By Michael Horowitz Inter-vie~ ALBERT HOFMANN At the height of World War II, four months after the rapidly among the United States military and first artificially created nuclear reaction was re­ domestic security interests. By the middle 1950s, leased in a pile of uranium ore in Chicago, an LSD was being researched as a creativity enhancer accidentally absorbed trace of a seminatural rye and learning stimulant; rumors of its ecstatic, fungus product quietly exploded in the brain of a mystic and psychic qualities began to leak out 37-year-old Swiss chemist working at the Sandoz through the writings of Aldous Huxley, Robert research laboratories in Graves and other literary Basel. He reported to his luminaries. Preliminary Note A large-scale, non­ supervisor: "I was forced of I was at first not in agreement with the idea medical experiment in­ to stop my work in the publishing this interview here. I was surprjsed laboratory in the middle and shocked at the existence of such a magazine, volving LSD and other of the afternoon and to go whose text and advertising tended to treat the psychedelic drugs at subject of illegal druVS with a casual and non­ Harvard in the early Six­ home, as I was seized by Also, the manner in which responsible attitude. a fierce a peculiar restlessness High Times treats marijuana policy, which ties precipitated associated with a sensa­ urgently needs a solution, does not correspond to controversy over the lim­ my approach. Nevertheless, I came to the deci­ its of academic freedom tion of mild dizziness ... magazine sion that my statement's appearing in a focused national at­ a kind of drunkenness directed to readers who use currently illegal and which was not unpleas­ drugs might be of special value and could help to tention on the drug now ant and which was char­ diminish the abuse or misuse of the psychedelic known as "acid." Mid­ drugs. Michael Horowitz convinced me that an way through the tur­ acterized by extreme ac­ the discovery of LSD and accurate description of mil­ tivity of imagination ... the Mexican magic plants, about which so many bulent decade, one there surged upon me an misleading versions exist, and my opinion on the lion people had tried various aspects of the drug problem, among other black-marketLSD,engen­ uninterrupted stream of to a large audience of topics, would be useful a neurological rev­ fantastic images of extra­ Interested persons in the United States. The alms dering ordinary plasticity and of this interview are to provide Information about olution the fallout of and and accom­ what these kinds of drugs can and cannot do, which has not yet been vividness what their potential dangers are. panied by an intense, ka­ assessed. In 1966, Con­ leidoscope like play of $;~~ gress outlawed LSD. Dr. Hofmann now colors ...." Uf.1i/. tt' Three days later, on lives in comfortable re- April19, 1943, Dr. Albert - tirement on a hill over­ Hofmann undertook a self-experiment that both looking the Swiss-French border. He granted High confirmed the results of his earlier psychoactive Times this exclusive interview to discuss not only experience and revealed a fascinating new ~iscov­ the implications of his discovery of LSD, but also ery: Here was the first known substance that his less publicized chemical investigations into the produced psychic effects from dosages so tiny they active agents of several sacred Mexican plants. were measurable only in micrograms! Dr. Considering his life's work, Dr. Hofmann seems Hofmann had discovered LSD-25. a likely candidate for the Nobel Prize in chemistry. Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) was enthusi­ Not only have his discoveries broadened our astically investigated by the European psychiatric knowledge of psychoactive chemicals and trig­ profession as a possible key to the chemical nature gered the imaginations of thousands of scientists, of mental illness. Its effects were believed to mimic historians and other researchers, but they have had the psychotic state. As soon as LSD was introduced a direct and revolutionary impact on humanity's to American psychiatry in 1950, interest spread ability to understand and help itself.

High Times: What work did you do prior the cardiac components, the glycosides, used in the treatm ent of cardiac failure. to your discovery of LSD? of squill, or Scilla maritima. These inves­ From 1935 I worked on the alkaloids of Hofmann: In the early years of my tigations resulted in the elucidation of ergot, resulting in the development of career in the pharmaceutical research the chemical constitution of the common ergonovine, the first synthetic prepara­ laboratory of Sandoz in Basel, I was nucleus of these agents, which provide tion of natural ergot alkaloids; Meth­ occupied mainly with investigations on valuable medicaments that are often ergine. used in obstetrics to stop hemor-

