Podcast 280 – “Albert Hofmann is Interviewed by Peter Gorman”

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Guest speakers: Dr. Albert Hofmann and Peter Gorman

Dr. Albert HofmannPROGRAM NOTES:

[NOTE: All quotations are by Albert Hofmann.]

“I reported about this bicycle ride because I had the feeling that time would stand still. It was a very strange feeling that I had never had before, this change in the experience of time.”

“It [my first LSD experience] became such a strange experience that I feared to have become insane.”

“At the climax I had the feeling to be already out of my body.”

“It [LSD] works on the very center of our psychic existence.”

“Nobody has died from toxic doses of LSD, not one case. All of the fatal cases were by accidents due to the disturbances of the consciousness of the senses.”

“They did not see any special effect on animals, because LSD works only on very high spiritual centers, on consciousness, which animals don’t have.”

“[Research with morning glory seeds] shows us that LSD is not just a laboratory product. It is closely related chemically, and pharmalogically, psychologically with [morning glory seeds], with this old Indian magic drug. That means that LSD belongs, pharmalogically chemically, with a group of the sacred magic plants of Mexico. That’s a very important finding.”

“I never believed it [LSD] would become a pleasure drug on the streets.”

“I think, of course, the story of LSD is not yet finished at all. If we learn to use it with respect and under the right conditions I am sure the beneficial effects are enormous.”

“In antiquity they had institutions where people who liked to have a [psychedelic initiation] could go and have a very well elaborated condition to have a beneficial effect. But we have not this. We have not. Doesn’t exist.”

“I think the next thing that can be reasonably asked is that LSD and the psychedelics should be legally available in psychiatry. As doctors have access to morphine, they have access to cocaine, they have no access to LSD. This must be changed. This should be changed.”

“That is also important, that LSD produces no addiction.”

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Peter Gorman, Writer, Explorer, Naturalist

LSD Testing on British Troops

Posted in Albert Hofmann, Consciousness, Creativity, Culture, LSD, Peter Gorman, Psilocybin, Psychedelic Research, Psychedelics, War on Drugs.

6 Comments

  1. Dear Sir or Madam, may i please begin by saying i am seeking input from anyone in this community. A most important area of research. Im appealling to all of you individually,this line research is usually a very personal and unique journey.

    I am a 40 year old male and i live in Australia .

    The last 30 years or so i have been working on dicovering and better undertanding myself,i have no formal diagnoses other than PTSD but have been told i display symptoms of other disorders namely , ADD, ADHD, Tourette syndrome,ODD,AVPD and possibly autism , i have no formal qualifications , just yet . In my research i have had access to various compounds that include but are not limited to LSD,mescaline,2-cb,2-ci,2-ce,5meo-dmt,5meo-amt,2ct-4,2ct-7.

    My personal research has been more that casual experimentation or partying . I have had serious challenges throughout my life with thoughts,Tics,actions,speach – behavour in general . I have also been prescribed various SSRI and SDRI drugs for certain conditions and disorders. I have owned a flotation tank and had access to EEG machines and neurobiofeedback technologies . I have been involved in a small privately funded group researching biaural tones and other brainwave entrainment methods to induce certain altered states of consciousness . I am currently studying part time an advanced diploma , drug alchohol and mental health counselling, i then wish to further undertake studies in psychology then neurology . My personal interest is is in describing and understanding neuroplasticy .

    Recent exposure to traumatic events, intense close personal contact and interactions with iraqi war casulties and refugees has lead my research interests in to the alkaloids Cathine and Cathinone found in a plant sometimes called Khat and also the compound 3,4 MethyleneDioxyMethCathinone.

    3,4 MethyleneDioxyMethCathinone has been reffered to as “the benzylic ketone analogs of the psychoactive phenylisopropylamine methamphetamine (MA), MCAT, and of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).

    These results indicate that beta-keto derivatization of psychoactive phenylalkylamines does not have a major impact on the drugs’ ablility to inhibit serotonin uptake and that phenyl ring substitutions can enhance potency.”

    This compound is not scheduled in australia . I proceeded to obtain pure samples which were checked and inspected by customs authorities and released to me on two seperate occasions then on a subsequent occassion have arrested me with import,possession and trafficking, a set of very serious charges . Own Australian version of Controlled Substance Analogue Act .

