New York, to continue his studies. Leary's
approach to taking LSD was the opposite of