Left: Dr. Hofmann with the enlarged plastic LSD molecule at the Sandoz factory in Basel in the mid-1950's. 25 rhage; Hydergine for geriatric complaints. thing, and I was used to working under kalinrausch in 1928, but in the years In 1943 the results of this first period of very clean conditions, because these sub­ following, interest in the hallucinogenic my research in the ergot field were pub­ stances in general are toxic. You have to research faded. lished in a professional journal, Helvetica work very, very cleanly. Probably a trace Not until my discovery of LSD, which Chimica Acta. As a result of my first of the solution of lysergic acid di­ is about 5,000 to 10,000 times more active eight years of ergot research, I syn­ ethylamide I was crystallizing from than mescaline, did this line of research thesized a large number of ergot deriva­ methyl alcohol was absorbed through receive a new impetus. tives: amides of lysergic acid, lysergic the skin of my fingers. High Times: How long were you able to acid being the characteristic nucleus of High Times: How big a dose did you take keep writing lab notes that afternoon·~ natural ergot alkaloids. Among these that first time, and what were the nature Hofmann: Not very. As the effects inten­ ami des of lysergic acid there was also the and intensity of that experience? sified I realized that I did not know what diethylamide of lysergic acid. Hofmann: I don't know-an immeas­ was going to happen, if I'd ever come High Times: Did you have LSD in your urable trace. The first experience was a back. I thought I was dying or going crazy. laboratory as early as 1938? very weak one, consisting of rather small I thought of my wife and two young Hofmann: Yes. At that time a number of changes. It had a pleasant. fairy tale­ children who would never know or un­ pharmacological experiments were car­ magic theater quality. Three days later. on derstand why I could have done this. My ried out in Sandoz's department of phar­ April 19, 1943. I made my first planned first planned self-experiment with LSD macology. Marked excitation was ob­ experiment with 0.25 milligrams. or 250 was a "bum trip;' as one would say served in some of the animals. But these micrograms. nowadays. effects did not seem interesting enough High Times: Did you swallow it? High Times: Why was it four years from to my colleagues in the department. Hofmann: Yes, I prepared a solution of 5 your discovery of the psychic effects of Work on LSD fell into abeyance for a milligrams and took a fraction corre- LSD until your report was published? number of years. As I had a strange Was your information suppressed? feeling that it would be valuable to carry Hofmann: There was no suppression of out more profound studies with this that knowledge. After confirmation of compound, I prepared a fresh quantity of the action of this extraordinary com­ LSD in the spring of 1943. In the course of pound by volunteers of the Sandoz staff, this work, an accidental observation led Professor Arthur Stoll, who was then me to carry out a planned self-experi­ head of the Sandoz pharmaceutical de­ ment with this compound, which then partment, asked me if I would permit his resulted in the discovery of the extraor­ son, Werner A. Stall-who was starting dinary psychic effects of LSD. his career at the psychiatric hospital of High Times: What sort of drug were you the University of Zurich-to submit this trying to make when you synthesized new agent to a fundamental psychiatric LSD? study on normal volunteers .and on psy­ Hofmann: When I synthesized lysergic chiatric patients. This investigation took acid diethylamide, laboratory code name a rather long time, because Dr. Stoll, like LSD-25 or simply LSD, I had planned the "From my LSD myself and most young Swiss people in preparation of an analeptic compound, experiments ... I that period of war, often had to interrupt which means a circulatory and respira­ have received knowledge his work to serve in the army. This tory stimulant. Lysergic acid di­ excellent and comprehensive study was ethylamide is related in chemical struc­ of not only one, but of not published until1947. ture to nicotinic acid diethylamide, an infinite number High Times: Did government agents known to be an effective analeptic. aware of LSD approach you during World High Times: Was the discovery of LSD of realities." Warii? an accident? Hofmann: Before Werner Stoll's psychi­ Hofmann: I would say that LSD was the atric report appeared in 1947, there was outcome of a complex process that had its no general knowledge of LSD. In military beginning in a definite concept ahd was sponding to 250 micrograms, or 25 mil­ circles in the 1950s, however, there was followed by an appropriate synthesis­ lionths of a gram. I didn't expect this dose open discussion of LSD as an "inca­ that is, . the synthesis of lysergic acid to work at all, and planned to take more pacitating drug;' and thus "a weapon diethylamide-during the course of and more to get the effects. There was no without death:' At that time the U.S. which a chance observation served to other substance