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Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert (Ram Dass) and the changing definition of psilocybin.

Colin Wark, John F Galliher

International Journal of Drug Policy May 1, 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2009.08.004 (opens in new tab)

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Study at a glance

AI-extracted from the abstract
Characteristics Historical analysis Case report Peer reviewed
Topics Psilocybin
Keywords Psilocybin history Psilocybin criminalization Psilocybin prohibition Psychedelic history Drug history History of psilocybin 1960s counterculture Youth movement Social movements Psychedelic movement Drug policy Drug prohibition Drug laws Federal prohibition Criminalization of drugs Timothy leary Leary and alpert Harvard professors Psychedelic advocates
Citations 12
Key points Argues that the 1968 U.S. prohibition of psilocybin was largely a product of Leary and Alpert's involvement in the Harvard drug scandal and their transformation into countercultural icons.

Abstract

This research focuses on the events leading to the 1968 U.S. federal prohibition of psilocybin. It is a study of duelling moral entrepreneurs-Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert vs. the Harvard University Administration. The goal is to show how the primary active compound in an ostensibly harmless fungus (the psilocybin mushroom) became controversial in less than a decade. We used books, newspapers, magazine articles and previously unpublished materials (including documents from the Harvard Archives) to analyze Leary and Alpert's lives and careers through the early 1970s. The prohibition of psilocybin in the U.S. was largely a product of Leary and Alpert's involvement in the "Harvard drug scandal" and their transformation from Harvard professors to countercultural icons. They tested the substance on a variety of human subjects and in doing so piqued the interest of Harvard undergraduates while drawing condemnation from other faculty and Harvard administrators. This case is theoretically interesting because unlike most illegal drugs, psilocybin was never linked to a threatening minority group, but to some of the nation's most privileged youth. The Harvard administrators were not really moral entrepreneurs but Leary and Alpert clearly were. Although they were far from being prohibitionists, they were self-righteous crusaders on different but equally holy missions for the good of young and minority Americans. Ironically, due to their successes the possession of psilocybin was criminalized under United States federal law in 1968 (Pub. L. No. 90-639, Stat. 1361 1968 and Boire, 2002). This case study demonstrates that crusaders can be successful in changing culture even when laws are passed in futile attempts to control their behaviour, just as Leary predicted.

Comparable studies

Other theoretical and historical papers on psilocybin, most cited first.

Study Year Design Participants
REBUS and the Anarchic Brain: Toward a Unified Model of the Brain Action of Psychedelics 2019 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Psychedelics as Medicines: An Emerging New Paradigm General population 2016 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Theorizing that Psychedelic Assisted Therapy May Play a Role in the Treatment of Trauma-Induced Personality Disorders. 2024 Theoretical or philosophical paper
What Geometric Visual Hallucinations Tell Us about the Visual Cortex 2002 Theoretical or philosophical paper
Psilocybin-assisted therapy of major depressive disorder using Acceptance and Commitment Therapy as a therapeutic frame 2020 Theoretical or philosophical paper

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