    To quote Alexander Shulgin,

    “…Laws are born as concepts, but must be recorded as the written word when finally put into effect. And the exact interpretation of some of those words depends to a considerable extent upon current popular usage and understanding of their meanings. Since there cannot be complete consensus as to some definitions, there will remain a certain degree of ambiguity. I will examine a few examples of recent shifts in the manner in which such ambiguities are being handled, if not exactly resolved.

    Consider the basis for the determination of innocence or guilt of a person who, as a potential defendant, has fallen under official scrutiny because of some accusation. In the past, the accusation had to be stated as a formal complaint, an arrest had to be made, and the task of providing evidence to support the charge was the province of the plaintiff, usually the people.

    In a case where the crime is a felony (one which can be punished by a stay in a Federal prison), guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Doubts are obviously challenges to presented evidence, but for heaven’s sake, what is meant by “reasonable?” It has evolved in legal practice that what this means is that a jury unanimously agrees that no doubt remains in their minds as to an accused person’s guilt. This is the criterion that must be met to convict someone of such a crime.

    However, in the current madness involving drugs and violation of drug laws, it is no longer necessary to convene a jury or—for that matter—to even bring a charge, in order to hurt and punish someone suspected of having been involved in drug-related activity. Only the thinnest of evidence, far short in quantity or quality of what would be necessary to obtain a verdict of “guilty, beyond a reasonable doubt” in a courtroom is now regularly used to “get” the suspected wrongdoer…”

    The only defence i have and is in fact the truth of the matter, is the compounds obtained were intended for personal use and for use in research . not for sale . no harm done .

    My experience with MDMA and MDMC are very similar i believe both compounds definitely require extensive research and clinical trials to understand more deeply their therapeutic effects .

    Please help me to explain to the court the serious nature and importance of my personal research ,i need expert health professionals in a relatively narrow area of expertise to help me, my personal standpoint is that this is a noble and honourable path not a criminal and commercial plan (journey of self discovery and the understanding of my own mind). Any questions please contact me , any input,opinion,assistance,advice,support or otherwise i would be eternally grateful for.

    im feeling quite alone and scared .

    respect and regards

    Leith Aitchison
    domedimensions@yahoo.com.au

  2. i don’t see anything wrong in Albert asking for an interview fee. he was surely the best interview in that issue, top ten of all time arguably. Why shouldn’t he be compensated? it would benefit him and maybe his family. the interviewer was the one in the wrong, in my humble opinion, because he tried to get it free. or his editor was in the wrong, for going on the cheap for this first class material.

    money is not evil in itself, and it’s ok to trade for it.

  3. Hey Lorenzo,

    You said in a recent show that comments are where to connect with you. This Hofmann show was just terrific, we broadcast it last weekend. My favorite part was when he said he had no regrets that the “hippies” got involved. He’d thought it over and decided it was a good thing. I think if the hippies, that is, the general population, had not gotten in on the fun, we’d have no internet today, and a lot of other good things too.

    Thanks again for your hard work. Hope to talk to you again soon 🙂

    Peace,
    Raymond
    SpiritPlants Radio
    http://radio.spiritplants.org

  4. I second that first comment in saying both; Thanks, Lorenzo for all that you do in the salon, and as well would be curious to hear any talks given by C. Jung, especially ones pertaining to his insights on his theory of collective consciousness.

    Thanks,
    Brandon G.
    (psychedelicshaMAN)

  5. LSD should absolutely be available to psychiatrists and the world would be a much saner place if it were. Maybe we’ll see it happen in a decade or two… maybe.

  6. Hey Lorenzo, I wanted to stop by and just let you know how much I appreciate your podcast. I am a 23 year old music student at UNLV. Living in Las Vegas can be rough for one who likes trees, nature and camping, there are places to go hike and camp around here but it is still hard to get away as a full time student, your pod cast helps a lot when surrounded by this place/mentality.

    I’m curious do you know of or have any talks/lectures given by psychologist Carl Jung?

    Thank you so much
    Paul Munger

    [COMMENT by Lorenzo: I’ve got a couple of old videos of him, and so I checked out YouTube and found quite a lot of material by and about Jung. You might want to take a look at some of them.]

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