known at the time which Army sent a representative to Sandoz to trigger a planned self-experiment, which had any effect with so small a dose. speak to me about the procedure for then led to the discovery of the psychic High Times: Did your colleagues know producing large quanti ties of LSD. effects of this compound. that you were making this experiment? Of course, the plan to use it as an High Times: Does "LSD-25" mean that Hofmann: Only my assistant. "incapacitating agent" was not practica­ the preparation of LSD with the charac­ High Times: Were you familiar with the ble because there was no way of uni­ teristic psychoactive effects was the work done on mescaline by Klliver, formly distributing doses-some would twenty-fifth one you made? Beringer and Rouhier in the late 1920s get a lot and some would get none. Hofmann: No, the number 25 behind before you yourself experimented with Discussions of the military uses of LSD LSD means that lysergic acid di­ mind-altering substances? were no secret at that time, although ethylamide was the twenty-fifth com­ Hofmann: No-I became interested in some journalists speak as if they were. pound I had prepared in the series of their work only after the discovery of High Times: Arthur Stoll's name ap­ lysergic acid amides. LSD. They are pioneers in the field of pears with yours on the chemical paper High Times: In the published report of psychoactive plants. where the synthesis of LSD is first de­ your first LSD experience on April 16, Mescaline, studied for the first time by scribed. What was his connection with 1943. at 3:00P.M. in Basel, you write of a Lewin in 1888, was the first hallucinogen this investigation? "laboratory intoxication:' Did you swal­ available as a chemically pure com­ Hofmann: Stoll's name appears on all low something or breathe a vapor. or did pound; LSD was the second. Karl papers coming out of the research labora­ some drops of solution fall upon you -~ Beringer's investigations were published tories at Sandoz as part of his function of Hofmann: No, I did not swallow any- in the classic monograph Der Mes- head of the department, but he had no 26 direct connection with the discovery of sacred drugs because of their uncanny to my attention, which led to the syn­ LSD. He was one of the pioneers in ergot way of affecting the core of the mind. thesis of psilocybin, which in turn research, having isolated in 1918 the first The Indians' religious awe of the psyche­ brought about a visit from Gordon Was­ chemically pure alkaloid from ergot­ delic drug may be replaced in our society son and the subsequent investigations ergotamine-which proved to be a useful by respect and reverence, based on scien­ with ololiuqui. There I again encoun­ medicament in the treatment of mi­ tifically established knowledge of its tered lysergic acid amides. closing the graine. But then research on ergot was unique psychic effects. magic circle 17 years later. discontinued at Sandoz until I started it This respectful attitude toward LSD High Times: Can you describe the again in 1935. must be supplemented by appropriate events leading up to that? High Times: Who was the second per­ external conditions-by choosing an in­ Hofmann: After having studied the son to take LSD? spiring milieu and selected company for mushroom ceremony in Mexico during Hofmann: Professor Ernst Roth lin, head the session, and having medical assis­ 1954 and 1955. Gordon Wasson and his of the Sandoz pharmacological depart­ tance available just in case it is needed. wife invited the mycologist Roger Heim ment at the time. Rothlin was dubious High Times: Are the effects of ergotism to accompany them on a further expedi­ about LSD; he claimed he had a strong similar to those of LSD? tion in 1956 in order to identify the sacred will and could suppress the effects of Hofmann: There are two forms of ergo­ mushroom. drugs. But after he took 60 micrograms­ tism: ergotismus gangrenosus and He discovered that most of them: were one quarter o( the dose I had taken ergotismus convulsivus. The former is a new species belonging to the genus earlier-he was convinced. I had to laugh characterized by symptoms of gangrene, Psilocybe mexicana of the family of as he described his fantastic visions. but without accompanying psychic Strophariaceae. He was able to cultivate High Times: Have you taken LSD out­ effects. In the latter form, contractions some of them artificially in his Paris side of the laboratory? and convulsions of the muscles often laboratory, but after unsuccessful at­ Hofmann: Around 1949 to 1951, I ar­ tempts to isolated the active principle, he ranged some LSD sessions at home in the sent the sacred mushrooms to the Sandoz friendly and private company of two laboratory in hopes that our experience good friends of mine: the pharmacologist with LSD would enable us to solve this Professor Heribert-Konzett, and the wri­ problem. In a sense. LSD brought ter Ernst Junger. Junger is the author of, the sacred mushrooms to my laboratory. among other works. Approaching Heve­ We first tested the mushroom extract lotion: Drugs ond Narcotics [Annii­ on animals, but the results were negative. herungen; Orogen und RnusciJ. Stutt­ It was uncertain whether the mush­ gart: Klett. 