Monday, November 18, 2019

The downside of the 60's

Yeah, I do get the feeling that the drug experimentation outbreak of the 1960's is largely romanticised in hindsight.  I mean, there was excellent reason for social unrest, but did hallucinogenic drug taking really have to be part of that?  

You don't read too many accounts of people or families that were broken by the experimentation, but here's one that has appeared in the Washington Post.  All very sad.


3 comments:

GMB said...

It wasn't an outbreak. It was a deliberate campaign by the oligarchy.

John said...

Hallucinogenic drugs can induce some interesting cognitive shifts that may have been more relevant in the 60's than today. Because the experience is so novel it can make some people realise that they need to be much more critical of the status quo and not blindly follow the crowd.

What Leary did was outright stupid because he panicked the governments so all the research into hallucinogens was shut down. Only in recent years has the interest picked up again, if only because the current treatments have limited efficacy, require constant medication with side effects, whereas a trip can have long lasting effects.

Hallucinogens can be great fun but you need to know what you are doing and if you're on pscyho meds or have anxiety issues don't go near them.

GMB said...

Leary, Ken Kesey, and all those guys, were intelligence. They WERE government.