1970]. rooms cultivated and dried in Paris were I did this in order to investigate the still active at all, so in order to settle this influence of the surroundings, of the fundamental point I decided to test them outer and inner conditions on the LSD on myself. I ate 32 dried specimens of experience. These experiments showed Psilocybe mexican a. me the enormous impact of-to use mod­ "I have learned ... that High Times: Isn't that a large dose? ern terms-set and setting on the content Hofmann: No. The mushrooms were and character of the experience. the Russians have studied very tiny, weighing only 2.4 grams-a l also learned that planning has its LSD's uses in military medium dose by Indian standards. limitations. In spite of good mood at the and parapsychological High Times: What was it like? beginning of a session-positive exP-ec­ Hofmann: Everything assumed a Mex­ tations, beautiful surroundings and sym­ investigations, and that ican character. Whether my eyes were pathetic company-! once fell into a they were searching closed or open. I saw only Mexican terrible depression. This unpredictability motifs and colors. When the doctor su­ of effects is the major danger of LSD. for an antidote." pervising the experiment bent over to High Times: How long and how often check my blood pressure, he was trans­ did you continue to take LSD? formed into an Aztec priest. and I would Hofmann: My ten to 15 experiments culminate in a state comparable to epi­ not have been astonished had he drawn with LSD were distributed over 27 years. lepsy-a condition sometimes accom­ an obsidian knife. The last one was in 1970. Since then I panied by hallucinations, and thus re­ It was a strong experience and lasted have taken no more LSD, because I be­ lated to the effects of LSD. This can be about six hours. The mushrooms were lieve that all an LSD experience can give explained by the fact that the alkaloids of active; the negative results of the test me has already been given. Maybe later ergot have the same basic nucleus as with animals had been due to the com­ in my life I will have the need to take it LSD; that is, they are derivatives of paratively low sensitivity of animals to once or several times more. lysergic acid. substances with psychic effects. High Times: What was the largest single High Times: Is the term psychedelic, High Times: Did you then proceed with dose of LSD that you took? coined by Dr. Humphry Osmond, agreea­ the synthesis? Hofmann: 250 micrograms. bleto you? Hofmann: After this reliable test with High Times: Would you recommend the Hofmann: I think it is a good term. It human beings, meaning that my co­ use of LSD? corresponds better to the effects of these workers and I ingested the fractions to be Hofmann: I suppose that your question drugs than hallucinogenic or psychoto­ tested, I extracted the active principles refers to the nonmedical use of LSD. If mimetic. Another suitable designation from the mushrooms, purified and finally such use were at present legal, which is would have been phantastica, coined by crystallized them. not the case, then I would suggest the Louis Lewin in the 1920s, but it was not I named the main active principle of following guidelines: The experience is accepted in English-speaking countries. Psilocybe mexicana psilocybin and the handled best by a ripe, stabilized person High Times: You have described your accompanying alkaloid, usually present with a meaningful reason for taking LSD. psychoactive drug investigations as a only in small amounts, psilocin. My co­ With regard to its psychic effects and "magic circle:· What do you mean? workers and I were then able to elucidate its chemical constitution. LSD belongs to Hofmann: My investigations of lysergic the chemical structure of psilocybin and that group of Mexican drugs. peyotl, acid amides brought me to LSD. LSD psilocin. and after that we succeeded in teononocotl and ololiuqui, that became brought the sacred Mexican mushrooms synthesizing these compounds. 27 Hofmann: I never met Hesse, but his The synthetic production of psilocy­ ololiuqui extracts with them:· they said. books-especially The Glass Bead Game bin is now much more economic than High Times: What was the purpose of and Steppenwolf-have deeply inter­ obtaining it from the mushroom. Thus your journey to Mexico? ested me in connection with LSD re­ teonanacatl was demystified-the two Hofmann: It was an expedition that search. It is-possible that Hesse experi­ substances whose magic effects made the Wasson organized in the autumn of 1962 mented with mescaline in the 1920s as Mexican Indians believe for thousands of to search for another, unidentified magic some have supposed-! have no way of years that a god resided in a mushroom Mexican plant, namely the so-called knowing. Outside of one brief meeting can now be prepared in a retort. hojas de la Pastora. We traveled by with Jung at an international congress of High Times: In one of his recorded horseback on Indian trails through the psychiatrists, I had no contact with him. lectures, Aldous Huxley described the Sierra Mazateca, finally arriving in time High Times: Did you ever rheet Aldous delight of Wasson's famous curandera, to assist in a nocturnal ceremony in the Huxley? Maria Sabina of Huautla, upon ingesting hut of a curandera who used the juice of Hofmann: Twice. I met him for lunch in psilocybin. She realized that she could the leaves of hojas de la Pastora. Zurich in 1961, and again in 1963 when now perform magic all year 'round, and Afterwards we were able to get some we were both in Stockholm attending the not just during the mushroom season specimens of the plant. It was a new WAAS [World Academy of Art and following the rains. species of the mint family that was later Conference, where the topics of Hofmann: That was my psilocybin. identified botanically at Harvard Univer­ Science] , depletion of natural re­ When Wasson and I visited Maria Sabina sity and named Salvia divinorum. Back in overpopulation and ecology in general were there were no sacred mushrooms be­ my laboratory at Sandoz. I had no success sources I was deeply impressed by cause it was so late in the season, so we in extracting the active principle. which discussed. : he radiated life, intelligence, provided her with pills containing syn­ in Salvia divinorum is very unstable. Huxley and openness-and he was of thetic psilocybin. High Times: Are the psychoactive ef­ kindness extremely articulate. After taking a rather strong dose in the fects of Salvio divinorum similar to course High Times: What do you think of The course of a nocturnal session, she said those of Psilocybc mexiccmu and LSD? Book of the Dead as a guide to there was no difference between the pills Tibetan psychedelic experience, as suggested and the mushrooms. "The spirit of the the and the Harvard researchers, mushroom is in the pill:' she said-final by Huxley others? proof that our synthetic preparation was among Hofmann: The general ideas and in­ identical in every respect with the natu­ on how to prepare and run a ral product. structions psychedelic session given there are the High Times: What prompted your inves­ outcome of long experiences in this field tigations of ololiuqui, another of the Mex­ seem very valuable. What disturbs ican sacred plants? and is the use of the foreign Tibetan Hofmann: When Wasson came to San­ me . I prefer that we remain with­ doz to view the synthetic psilocybin symbolism in our own cultural framework- that we crystals in my laboratory, he · was de­ Dr. Hofmann at home, March 1976. use symbols found in the writings of lighted that the results of our chemical Western mystics such as Silesius, investigation had confirmed his ethno­ Eckhart, Boehme and Swedenborg. mycological studies of the sacred mush­ first planned What was your impres­ room. We became friends and made "My High Times: of Dr. Timothy Leary's work with plans to further investigate Mexican .sa­ self-experiment sion cred plants. psychedelics? with LSD was I formed my first impression The next problem we decided to tackle Hofmann: 1963. At that time he was was the riddle of ololiuqui, which is the a 'bum trip,' as one of Dr. Leary in together with his colleague Dr. Aztec name for the seeds of certain involved, would say nowadays." , at Harvard University iri morning-glories. With Wasson's help, I Richard Alpert investigating the use of LSD and was able to obtain ololiuqui seeds col­ a project in the rehabilitation of con­ lected by Zapotec Indians. psilocybin sent me an order for 100 The chemical analysis of the ololiuqui Hofmann: Yes, but less pronounced. victs. Dr. Leary and 25 kilograms of seeds gave a quite surprising result. The High Times: What writers do you find to grams of LSD . Before the sales department active principle that we isolated proved to be the most successful in conveying the psilocybin could carry out the demand for be lysergic acid amide . and other ergot psychedelic experience in literature? of Sandoz large quantity of alkaloids. Hofmann: I find the best descriptions in this extraordinarily we asked Dr. High Times: So ololiuqui is chemically Aldous Huxley's books. After that I psychedelic compounds with the necessary related to LSD? would say Timothy Leary and Alan Leary to provide us from the U.S. health au­ Hofmann: Yes. The main ololiuqui al­ Watts; in France, Henri Michaux. import license to provide it. The kaloid is lysergic acid amide, which dif- In German literature. Rudolf Gelpke thorities. He failed with which he han­ . fers from LSD-from lysergic acid di­ deserves to be named in this respect, but I unrealistic manner left the impression ethylamide-only by two ethyl radicals. I don't believe his works are available in dled this transaction with the regula­ did not expect to find lysergic acid deriv­ English. "Von Fahrten in den Weltraum of a person unconcerned atives-which were known until then der Seele" ["Travels in the Cosmos of the tions of society. of another facet of his only as products of lower fungi of the Soul"], published in the journal Antaios I got a glimpse when he invited me later the ergot type-also in higher plants, in mor­ in 1962, is especially fine. character to participate in a meeting on ning-glory species of the phanerogamic I should also mention the new mono­ same year at Zihuatanejo, Mexico. He family of the Convolvulaceae. graph by Dr. Stan Grof, Realms of the drug research that radio, television and My results were so surprising that the Human Unconscious [New York: Vik­ emphasized of the most important mass first paper I delivered on the subject in ing, 1975], containing excellent descrip­ journalists be present, which revealed Melbourne in 1960 was received by my tions of LSD sessions in the framework of media would publicity-conscious personality. colleagues with skepticism. They would psychiatric studies. a very You met with Leary later. not believe me. "Oh, you have so much High Times: Did Herman Hesse or Carl High Times: you? lysergic acid compounds in your labora­ Jung ever show an interest in your dis­ didn't (continuf.!d on page 31) tory. you may have contaminated your covery? 28 (continued from page 28) excellent tool in brain research and in Hofmann: I have heard his name men­ Hofmann: A decade later when Dr. psychiatry. tioned in this context. but know nothing Leary had escaped from prison and was Sandoz therefore made LSD available else about him. living in exile in Switzerland. I was eager to qualified experimental and clinical High Times: What has been the purity of to meet him personally, having read so investigators all over the world to pro­ the black-market LSD that you've tested? much in the press about him during the mote such research with technical help Hofmann: Some contained the "labeled" intervening period. On the third of Sep­ and in many instances with financial amount, some less. It's difficult to make a tember, 1971, the father and prophet of support. Sandoz played a noble role in stable preparation under less than perfect LSD met in Lausanne. the scientific development of LSD. laboratory conditions. You must elimi­ I was surprised to meet not a pro­ High Times: Did Sandoz stop producing nate every trace of oxygen. Oxidation fessorial type of scientist, nor a fanatic, . LSD because it was finding its way onto destroys LSD, as does light. but a slender, smiling, boyish man, repre­ the black market? High Times: Are you familiar with an senting rather a tennis champion than a Hofmann: At the onset of the LSD hys­ LSD-like substance called ALD-52 that Harvard professor. teria in 1965, Sandoz completely stopped figured prominently in an acid trial two During the course of our conversation, the distribution of LSD for research pur­ years ago? Dr. Leary gave me the impression of an poses in order to avoid all possibility and Hofmann: Yes. ALD-52 is Acetyl-LSD, a idealistic person who believes in the to counteract false rumors that its LSD modification of LSD that proved to be as transforming influence of psychedelic could find its way onto the black market. active, because acetyl is removed in the drugs on mankind. is conscious of the Another reason was to force health body and you have the effects of LSD. It complexity of the drug problem and yet authorities of different countries to has only been used experimentally. We was careless of all the difficulties provide adequate rules and regulations sent it to the Drug Rehabilitation Center involved in the promotion of his ideas. regarding the distribution of LSD. After in Lexington, Kentucky, for testing some High Times: Apart from his personal this was accomplished. they again sup­ years ago. style, what did you think of Dr. Leary's plied LSD in America to the FDA [Food High Times: What do you know about ideas at the time of the Swiss meeting? and Drug Administration] for distribu­ ketamine? Hofmann: We were in agreement con­ tion, but only to licensed investigators. Hofmann: Ketamine is a totally ·syn­ cerning the enormous importance of thetic psychedelic, unlike LSD, which is making a fundamental distinction be­ a semi natural product. tween drugs. We agreed that the use of High Times: What is now known about addiction-producing drugs. especially the neurological effects of LSD and other heroin with its disastrous somatic and "At age 19 I made psychedelics? psychic effects, should be avoided by any Hofmann: We know LSD concentrates means possible. We agreed also in the the decision to become in the hypothalamus, the same region of evaluation of the potentially beneficial the brain where serotonin is found. This effects of psychedelic drugs. We dis­ a chemist for both is the brain's emotional center. But there agreed as to the extent that psychedelics mystical-philosophical still exists a big gap between the phar­ should be used and by whom. macology of and the mechanisms under­ Whereas Dr. Leary advocated the use reasons and for lying consciousness. of LSD under appropriate conditions by The problem is that the thought-func­ very young people. by teenagers. I in­ reasons of curiosity." tion that you investigate is the same sisted that a ripe, stable personality be a instrument you use for investigation. prior condition. Ripe because the drug High Times: For many people LSD can release only what is already in the provides what they describe as a re­ mind. It brings in nothing new-it is like ligious experience. What are your feel­ a key that can open a door to our sub­ High Times: In the United States there ings on this? conscious. Stabilized because it needs has been a recent major investigation of Hofmann: People for whom LSD spiritual strength for handling and inte­ improper LSD experiments carried out provides a religious experience expect to grating an overwhelming psychedelic ex­ by the CIA. Army. Navy and other gov­ have such an experience when they take perience into the exising Wcltbild. ernmental agencies. Did they get their it. Expectation-which is identical to High Times: Does LSD possess aphro­ LSD from Sandoz just as Timothy Leary's autosuggestion-determines to a high disiac qualities? psychedelic research project at Harvard degree what will happen in the session. got theirs? because one of the most important fea­ Hofmann: Only in the sense that LSD tures of the LSD state is its extreme adds new dimensions to all experiences, Hofmann: Sandoz supplied the U.S. including of course the sexual. Food and Drug Administration, who then suggestibility. distributed it in America. Probably that is Another reason for the incidence of High Times: Have you benefitted finan­ how the CIA and others got it. religious experiences is the fact that the cially from your discovery of LSD? High Times: Have you ever been ap­ very core of the human mind is con­ Hofmann: No. proached by Soviet agents in need of nected with God. This deepest root of our High Times: Sandoz is one of the largest Sandoz LSD or of your expertise? consciousness. which in the normal state pharmaceutical firms in the world. How Hofmann: This has not happened. I have is hidden by superficial rational activities did it deal with the manufacture and learned from Swedish scientists in Stock­ of the mind, may become revealed by the distribution of so controversial a sub­ holm that the Russians have studied action of the psychedelic drug. stance as LSD? LSD's uses in military and parapsycho­ High Times: Is LSD an evolutionary Hofmann: It was clear from the very logical investigations, and that they were agent? beginning that LSD, in spite of its extraor­ searching for an antidote. But the phar­ Hofmann: Possibly. In the LSD state we dinary qualities, would not become a maceutical firm of Spofa' in Prague prob­ may become conscious. in the words of pharmaceutical preparation of commer­ ably provided the LSD. Teilhard de Chardin, of the "entire com­ cial value. Notwithstanding this, Sandoz High Times: Are you familiar with the plex of interhuman and intercosmic rela­ put enormous effort into the scientific underground chemist. Stanley Owsley. tions with an immediacy. an intimacy investigation of the substance, showing who in the 1960s produced the most and a realism" that otherwise happens the eminent role LSD could play as an widely distributed black-market LSD? (continued on page 81)

31 drugs. Here at home I work in the orchard Albert Hofmann and run in the woods for exercise. It's The next time wonderful to be able to spend a great deal (continued from page 31) of time in unspoiled nature after decades you light up a only in spontaneous ecstatic states and to of work in laboratories. a very few blessed people. High Times: In his book Gravity's Rnin­ joint, let your Agreement exists among spiritual bow. the American author Thomas leaders that the continuation of the pres­ Pynchon has described a stained ·glass ent development. characterized by in­ window in your office at the otherwise Senator know creasing industrialization and over­ dull Sandoz labs. Is this true? population. will result in the exhaustion Hofmann: That is true. It is now here in how you feel. of natural resources and destroy the eco­ my house. Actually, it's a modern glass in logical basis for mankind's existence on the old style depicting Asclepius and his Get off your butt and do this planet. This trend to self-annihila­ mentor. the centaur Chiron. tion is reinforced by international pol­ High Times: Are the Swiss proud of so meting about getting the use itics based on "power trips" and the your discovery of LSD and the synthesis of marijuana decriminalized . preparation of weapons of apocalyptic of psilocybin and ololiuqui, or has the Letsomeoneknowhowyoufeel potential. controversy surrounding these drugs dis­ about the issue. Write your Sen­ This development can be stopped only pelled that? ator or Congressman now! by a change in the materialistic attitude Hofmann: My discoveries have proved that has caused this development. This very controversial. Some consider these Oregon, Alaska, Maine, change can result only from insight into drugs to be diaboliquc, and a few clergy­ Colorado, California and Ohio the deepest spiritual roots of life and men asked me to confess mea culpa in existence. from comprehensive use of all public. but in professional circles my have stopped arresting people forces of our intelligence and all re­ work has been appreciated. I've been for marijuana possession. Now soucces of our knowledge. honored by the National Polytechnic In­ it can be done at the national in Switzerland; by honorary This intellectual approach. supple­ stitute here level. mented by visionary experience. could degrees in natural science and in phar­ produce an alteration of the conscious­ macy from the Swedish Royal Phar­ In the Senate, The Mari­ maceutical Institute. and in the United ness of truth and reality that could be of juana Control Act of 1975 (S. evolutionary significance. LSD selec­ States by an honorary membership in the tively and wisely used could be one American Society of Pharmacognosy. 1450) has been sponsored by means of supplementing intellectual High Times: What made you decide to Senator Javits. In the House, with visionary insight and helping the become a chemist? Congressman Koch has intro­ prepared mind become conscious of a Hofmann: I was interested in knowing duced an identical measure deeper reality. what our world is made of. Chemistry is (HR.6108). High Times: Did your LSD experiences the science of the constituents of the change your personal life and tastes? world, so at age 19 I made the decision to Write the letter. The pen It my sensitivity to become a chemist for both mystical­ Hofmann: increased has power. classical music-especially Mozart. My philosophical reasons and for reasons of life habits did not change. curiosity. You don't have to smoke High Times: Has your wife also experi­ High Times: Has LSD affected your marijuana tO knOW it's today's mented with psychedelics? philosophical outlook? Hofmann: Yes. Once in Mexico in the Hofmann: From my LSD experiments. marijuana laWS that are Crim- session with Salvia divinorum when I including the very first terrifying one. I inal. Let Congress know how had some gastric trouble and could not have received knowledge of not only one. you feel . ingest the juice. she took my place. She but of an infinite number of realities. also took some of the psilocybin pills Depending upon the condition of our Join NORML. Money is during the historic session when Maria senses and psychic receptors we experi- needed to finish the job Sabina confirmed their potency. ence a different reality. once and for all. High Times: What general medical uses I realized that the depth and richness ______might LSD be marketed for in the future? of the inner and outer universe are im- 0 I enclose Sl5.00 membership fee. (Students and Hofmann: Very small doses. perhaps 25 measurable and inexhaustible, but that Military SIO.OOI I'm not a joiner but I would still like to help micrograms. could be useful as a eupho­ we have to return from these strange 0 with a contribution. riant or antidepressant. worlds to our homeland and live here in Send along the following NORML items. All the pro· High Times: Which of your works are the reality that is provided by our normal. ceeds from their sale go toward furthering the fight. available in English? healthy senses. It's like astronauts return­ __ STICKERS (ci> 3 for Sl.OO Hofmann: Several years ago Or. Richard ing from outer space flights: they must --T-SHIRTS rw $4.50 each Evans Schultes of Harvard and I coau­ readjust to this planet. --STAMPS lal SI.OO per shirt thored a book called The Botany and In some of my psychedelic experi­ _ s __ M __ L __ XL Chemistry of llallucinogcns. It is in­ ences I had a feeling of ecstatic love and tended primarily to provide specialized unity with all creatures in the universe. __ T-SHIRTS @ S4.50each __ s __ M __ L __ XL __ students with basic knowledge of the To have had such an experience of ab­ botany and chemistry of hallucinogenic solute beatitude means an enrichment of __ GOLD MARIJUANA LEAF PINS {a) SI.OO each plants. I am currently writing my mem­ ourlife. O Send along additional information. oirs, but these will first be published in High Times: How would you like the German. future ages to remember you and your NAME ______High Times: What have you been doing discovery? since your retirement from Sandoz? Hofmann: Perhaps the image of a chem­ ADDRESS ______Hofmann: I retired in 1971 after42 years ist riding along on a bicycle on the very first LSD trip will change to the Old Man CITY ------:~ STATE __ ZIP__ with Sandoz. Since then I have been Please Print writing and lecturing on psychoactive of the Mountain. g 81